On Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 9:56:49 AM UTC-7, Bob F wrote:
The thermocouple on my 7yo Whirlpool water heater went out Sat. The stores open
on the weekend had only right hand thread thermocouples, and as far as I could
find out, the manufacturer would sell me a conversion kit for $31 which would
take 10 days to receive. (out of warrantee)

My solution: I carefully clamped the threaded fitting on my old thermocouple
end-to-end in my vice so one face was up, then used a 1" cutting disc in my
dremel tool to cut a slot into the fitting so I could slide it off of the tube.
I slid the threaded fitting on my new thermocouple down out of the way, then
slipped the slotted one over the tube and carefully screwed it into the valve
fitting. It works perfectly.

If you have a several years old Whirlpool or American Products water heater, you
might want to check to see if it has the left hand thread on the thermocouple.
If it does, and it is still in warrantee, contact the manufacturer now so you
can get the conversion kit for free ahead of the time you really need it.

The early symptom of failure on my thermocouple is that it took 1 1/2-2 minutes
of holding down the pilot light to get it to re-light and stay lit. The new one
took about 20 seconds.

Glad I found this. Yesterday I drove 25 miles to Lowes for a thermocouple that was supposed to be a left hand thread for the specific Whirlpool heater we have. Lucky I checked it before leaving because it was a right hand thread, and they did not have any left hand thread. Only had an open box full kit, that did not seem to have the right parts.

I raised Hell with the Lowes store manager who said they no longer carry this brand and I should look elsewhere. They sell yet not support their product.

And for Whirlpool building in this odd ball feature to force you to get something that I couldn't even find on-line! NEVER WILL BUY WHIRLPOOL brand again! I have sworn not to buy Fuji either after they stuck it to their long time customers using their instant film.

Boycott and bad publicity is the only thing consumers in the USA have to fight back. Other countries have strict laws requiring spare parts for at least the normal life of an appliance. All we have is weak protection for car parts, and nothing for appliances. Large screen TVs in dumps because a small circuit board is no longer...

Anyhow, thanks again for your help. Wish I had the old copper tank with manual pilot water heater. These lasted a lifetime and didn't clutter the countryside with dumps.