Gas water heater pilot light issue.

[Jason DeLaney]

My water heater’s pilot light has been going out on a reguar basis. Every day I have to light it again. It usually lasts through the day but sometimes goes out sooner.The thermocouple has alredy been cleaned/and then replace. I have tried leaving the door ajar, and still it goes out. Tonight I sat and watched it.
The pilot light it just as it should, the burner came on, burned until it reached temprerature, and then shut off, as it shut off, whole thing went out again… burner, pilot and all.
Relight of the pilot goes easily and it stays ligt happily.
One thing that I did notice when the burner was on is that the pilot light seems to be drawn upward a bit from the heat of the burner and the air near it. This pulls the flame away from the thermocouple. I would expect that the thermocouple would still be getting plenty of heat, however… could this be the problem?
Any help or similar experiences would be appreciated. The water heater is apparently an “Abco” brand and the controller unit is a UNITROL model 110T.

[Henry in MI]

Jason, are you leaving a cover plate off? There should be a sheetmetal shield over the access to the pilot or the whole area with the control valve. This is typical of the ones I have seen anyway. Leaving this cover plate off can create unusual draft situations where when the burner shuts off the remaining heat continues with a strong draft from the heat rising that blows the pilot out. If you are leaving the plate off, “Since I am just going to have to remove it again anyway” this could be making the problem worse.

You probably need to clean the pilot burner since soot and other buildup might be affecting the amount of flame. I’ll leave it to you as to whether this is in your area but remember that you can damage the pilot orifice pretty easily.

A pro will probably have some other thoughts but I would certainly pick the safest choice as far as working on it.

Henry in MI

[Jeff in Boston]

I have no clue whether or not you have the same gas valve as I do (do you have an old water heater?) but I have a slightly different problem with the pilot light. Most people I’ve talked to say my problem sounds like a thermocouple issue. I’m going to replace the thermocouple and see if that will fix the problem; but here’s the point… The model of gas valve you have sounds like one that was recalled for being defective and leaking gas. Don’t panic! It may not be the same one… Chec to see if it was mfr’d. by Robertshaw’s, and if so, go to http://www.CPSC.gov and look for 81-005 to see if your gas valve warrants a free replacment!

[Kevin Manzitto]

my water heater is about 9 mos. old. i recently shut the pilot off because i was stripping paint near it. now, it won’t relight and i’ve followed the instructions to a tee. now what?

[Unregistered-chrisbegaye]

We tried to relight our water heater but it won’t say on it keeps going out. What could i do to relight this

[Author]

Posts