Yesterday, I was planning on a hot shower before my son's OT session, unfortunately our gas water heater had other ideas, the pilot light had gone out. First time that it has done this in over a year, so I wasn't concerned. Today, it was out again. Do gas water heaters require any type of maintenance and cleaning or should I prepare to buy a new one. We bought the house a year ago and the heater has probably been here since the house was built in the early 70's.
You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"
Have you checked the thermocouple if your heater has one.
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
If it's working OK except for the pilot going out, then I think Egon is right. The thermocoupler probably needs either a good cleaning or replacement.
Don't know what the thermocouple is, but the warning on the side says that the heater has an automatic gas shutoff actuated by high water temperature. The pilot light will not light immediately after going out, but will light 1-2 hours later. I am thinking now that this cutoff has something to do with the problem. I posted prior to seeing the warning.
You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"
A site showing details of a typical gas water heater firing system. Your case may be different.
http://www.rd.com/content/openConten...ontentId=19531
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
A THERMOCOUPLE is two dissimilar metals in contact. When heated they generate an electric current. Self generating safety pilots use them. The electrical energy used to open the gas valve of the main burner when the thermostat calls for heat is supplied by the thermocouple. If the pilot goes out for any reason the thermocouple cools and will not supply electricity to open the main valve. This prevents getting large quantities of gas being allowed to spew out into the room. If the thermocouple is marginal or intermittent it could cause your problem. They are typically available as a separate repair part and are not difficult to install. You just put it where the original one was and wire it the same way.
If your heater is actually as old as you suspect then you might want to just replace it, especially if you have much dissolved mineral content in your water and aren't running a softener. Newer heaters are available that are much more efficient. You can pay more and get a very efficient heater. Fully condensing models can equal or exceed 97% efficiency. Since your current heater lasted so long I would favor getting a high efficiency heater since it will last long enough to more than pay for the extra cost through gas savings. You will have a positive return on the added investment.
Pat
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Replaced the thermocouple for $4.49 and it is working fine. Pat, I am probably going to replace the heater in the near future as we are in the process of remodeling and updating our entire house anyway, but the water heater is on the opposite end of the house from where we started. I guess I'm kind of eccentric as I don't want to alter my plans. It's one of those things that drives my wife absolutely crazy, along with the fact that I refuse to borrow money or use a credit card to do all of the work at one time. Thanks to Bird and Egon for the thermocouple tip, saved me a lot of money. I think that I may start a running tally on the amount of money that I have saved by using this site and TBN. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"
[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Score another point for the:....... "Before I pick up the phone and call someone I'll take a look at it myself."..... model of home ownership. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] That stretched-out hot water heater situation is not unlike what we'll have once our long-term remodel plans are complete. We have considered two different approaches: one is using a very small (six-gallon) H.W. heater under the floor of the kitchen and feeding it from our regular hot water supply so we'd have several gallons of immediate hot water until the hot water from the main heater got there; OR....we could use a hot water circulator pump with a loop system. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Along the same lines as the thermocouple situation, here is something to put into your mental storage...... The new furnaces have a little "finger" that sticks out and "feels" for flame. The "finger" verifies that there IS flame and permits the gas supply valve to remain open and the heater to continue warming up. If the heater has been sitting for a year or two, the "finger" can get a film of rust or corrosion on it and become slightly "insulated" against the heat of the flame and as a result it won't think the flame is there and won't hold the gas valve open. The fix is to clean the finger. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] SPEAKING OF THE CBN site and what we can learn from it.........until now i didn't actually know how a thermocouple made the gas valve open. I didn't know if it was expanding gas in the capillary tube or what. As usual, PAT has these things figured out and some of us are beneficiaries of that knowledge. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
CJDave
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