I work for a utility company and have been working there 38 years. How many of yous' know what a sidearm water heater is? I still see them but very rarely in use. If I remeber correctly a thermocouple lead puts out about 7 to 10 milliamps. Another problem w/ thermocouples is that if the pilot flame hits the hot and cold junctions it will short out the coil and the pilot will go out. Make sure the pilot flame only hits the tip of the lead.