If The Pilot Light On A Water Heater Won’t Stay On, What Might It Be?
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at
7:41 am
I have a water heater that the pilot light will not stay lit. I can light it and turn it on and it heats the water. Once the fire turns of, the pilot light turns off. I have to light it at least once a day.
Tagged with: Heater • Light • Might • Pilot • Stay • Water • What • Won't
Filed under: Home Repair
You have three good answerss already. I have been having the same problem. Mine will blow out if it is very windy, need a cap on the vent on the roof. Just have not been up there to install it. But the first thing I would look at is the thermocouple. It may not be bad just not in the right position. They are often just held there by the tube which is bent to put it in the flame. The weight of the thermocouple can make it sag a little. Gently bend it back and see if that fixes it.
Since it sounds like this is a recent happening. It could be the pilot orifice has become partially obstructed and when the burner pops off at the end of a heating cycle it blows out the pilot. To confirm this it may take you the time to watch the HWT cycle. You can speed the process by abruptly turning the down the temperature control after the tank has been on. Keep a safe eye on the pilot light to see how it is effected when the main burner shuts down. You might also be able to see the problem by just observing the pilot. A weak or small pilot flame may even be blown out by a mild downdraft which can occur on windy days. The pilot light should be at least 3/4 inch long and have some yellow. If you find weak pilot you may need to pull out the pilot assembly and clean it. Be sure to shut off the gas supply to the tank before attempting any repairs.
I should have mentioned that if the thermalcouple was bad, the burner would not light at all, so you can rule out that part.
this seems like an easy fix. where the pilot is located, there is a thermo-coupler, that almost touches the flame, this has a copper line that runs back to the gas regulator value. this device opens the regulator, to allow gas to get to the water heater, as you hold the pilot button down, you are basically over ridding this device.
you may try cleaning the thermocoupler, and bending the bracket to get it closer to the pilot flame. if this works, and it stays lit, you will need to replace this part which is available at any hardware store.
good luck
Ok first you need to understand how it works.. The heat from the pilot causes a bulb shaped device to generate a minor current that holds the main valve opened against spring tension. If the device is bad or the flame to far,low,or cold due to lack of air due to dust etc it fails. Try cleaning and adjusting (if its adjustable some are not)or replace it. It sounds like yours is right on the line from failing and only shows up when burner pops off
see if it has a thermocouple if so change that and be sure it is in the flame . also how big is the pilot light if its not substantial enough to heat the thermocouple it will shut off the gas to the pilot port. if the pilot lights flame is the correct size then changing the thermocouple should do it.
i bought a brand new tank and it kept going out…i replaced the thermocouple and it still happened…turns out the new tank had a bad gas valve…i didnt have to drain the tank, i just got the new valve ready to go and unscrewed the old valve and quickly screwed the new one in…been working fine ever since…
have your water heater serviced it sounds like it needs it
could be a draft. please make sure that there’s not a gas leak! be careful go goodness sake
The flue might be blocked.