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Posted by on December 11, 2006, 8:49 am
Todd H. wrote:
>
> > Twice tonight, I've had to restart the pilot light on my gas water
> > heater. It always starts right back up, and heats the water up just
> > fine. But this is twice now that I've had to do it. I also have a gas
> > boiler (with a pilot light) and a gas stove (ignitors, no pilot light),
> > and these two items seem to be functioning normally. The water heater
> > is an "A.O. Smith Promax" and the only date I can find on it is
> > "11/03", but I can't tell if that is installation date or a service
> > date. It *looks* fairly new (i.e., within the last 5 years) but I
> > don't really know how to tell.
> >
> > What should I do?
>
> If your water heater has a standing pilot it also has a thermocouple
> that controls the gas flow. If the thermocouple isn't hot, it will
> turn off the gas flow so a blown out pilot doesn't cause the house to
> fill with gas. These thermocouples routinely go bad after a few
> years. So that's one possibility.
>
> Another possibility with water heaters is tank failure, and a slow
> leak or condensation or something causing water to drip on the pilot.
>
> Those are probably the two biggest causes I'm aware of for pilot
> failure. Thermocouples are pretty easy to change and available at
> hardware stores. Measure the length of the thermocouple that you
> have and that should lead you to a decent replacement. If you're not
> comfy with this, get a pro in to check what's going on, or if it's
> been 10 years, just replace the water heater--it's probably due.
>
> --
> Todd H.
> http://www.toddh.net/
Also, since it appears to be an 03 tank, if it is the thermocouple, get
the serial # and give the manufacturer a call, as it's likely under
warranty. When I did that with my Reliance WH, they sent me a new one
for free in 2 days.
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