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Posted by Humble Tom on January 23, 2007, 3:49 pm
wrote:
>Last week, my water heater stopped heating. My wife and I both tried
>to light the pilot according to the instructions, but it wouldn't
>start. We called Whirlpool's hot-line. Some Indians told us to check
>the gas line and so forth. No luck. (The furnace is running fine and
>there's only a few feet of pipe between the furnace and the water
>heater, so there's not a lot possible points of failure.)
>
>I then called a plumber. He came out and the lit the thing with no
>trouble. (I'm sure he thought we were ignorant, and he might be
>right.) He suggested that it might have gone out because of failing
>thermocouple. He checked for leaks, charged me $60, and left.
>
>I got one tank of hot water and then the pilot went out again. I
>couldn't restart it. I'm not seeing a spark, but I don't really know
>if I should expect that behind the window.
>
>It seems to me that I should get gas in the pilot position with the
>override button pressed even with a defective thermocouple. Is that
>right? I felt pretty good about that idea until I read this:
>
>http://www.hometips.com/home_probsolver/hps03/11_waterheat/hps_waterheat01.html
>
>6) *** If the pilot won't light, the thermocouple may be defective;***
>either call your gas utility to check the appliance (a free service in
>many areas) or call an appliance repair person.
>
>Should I perhaps be looking for gas or air restrictions or replacing a
>thermocouple?
>
>Any advice or information is appreciated.
A thermal couple replacement might have only added about 30 bucks to
your original visit. Just that the original person couldn't reproduce
your problem(it lit and stayed lit). So a TC replacement might have
been cheap enough to just get it done.
Just next time, have your plumber/apliance repair person, stick around
to watch a full cycle. Turn on the hot water till you create a heat
demand, and watch if the pilot light remains lit.
Just a guess, not a plumber, or applicance repair person. Just a
frugal home owner. ;)
tom @ www.FreelancingProjects.com
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