Last Tuesday gas company installed new meter on outside of house. Came back that afternoon to re-light pilots. Water heater worked fine until tonight. Pilot went out sometime this morning or afternoon. I re-lit pilot, put covers back on, turned up the gas control, burner lit for about 30 seconds and then went out and extinguished pilot as well.
Gas meter change may not have anything to do with it. Water heater was there when we bought the house 10 years ago and we’ve never had a problem with it. Have no idea how old it is.
Bottom of tank is rusty on one side and appears to be damp. Also, a little dampness/wetspot in concrete on that side(not standing water but 1/2 a sq. ft damp concrete).
What do you think gives?
Replies
Now pilot lights but burner goes poof and extinguishes pilot.
Some dust or rust may have got into the line while the meter was changed. The tube for pilot light is very thin and you may have partial blockage and pilot can't stay lit with enough force. It is being blown out by the force of burner flame coming on or going out.
You should call the gas company and try to get them to fix this. There should be also a short piece of capped pipe below the level of supply pipe going into the gas regulator. This short piece traps the particles. Gas company may not repair for free if they see that there is no trap.
You can also try Repairclinic.com for more detailed answer. By the way, if the pilot is not staying lit, the regulator is supposed to shut off the gas. Hope this helps.
The dampness suggests that the heater may have a hole. And if so, then dripping water could be cooling the thermocouple and shutting off the gas.
But there are a half-dozen other reasons that a WH can flake out.
well the moisture can be from the water being cold in the tank and sweating,or it can be the obvious,the tank is leaking. with a tank at least 10 years old it's getting to the ned of it's life anyway so no matter what i wouldn't spend alot of money on it.
sonds like the thermocouple is ok ,if you can light and it stays lit.i had a ge one time that the burner would blow out the pilot,then the burner would shut down,relight and same deal. it was under warranty ,so ge came out and shrugged there shoulders ,said my ven t must be screwed up. the only way i could keep it lit was to leave the cover off,seemed like the burner was putting such a whoosh that the expansion of air was blowing out. yours is old enough that shouldn't be a problem unless you have a little more pressure than before. try it with the cover off.
oh'i'm sure this is old enough it doesn't have the new saftey feature of a closed chamber does it?larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Thermocouple?
If your pilot light flame is directed at something that looks like a welding rod, you may need a new thermocuple.
It's purpose is to use the pilot light flame to generate a small current that allows the main gas burner valve to open. It's a safety feature that prevents the main gas line from feeding gas into the burner if the pilot light is out.
They're inexpensive and easy to install. Just follow the directions.
Yea, it was a bad gas meter. Brand new one too. Apparently it's rare. What'ya gonna do. Probably made in China.