Pilot light goes out every so often?

Question

So the pilot light in our hot water heater is always going out. Like once ever 6 months. Although, it went out last wed and then last night. Everytime it does go out DH is able to relight it no problems. So, i was wondering who do you call to come look at your hot water heater? Gas company or someone else

Answer 1

sounds more like wind blowing out the pilot. when a thermocouple is bad generally the pilot goes out immediately after you light and turn the thermostat to on. if it is happening from wind you can easily increase the height of the flue on the roof. you can also add a cap on the flue that prevents the back flow of air. some gas companies do service work on gas appliances or have contractors who do so call your gas company first if they have someone it will probably be cheaper then a plumber or handi-man

Answer 2

A safety device called a thermocouple is used on your heater.
When a flame hits the tip of it this causes an electrical flow which in turn holds a magnet in. As long as the flame is there the magnet will hold and allow gas when needed to heat the water. If the flame is not too good or the thermocouple is weak then the pilot will go out. The old style(as shown below) was right hand threads and about 6 dollars
the new style with the fusible link built in is reverse threads and 20 bucks

Answer 3

Light the pilot and after a minute blow it out. If you heat a click in less than ten seconds then it's probably the thermocouple. Replace it. The problem could also be a lazy pilot flame if it's burning yellow or is too small to heat the thermocouple properly. In this case you'll have to get the pilot cleaned. These are the common problems, it could be something else.

Answer 4

A plumber can take a look at it but it sounds to me like it might only be blowing out. Does it happen to be quite windy on the days it goes out? If so, you may be able to fix it yourself by simply turning the pilot up slightly if it is a small weak flame or down slightly if it is a rather fierce flame (as in almost jumping off the end of the pilot tube). Either one will blow out quite easily if a draft just happens to come down the stove pipe when the burner is off.

Bert

Answer 5

sounds like it needs a new thermocouple, you can buy one at a hardware store and DIY, or call a heating contractor to do it and they will charge you $100.00.