I have an old natural gas furnace that is located near the floor in the hall way. its a small one and my house has floor hear returns. the furnace worked fine then the gas company accidently turned off my gas and when they turned it back on, ive been having problems with my pilot light not wanting to stay on. i can light the pilot light and it will stay on for a while but then just go off. it doesnt have inshot burners, its got the pilot light in front then a whole bunch of real small burners bunched up together in the back. its getting really cold, please help. i dont want to call a serviceman. the furnace is either a mid-efficency or conventional. its not a high efficency.
2007-11-16 13:25:14 · 6 answers · asked by joshthebowhunter 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Sounds like you need to replace the "thermo coupler". Not too hard of a job. Go to Lowes or Home Depot.
2007-11-16 13:29:35 · answer #1 · answered by Squat1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try this first: Get a butane torch and heat up the tip of that pilot real good. Chances are it will stay working if not,
go down to ace hardware and get the guy to sell you a thermocouple it is less than 10 bucks. What it is is a copper safety device that produces a small amount of current to hold open the gas so the pilot will stay lit and the heater will come on. When you move the knob to PILOT and mash down on it you are pushing down on a spring loaded valve with an electro magnet in it. The flame causes energy to hold the magnet in. If the pilot blows out the magnet will not hold and the spring will shut the flow of gas off so the house wont blow up. It is that simple.It has a 3/8th nut on the end that screws into the gas valve, It is not gas carrying so no gas will come out. The old thermocouple will slide out of the pilot assembly and the new one will slide in. Make sure the flame hits the tip and not the middle. The nickle/copper element in the tip produces electrical current which holds the gas open as long as the pilot is lit. Clever huh? TY Ralph Nader.
2007-11-17 11:29:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The thermocouple is the pilot's, well, co-pilot! It is the electronic device that senses if the pilot flame is hot enough to sustain burning the gas fuel from the burner. If the thermocouple thinks it's safe, then it keeps open the main gas valve located in the pilot assembly. If the thermocouple does not sense enough heat from the pilot flame (such as when the pilot is out), then the thermocouple shuts off the gas valve to the burners.
How the Thermocouple Works
So what is this thing and how does it work? Well the thermocouple (technically called a thermocouple junction) is a device that contains two metal wires welded at the ends and placed inside a protective metal case. The thermocouple sensor is found at the business end of the pilot flame and is designed to be placed in the hottest part of the flame.
The other end is connected to the pilot valve body. As the thermocouple heats up, it produces a small amount of electricity and when it gets hot enough from the pilot, send a signal to open the gas valve by using a solenoid operated by a 24 volt transformer. The thermocouple calls the shots, and by converting heat to an electrical signal, it allows the gas valve to open or close.
Once the gas valve is open, gas is then constantly supplied to the pilot and as required for the gas burners (as called for by the thermostat). If the pilot goes out, then the thermocouple gets cold and produces no electric signal to open the gas valve's solenoid and the gas valve shuts off the gas supply to the pilot and burners. Neat huh?
2007-11-16 21:35:33 · answer #3 · answered by AFRET73 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is a device called a thermocouple that will shut off gas if it senses problem with pilot. Gas company may have adjusted pilot light height. Or shook loose some debris in gasline causing the shutdown. Call gas company back out. Tell them it hasn't worked right since they were there.
2007-11-16 21:30:51 · answer #4 · answered by pumpdatiron 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If your pilot light have been working improperly as a result of the gas company accidentally shutting off your burner, Call the Gas Company. Give them the date they turned off the gas, that after they left you had to relight the pilot and it has not functioned properly since . Emphasize the fact there was no problem prior to their visit!!
2007-11-16 21:41:11 · answer #5 · answered by googie 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Blow it up rebuild on the insurance money, lol. sounds like the igniter on the furnace is bad brother.Its simpler than you think.
2007-11-16 21:30:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋