My hot water heater pilot light wont stay lit...?

Question

My hot water heater light began to go out recently. I re-lit the light and over the past few weeks has been doing it more often, until today it went out 3 times. I was going to buy a new water heater but my buddy said that perhaps the problem was the pilot light flow? (Something to that nature) He said that the flow could be screwed up and perhaps just get a new fitting for the pilot light? Anyone have any experience with this? If I dont need a new heater, why get one? How can I tell? The water heater is 9 years old, natural gas.

Thanks alot!

Answer 1

a new thermal couple may be the problem, is it windy lately where you live? you may be able to turn up the pilot flame (slightly) and fix it free. you can replace the thermal couple for maybe 20 bucks if neither works it's new water heater time.

Answer 2

What's happening most likely because of the age is...... The holes the propane come out of are dirty.(Rust flakes) Especially the holes that first light up near the pilot....Extra gas leaks in until the other holes spewing propane catch fire. It's fairly violent and it actually will blow your pilot light out.
You could poke a thin but firm wire to unclog the ones next to the pilot. (3 or 4). Then the heater would light right away and have no build up to blow it out.
This is what you SHOULD do if your smart. Get a new water heater. The newer ones will pay for themselves in a couple of years because there so much more efficient than your 9 year old..........This is not something you want to mess around with. It's potentially dangerous.
You will NOT waste your money by buying a new one.
Make a couple of phone calls for prices and installation, get your best deal..........This is a good idea even if your pilot was NOT going out.........9 years, you're ready.
Do not get a guy to come in and repair it for less money. Put that money toward a new one and be done with it.
Been there a lot, trust me, I have 6 of them.

Answer 3

As others have said, it's the thermal coupler. It is just a small sensor that tells the controller that the pilot is lit. If the controller senses that the pilot went out it shuts off the gas. These thermal couples are a common problem. The pilot flame hits the sensor (thermal coupler) and there is a wire leading to the valve that you use to turn on the gas for the pilot.

Answer 4

So it is 9 years old. Most likely it is a 10 year water heater right?
You can buy a new heater for 400 and install it, or call for service, pay 300 for a thermocouple and "service" call and get one more year.

Lets face it, with the holidays next week, you know it is going to fail for real and you will be out the 300 for the service and then 400 for a new one.

Buy a new heater.

Answer 5

Your pilot light really doesn't have anything to do with the water heater itself so you may not need a new one. You may have a problem with the gas pipe or coupler being cracked and not enough gas is reaching the pilot light to keep it lit. A gas leak is a serious problem though and you should call your furnace co. immediately and turn off the gas to your furnace until they can figure out what the problem is.

Answer 6

Myself, I'd start and end with calling a trusted plumber. Not messing around with gas line here, thank you very much.

Having said that, we have problems with our water heater - periodically has the pilot light go out. It is in the attic in sunny Houston Texas. On certain days, after running certain appliances (washing machine, strangely enough), it goes out. We've learned that the "safety feature" cuts off the gas when it passes a certain temp. Nothing worse than having to schlep up into the attic on those days to kick start the heater. Who knows, maybe the safety thermostat is going on your water heater?

Again, in the end, plumber you trust. No brainer. :)

Answer 7

Well the next possible culprit would be the gas control valve that the thermocouple attaches to.

Answer 8

change the thermal coupler