Gas water tank won't light

[shadow460]

I didn't think to write down the brand name and model number.  Instead I wanted to go charging bravely in with a thermocouple and a wrench for the fix!

Anyway, I was looking up something else here for a friend and I thought, why not ask about this water tank I was working on today?

Here's how it goes.  You turn the temp all the way down, turn the gas valve off, then wait.  Five minutes later you turn the gas valve to pilot, hold the button down, and use a match to light the pilot light.  Release the button after one minute and the pilot light stays lit.  This tells me the thermocouple is good.  You can turn the gas valve on and the standing pilot still stays lit, but as soon as you turn up the temp, the pilot goes out.

I think it has a bad gas valve.  The gas company's tech thinks it's a bad thermocouple.  I'm inclined to replace the thermocouple first anyway since it's cheap, but I think I'm going to be coming back with a gas valve later in the week.

Seems like a problem that could be common to more than one water tank to me, but then again, if I knew everything, I'd certainly have it fixed by now.  Ideas?

[Bobice]

Take a look  http://www.americanwaterheater.com/support/guides/fvir.pdf

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Bob, you may want to put the link to your page in your signature line:

http://web.me.com/zenzoidman/Bobice/

[shadow460]

Thanks. I will run for a thermocouple later this week.