Water heater on/off knob cracked

[obrien1984]

I am helping a friend out with her property by trying to get it fixed up. One area of concern is the water heater. It's been turned off for several months now. The valve on the gas line leading to it is shut off, and the water heater knob is in the "off" position.

I was going to try to get it fired up, but I noticed that the on/off/pilot knob is split across the top. Before I turn it on, I wanted to check here and see if this is a problem or if it's something I can ignore for now.

If it is a problem and could be potentially dangerous, can the knob be replaced, or is this a situation where one has to replace the entire control assembly?

Thanks!

P.S., the control valve looks almost exactly like the one in the link below.

[RegUS_PatOff]

water heater model number ?

[obrien1984]

Oh, Sensei. Can't you discern this information through time and space?

j/k. I'll look it up tonight when I get home.

[RegUS_PatOff]

different years, ect ..

different versions of the Valve ..

to check to see if the Knob is available separately ..

Don't want to "guess" with gas

[Bullstok]

If there is any doubt whatsoever: replace the gas control valve. Don't mess with trying to fix it. They are not meant to be disassembled by anyone. It's a lot easier than you may think and having a questionable valve for any reason is a bad idea. Sometimes the valve sticks and someone forces it or forgets it has to be pushed down to turn it on. (how did it crack, what else is wrong, could it cause a fire, etc etc) again, not worth it.

[Cactus Bob]

here in Arizona a lot of these water heaters are in outside closets and are subject to high heat , this makes the knobs crack and even fall off

this makes it tough to light the pilot and know where to set the knob for pilot , on ,ect

BUT the knob itself has nothing to do with gas leaking , the seal is down inside the valve

years ago i had a water heater that both knobs had melted from another problem that was corrected , the valve worked fine for years and would still be ok if it had not been replaced because of a water leak

But always be aware of gas fumes , on any gas appliance even if it looks brand new .