Water Heater Pilot Flame Goes Out

The water heater pilot light is a small flame that ignites the gas burner on your water heater.

Water heater pilot flame goes out. 2 if the pilot flame is not blue but is yellow or flickering severely it may not be keeping the thermocouple hot enough so when the draft changes as the gas burner goes off the thermocouple cools enough to shut off the gas. If you re water heater doesn t have a sealed combustion chamber it s possibly that the pilot light can be blown out due to a strong draft near your unit. If the thermocouple fails to shut off the gas all the gas flowing through the furnace could get into your home. Here s the short answer to why the water heater burner goes out.

If there is a restriction in the fresh air delivery find the reason and remove the obstructions. In this hvac training video i show up close how the thermocouple pilot light and gas valve work on a water heater furnace fireplace as well as other ap. Most of the time improper venting would cause the pilot outage on direct vent gas water heaters dv. If the pilot doesn t relight if it goes out right after lighting or if the pilot light keeps going out by far the most common cause is a bad thermocouple.

Sometimes the tube might be partially clogged and supplying very little gas for combustion no wonder your pilot light keeps going out. When the water heater pilot light goes out first try relighting it following the directions on the water heater label. Not enough combustible air. The flame will go out if the tube is clogged with dirt or debris.

Down draft from the ceiling fan draft at the bottom of the unit or high winds are also common reasons when the pilot would go out. Now you have the johnny cash ring of fire song in your head. There s just enough air getting into the burner area for the pilot light to work but not enough to sustain the big ring of fire. Thorough cleaning should do the trick.

If this pilot light ever goes out the heater has no way of actually turning on to heat the water or air that your particular type of heater circulates to warm the house or other elements. Sometimes it s referred to as the flame sensor it s a safety mechanism that shuts the gas off should the pilot go out. Not enough combustible air. Flame was blown out.

The pilot tube supplies gas to the pilot light for combustion.