Hot Water Tank, no hot water.

[Alterac]

Well 2 days ago I woke up to an icy cold shower.

Took a look at my hotwater tank and the pilot light had went out. I tried to relight it, but as soon as I released the red override button the flame goes out.

I replaced the Thermocouple thinking that was the issue, and it has the same problems.

Its 2002 Bradford White 40Gal Natgas water tank

It takes a huge man to stand in cold water and wash... as it turns out.. i am not that manly.

I need to fix this asap.
Any suggestions?

EDIT: Forgot to mention im fairly broke, so I cant afford to replace the entire thing.

[masoncgy]

The only other thing I can think of, since you have replaced the thermocouple already, is that there is some kind of dirt/debris or blockage in the gas line...

...unfortunately, it will require a service call to diagnose... I am not too sure what else it could be.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Alterac

Took a look at my hotwater tank and the pilot light had went out. I tried to relight it, but as soon as I released the red override button the flame goes out.

I replaced the Thermocouple thinking that was the issue, and it has the same problems.

This may seem like a stupid question, but there are some people who don't know better... you are holding the button down long enough to warm up the thermocouple, right?

[R-Audi]

When I had to replace my thermocouple, I also had to hit a 'Master Reset' button.... did that and it worked fine.

Maybe call the manufacturer? most will have a hotlline...

[s_havinga]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok



This may seem like a stupid question, but there are some people who don't know better... you are holding the button down long enough to warm up the thermocouple, right?

In my experiance it can take up to 10 minutes to get everything hot enough to keep the pilot light running. I have seen people use a blow torch in there to help speed up the process but I am not sure if that is recommended practice. Might be worth a try before spending any money on it.

[Alterac]

Yea i have held the override down for 10 minutes before and it still doesnt work.

When i am holding the button down, the pilot is a nice blue strong flame, plus i have cleaned both the pilot and the air holes, etc on the unit.

I tested the termocouple with my multimeter, and its working fine.

After talking with a plumber buddy of mine, he thinks its the Gas control vavle, or the ECU has been tripped on it. Which is a one time use deal.

There is no master reset on my unit.

[Darell_n]

Originally posted by Alterac
I tested the thermocouple with my multimeter, and its working fine. [/B]

If you get more than 15mV open or 3-5 mV closed thermocouple is good and change the valve.

[Supa Dexta]

Originally posted by Alterac
It takes a huge man to stand in cold water and wash...

Thanks for the compliment...

[Alterac]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta


Thanks for the compliment...

It gets tiresome after a few times. Sure wakes you up tho.!


Hopefully my new part isnt much more than $100.

[Alterac]

Installed a new gas valve, and the pilot stays on now, and it fired up and started heating water.. Hurray!
$125 at Emco btw.

[Mazstyle]

Props for doing it yourself

[TomcoPDR]

Wow nice work tackling this yourself.

You could had boiled hot water and took baths.

[Alterac]

Yup, turned out to be fairly easy, but im quite handy so it helps out.

But i did enjoy wrenching at it for a while, im pretty sure the name of the guy that assembled my unit was "Superman".. or at the very least "He-Man"