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Pilot Light goes out - Gas Water Heater

17 years ago

My gas fired water heater pilot light goes out every few days/weeks. The water heater is located in my laundry room which is located on the first floor corner of the house. The exterior of the 1st floor is brick, so moving and/or installing a new vent through the wall would not be easy for me to do. Currently, it vents through the roof of the 2nd floor.

For some reason I think that it goes out when it is unusually windy and possibly cold outside. So when I get up in the morning to shower it is rather uncomfortable to do so using cold water. (I live in New Orleans, or what's left of it)

Any suggestions on what I might change or do to prevent this from happening?

Thanks,

Go Saints

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Comment (1)

pjb999
17 years ago
Before you worry about relocating the vent, and, if properly installed normal wind conditions shouldn't bother it, I'd consider replacing the thermocouple that's part of the pilot light system.

They're not very expensive and widely available at most hardware stores, and, whilst I haven't done one myself, they're fairly easy to replace. It just may be that yours is on the way out, and without a thermocouple, the pilot won't stay lit. While you're doing the thermocouple, you should clean the burner too. If you do a search using those terms on the site here, you should find instructions on how to do it. Hope this helps.
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