Posted: 2/6/2008 11:06:12 AM EDT
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3 year old Whirlpool natural gas Water Heater. Pilot went out, and I can't get it to stay lit. Follwoed the directions on the tank, and it just won't stay lit. any solutions. The pilot comes on as soon as I hit the striker, but the second I let go of the reset button it shuts off. I held the reset button for 60 seconds like it says, and longer. Nada. Help. I really need a warm shower, |
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The thermocouple (sp?) is likely the culprit. It is the metal tube that goes to the pilot light, and is connected to the electrical parts of the water heater. Here are some color instructions  thermocouple replacement
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Yup, 99.9% of the time it is the T-coupling. If it still won't stay lit it's the gas valve. ETA - You can get T-couplings at Home Depot. 2ETA - Found these pics in my photobucket account that show how it is done....   
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I only know this because the heater in my house has to have the t-coupling replaced every 2-3 years, it might just be randomly going out. But at least I know what to look for 
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Well ya hit the nail on the head. Normally a T-couple will last about 5yrs or so but a lot of factors come into play like moisture, heat and cold, etc.... |
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UNDER RECALL, call the manufacturer phone number which is on the side of it. ALL anti flame water heaters made recently with left hand thread thermocouples are under recall. FWIW,this will be a "safe" anti flashback water heater with thermocouple that has a fusible link in it. They are not cheap and either the fresh air draw inlets are plugged with dust, cat hair etc, or the exhaust vent is partially blocked [probably unlikely] or the therm is just bad because they are POS. Either way, there IS a recall and they need to be fixed correctly. Thank your fed gov for the POS you are forced to buy and the manufacturers are forced to build. |
I was just reading something about whirlpool using those on their "Flame lock" gas water heaters, which I happen to have, and it does have left hand threaded thermocouple on it. The problem is how do I take a warm shower while I'm waiting for a replacement part from a recall? Or better yet how do I explain that one to the wife "Hew baby guess what it's cold shower time for about a week" won't work. Should I just go to lowes, buy a new T-Couple, and put it in myself, or pay a plumber like $100.00 bucks or more to do it for me? |
If you call them, you'll have parts on your doorstep in 1 to 2 business days. They should also pay for the parts installation and should have certified businesses in your area to do it. The left hand thread thermocouples should have been taken off the shelves already, businesses were SUPPOSED to do that but there will still be some out there. I know I have a few stashed away "just in case". |
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OK heres the deal. After a long, and painfull process of telephone calls, and trips to hardware stores around town I finally got an answer. In Oct. there was a lawsuit filed against Whirlpool. They lost and now they have to replace the burner assemblies, and make available retrofit kits to all the people who bought NG water heaters with certain sereal numbers (eta. MINE) so I called them, and will have my parts tommorow. The kicker is I paid $20.00 for shipping, and I have to do the labor myself, or pay someone to do it for me. Oh well that will be the last time I buy anything from Whirlpool I think. Thanks for all the help, and ya'll were right it was the thermocouple, just my luck I had to have the crappiest POS there is out there. Here is some advice for all you who may own a Whirlpool LP or NG flamelock waterheater with a sereal number starting with FG. Clean the vent on the bottom of the damn thing at least every three months because if the thermocouple trips you are stuck without hot water untill you can be as smart as me, and navigate Whirlpool's tedious brainfrying automated telephone menus, and get a retrofit kit. I would call them, and get one anyway as a backup not for just in case, but for when your waterheater goes out.  That is all Thanks FXNTIME. |
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Wow, out of curiosity, what is the manufacture date on your unit? Mine was 2003 and it just now went out. I have read a lot of posts where they didn't last nearly that long, and then I found a bunch of posts where it seemed like they were going out within days of each other, right around the same time mine did. Whirlpool is consistent with their junk, gotta give em' that. Thanks to the internet, and wonderful forums like these, I knew to go straight to Whrilpool, skip the automated system, and have an operator send me the upgrade kit overnight for $18. Of course, they sent it through DHL and DHL sent it to the wrong distribution center, so my overnight turned into over the weekend, but it was still somewhat painless. I want to clean that vent, I felt around the bottom of it and can't feel a vent under there. How big is the fresh air vent? Is it in the center of the unit? |
When you pull the burner, look where the screen is, get a stiff nylon brush with a long handle and brush it well every couple months. It will really help. |
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Cool. Thanks a lot! I shined a flashlight in there and immediately saw what you were talking about. I cleaned it and installed the upgrade. Took me a while, put I was finally able to get it lit again. I guess time will tell... It's really a shame. I guess a lot of folks ended up just buying new units to avoid the hassle. Even some who were able to get the upgrade to work said they weren't happy with the results. Low temperatures, continuing issues with the pilot light, etc. |
Thank the fed government for this, they forced the water heater companies to do this, the water heater companies did not want to in the first place. Had to do mostly with the non compliance of homeowners or installers who refused to follow code or common sense when they put them in. |
HUGE +1 it's the feds way of stopping the Darwinian process of weeding out the stupid! |