Nat gas water heater piIot thermo coupIe

bison

Well-known Member
keeps burning out.
I have been repIacing the thermo coupIe ever 6 weeks to two months over the Iast year.
Iast night the piIot was off again!, i repIaced it,...stiII no go.
Then i saw that the roII out switch/fuse was tripped as weII so i beIieve the thermo coupIe was not at fauIt this time.
I jumped the switch and now the piIot stays Iit.
The switch is the repacebIe kind and can not be reset.
The heater is a GSW modeI 6 and 5 years oId

Question,
why wouId these thermo coupIes burn out so fast? (poor quaIity ..or???)
Why wouId the roII out switch trip when the vent is wide open and works fine??

Your opinions pIease.
 
I have had the same thing happen for no apparent reason. I put a bolt in to hold the air supply open. no more problem.
 
GSW (made in Canada) is the BEST water heater on the market. All the heater mfgrs use purchased ancillary components like controls, no one makes their own controls. Is this a natural draft model? Or is it induced draft? This seems to be a control situation, or possibly a back draft down the chimney could cause the flame to roll out.
 
The roll out fuse, I assume you're talking about the glass link that props the damper door open?

If that trips it will let the pilot burn until the main burner comes on, and will smother both out, so the thermocoupler was probably not at fault.

Had that problem with a heater at a place I worked. First time it tripped I went through the same thing, thinking it was a bad thermocoupler. It was still under warranty, called tech support, got read a script in very broken English... They sent me a new fuse, a one time offer.

Put it in, worked fine until the next time we cleaned up that area, sweeping and blowing with the air hose. Turns out the dust in the air caused the fire to flare up, blaze red, sure you've seen this... That was all it took to trip the fuse again. This time I made one out of a piece of plumbing solder. Not the safest thing, but nothing flamable near the base of the heater, poor design MHO.
 
(quoted from post at 13:08:45 11/09/14)
Question,
why wouId these thermo coupIes burn out so fast? (poor quaIity ..or???

Your opinions pIease.

Is the thermocouple in the flame properly? Too much flame is just as much of a problem is not enough and will burn out the thermocouple quite quickly. Of course you cant rule out bad/cheap thermocouples, get out your meter from the get go to make sure.
 
(quoted from post at 15:22:28 11/09/14) GSW (made in Canada) is the BEST water heater on the market. All the heater mfgrs use purchased ancillary components like controls, no one makes their own controls. [b:244a657dc6]Is this a natural draft model[/b:244a657dc6]? Or is it induced draft? This seems to be a control situation, or possibly a back draft down the chimney could cause the flame to roll out.
aturaI draft me thinks, the exhaust pipe is T-ed in into the gas Furnace chimney. Been Iike that since the house was buiId in 93.
It never gave a probem
 
(quoted from post at 16:54:01 11/09/14)
(quoted from post at 13:08:45 11/09/14)
Question,
why wouId these thermo coupIes burn out so fast? (poor quaIity ..or???

Your opinions pIease.

[b:8a32bf6127]Is the thermocouple in the flame properly?[/b:8a32bf6127] Too much flame is just as much of a problem is not enough and will burn out the thermocouple quite quickly. Of course you cant rule out bad/cheap thermocouples, get out your meter from the get go to make sure.
he probe is in the fIame as far as it can go.
If i puII it back a bit it won't keep the fame burning.
 
(quoted from post at 16:39:15 11/09/14) [b:d0f4a46037]The roll out fuse, I assume you're talking about the glass link that props the damper door open[/b:d0f4a46037]?

If that trips it will let the pilot burn until the main burner comes on, and will smother both out, so the thermocoupler was probably not at fault.

Had that problem with a heater at a place I worked. First time it tripped I went through the same thing, thinking it was a bad thermocoupler. It was still under warranty, called tech support, got read a script in very broken English... They sent me a new fuse, a one time offer.

Put it in, worked fine until the next time we cleaned up that area, sweeping and blowing with the air hose. Turns out the dust in the air caused the fire to flare up, blaze red, sure you've seen this... That was all it took to trip the fuse again. This time I made one out of a piece of plumbing solder. Not the safest thing, but nothing flamable near the base of the heater, poor design MHO.
ope, this fuse/switch is Iocated in the burner access cover at the bottom of the heater, it has 2 wires that go inside the gas controI vaIve.
It is just a thermo sensor with 2 maIe spade terminaIs, each spade has a tiny metaI strip that supposedIy is a fuse,..one of them has burned out.
I connected the wires together and he heater works fine now.
 
It's getting too hot & by bypassing the SAFETY roll out switch(other than momentarily to test) is playing Russian roulette. You should have a service tech test the valve pressure, change the orfice and open up the vent to find the nest inside.
 
(quoted from post at 20:39:20 11/09/14)
(quoted from post at 15:22:28 11/09/14) GSW (made in Canada) is the BEST water heater on the market. All the heater mfgrs use purchased ancillary components like controls, no one makes their own controls. [b:3e20e026d3]Is this a natural draft model[/b:3e20e026d3]? Or is it induced draft? This seems to be a control situation, or possibly a back draft down the chimney could cause the flame to roll out.
aturaI draft me thinks, the exhaust pipe is T-ed in into the gas Furnace chimney. Been Iike that since the house was buiId in 93.
It never gave a probem

Blockage? Birds nest?
 
(quoted from post at 19:43:05 11/09/14)
(quoted from post at 16:54:01 11/09/14)
(quoted from post at 13:08:45 11/09/14)
Question,
why wouId these thermo coupIes burn out so fast? (poor quaIity ..or???

Your opinions pIease.

[b:c0fa00edca]Is the thermocouple in the flame properly?[/b:c0fa00edca] Too much flame is just as much of a problem is not enough and will burn out the thermocouple quite quickly. Of course you cant rule out bad/cheap thermocouples, get out your meter from the get go to make sure.
he probe is in the fIame as far as it can go.
If i puII it back a bit it won't keep the fame burning.

That does not address weather or not it is in the flame properly, just saying it is in the flame as far as it goes does not make it correct.

Also, the flame has to be set correct. Think of Baby Bear in the Goldilocks story, it has to be [i:c0fa00edca]just right....[/i:c0fa00edca] Too big a flame and the thermocouple burns out, too small and the pilot wont stay lit.

Good luck.
 

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