Your video just saved our butts man! Thank you! Gf tried to take a shower and said there was no hot water… found the pilot out but gas to the furnace. Could not get the pilot to stay lit and your video got us going! We are in CO and it’s been in the 10s all day and have a baby on top of that. Thanks for making this and helping others.
Didn’t have hot water at midnight. Came across your video about an hour of looking into it and thanks to your video we have hot water again! Very much appreciated! Thank you!
Thank you so much! Very helpful. Just got off from a "repairman" who just took a quick look, without even showing any effort toward repair, and said you need a new heater, and started giving me numbers for a new heater. Immediately I realized his bullshit and asked him to leave. I started doing my own research and got here. I can't thank you enough. You saved me a whole lot of trouble and probably thousands of dollars.
Literally saved my family $1,200 for a new water heater + installation. I tried cleaning my old thermocouple, but still didn't work. The wire appeared to be broken right where the probe begins. Bought a new one from Ace for $10 and instantly fixed the problem after replacing it. God bless you!
Great! Glad to hear you saved a lot of money! If you'd like to show your appreciation more, I do have venmo/cashapp/paypal in the description. No pressure...Either way, I'm glad you got it fixed!
Plumber wanted to charge $650 to try and change out possible 3 issues (lighter, gas tubing, sensor) and it wasn’t guaranteed to work. Or replace the whole thing with a new heater with labor and haul away of old one $2600! Sir you just saved me so much $$$, THANK YOU 🙏🏽
I saw this video and started the process but decided to replace the whole pilot assembly for only $50 and it is working perfectly now. Thank you so much for helping us keep our appliances going!
This solution worked for me. My pilot light kept on going out after multiple attempts. I’ve had to do this in the past with other UA-cam vids, but I found this video to be straightforward and easy to understand.
Well....woke up this morning to cold water for my wife and two boys. I just followed the video instructions and my light is staying lit and heating the water! God bless you sir!
Thanks for the video!!! Worked perfectly. Luckily our local ace hardware store had competent employees and I purchased a complete pilot assembly replacement kit. I tried the first option to clean the thermo coupling it didn't work. I'm very happy as I only spent $50 for the kit. Way way less then a service/repair visit from the repair man!
Great! Glad you got it fixed! Yeah, an honest plumber would have charged $200+/-, And a dishonest plumber would have told you to replace the whole hot water heater $1,000 +/-
@@HandymanHertz Not sure why this says I commented hours ago because I commented this last week lol. I been restarting it every morning ever since. I've got a plumber coming out to check and an electrician to check the house the next day because I also lost power in half the house 3 days before the water heater(which is gas lol). Everything is failing all at once. I inherited my older parent's house and it seems everything wants to just stop all at once. Because 3 weeks before the water heater(gas) was the gas oven pilot light. Edit: I'm severely at a loss without the money to hire all these people to check everything.. is there anyway I can DM you or text or email to get information for the next hour to ask questions I'm concerned about?(this will be deleted in an hour)
Thank you for this video, this was exactly the problem with my water heater. I watched other videos which led to them saying to replace the gas valve, but I was still not convinced. Then I saw your video and without even trying it I knew it was going to work. Thanks a lot, you saved me money.
Thanks brother! While I still plan on getting a new water heater I didn't really want to do it last night. While I knew the thermocouple was probably the problem, this tank is also 20 years old. I wasn't going to mess with it until you said your tank is 19 years old. Gave me the hope to try it instead of installing a new tank starting at 6 pm yesterday. Glad I saw your vid and that you mentioned 19 years!
Glad I could help! I know it's old, but I am of the mindset if it's not broke, don't fix it. Especially if you maintain it, by changing out the anode rod and flushing it, it should last a while I would hope. 👍🏼
Thank you so much for this video! I never would have messed around with my water heater before, thinking it's too complicated and dangerous, but you made it extremely simple and may have saved me from having to buy a new water heater or pay a lot of money for repairs. I keep checking the pilot light, expecting it to be out again, but it's been on for 2 days now (compared to going out every few hours before) so I'm feeling hopeful! If nothing else, now I know how to take it apart and try other repairs. I also loved being able to get in there and clean out all of the debris and polish up the little viewing window.
Yeah! Some stuff like that is so easy, but so intimidating. That's why I love UA-cam...someone showing us how to and empowering us to do it ourselves! Now, go check out my anode rod video and flushing the water heater video to keep that water heater humming for years (hopefully)
@@HandymanHertz update: the pilot light went out again after a few days, but now I was confident in working on my water heater. First, I bought a new thermocouple and replaced the old one, but that didn't make a difference. Next, I figured out that if I bypassed the high limit switch, the pilot light would stay on. So, I replaced the old limit switch with a new one (which cost $40) and the pilot light has remained lit for a week so far. I'm quite confident that the limit switch was the problem and I have avoided buying a new water heater! Thanks again for your helpful video!
Nice! I do not know anything about the high limit switch, I've not had to do with that yet. If that still gives you trouble, one of the main reasons why a new thermal couple doesn't work is the flame isn't hitting the thermal couple when it's put back in and is aligned wrong. Make sure the flames contacting the thermal couple good 👍🏼 Glad you got in there and fixed it though!
I just paid my plumber to do this for $400 and it was still not working, he told me i needed to order a new heater. I watched this, and it took me 20 minutes and now it works fine 😕
Glad to help you, sorry you got bamboozled by your plumber. That's one reason why I love fixing as much stuff as I can, and learning how to do it myself. Even if I break something or do it wrong. 👍🏼 good job for fixing it.
Also, you may consider leaving them an unfavorable review on yelp/facebook or online somewhere. Sounds like they run a sloppy business at best and are lying thieves taking advantage of people at worse. People should be aware. $400 is thievery for what they did (or didn't do). Plus trying to sell you a new heater too.
Lucky you. I did this and the burner plate is not lighting... the gas works. You can smell it when you drain it. It ignites up. But the burner plate itself does not catch fire.... please why?
Thanks! That means a lot! We worked hard on this one. My buddy is taking over the editing. we are amateurs, but hoping each video gets a little better in some way. 👍🏼
thank god for modern tech i was never taught any of this maintenance stuff thank god for people like you cuz otherwise owning and maintaining a house would be a thousand time more expensive
Great video! This worked after cleaning it twice, I decided to try cleaning it a second time before the hardware store opened and just needed an extra sand with sanding pad instead of paper.
Great! Glad to hear it. sometimes The flame doesn't hit the sensor when it's reinstalled, so if it gives you issues, that might be something to look at as well 👍🏼
Thank you for this! Worked like a charm. My roommate and I have had so many things break this week, it was really helpful to be able to handle this ourselves with just a bit of sandpaper we had on hand. Cheers bud.
Thank you! Great video, well voiced and well edited! Appreciate your time and effort to put this out. Boo to all the pedantic people and their comments about hot water heater vs water heater. Good grief! Get a life people! This guy just helped hundreds if not thousands of people save a lot of money, time, and effort to continue having hot water for their families. Well done sir!
Thank you! I do not let Internet comment Trolls affect me one bit. They have no credibility, and are likely people whose opinion I would not respect anyways. Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the video
This video is so helpful, im actually changing mine out tomorrow & had no idea how to do so until now. Definitely going to try clearing it first. Very informative, thanks.😌🤘🏻
Awesome video. Very detailed. My water heater is giving me problems with the pilot light and this seems like a logical answer as to why. My heater looks different from yours, mine does not include an igniter or the faceplate where the tubes travel through. Also mine has a blanket wrapped around and foil taped to it making it hard to see the make and model. Not entirely sure what to buy to replace the thermocouple. I believe this is the original water heater that was installed in the house by the previous owner back in 2003.
Thanks for watching! I would assume you would need a generic one like in the packages I showed in the video from Honeywell. I’d say of all of the hot water heaters I’ve worked on, my style is more rare. But I’d look to make sure. It should be an easy fix if you can get to it. You can search for a thermal couple video that will show you how to replace that specific kind you have. Good luck to you.
Had same problem. Followed the video. Cleaned up the thermocouple nicely as instructed. No change. Replaced thermocouple, still no change. Pilot dies out when I release the red button on top, no matter how long I allow the pilot light to heat the thermocouple. Looking for next part to check. Ideas?
make sure the flame is touching the thermocouple. If it is and you replaced it already, I wonder if it's a a bad gas valve. Not exactly sure how they work, but I would think the voltage isn't tripping the gas valve. Maybe check the voltage at the end of the thermocouple with the flame on it, and google what the millivolts is required for you type?
Just want to say that mine has the same issue. I can light the pilot and hold the button down for like 5 minutes then the flame goes out. Gonna buy a new thermocoupler today and replace it. Thank you for your video. I don’t know why but having never done this I’m really looking forward to it
Very well explained. Detailed and easy to understand as well. Is it ok to use compressor to blow carbon rust from the burner assembly. Many thanks for the video.
This really helped me. I cleaned the thermocouple, I was holding the button down for 5-6 minutes, and it was going out immediately, after cleaning it and reassembling it, I held it down for 5 seconds, and it stayed on long enough. Thank you. There was a burnt up rubber gasket around the compartment that I couldn't do anything with, will this be a problem?
Glad it helped! It it's the small one like in my video, I wouldn't worry at all about it unless you have gusts of wind, like in a garage or something that can blow the pilot light out.
@@HandymanHertzhey brother, my pilot light went out again after this fix. What would you recommend I do next? It’s having the same problem as before. Do I take it out and sand it down again?
Hi. I'm so glad I found (and subscribed) to this channel. I have a 3yr old American gas water heater (model: G62-40S-40R). My pilot keeps shutting off every day during the summer. I replaced the thermocouple but it didn't help. I believe the problem is not good enough air supply. My attic isn't vented and in summer it's very very hot. Did you hear of this problem? Is there any "easy" (simple/cheap) solution to this? I'm considering an attic fan, but that's thousands of $$$ and I'm looking for a cheaper and simpler solution. ANY THOUGHT/HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS I'VE SUFFERED THIS FOR OVER 3 YRS NOW. THANK YOU !!
Hi, if your pilot light goes out it's due to one of two reasons. It gets blown out by a gust of air, or the control valve shuts off gas to it. I would check to see if the flame is fully hitting the thermocouple, it may need adjusted. Then I'd make sure no windows were open where it it located. I'm not sure on the chimney flue, but maybe there's a backdraft that comes down and blows out the flame?
@@HandymanHertz Hi there. Thank you SO MUCH TRULY for replying to me. It certainly isn't the thermocouple cause not only I replaced it, but also this problem happens only in the summer, not in the winter. I thought it was not enough air supply, rather than a draft that's turning off the light. I will look at the chimney even though the fact this happens only in summer when temperatures are so high (over 100) suggests it has to do with the weather, cause all else is equal (thermocouple, chimney, windows, etc..). I thought air supply coming from under the tank is needed to supply oxygen to keep the pilot light on. Isn't that true? would you know how I can test how much air supply or oxygen I have there under the tank?
Excelkent video! I was looking for something like this to show a friend how to fix his. Thank you ! Thumbs up. Question: Why would you heat hot water? Its already hot. Isnt it just a "water heater" ?
Nice, glad it worked for you! If it gives you more troubles, maybe look into making sure the pilot light is hitting the thermal couple properly. This is common when reassembling that it gets bumped.
Great! Glad to hear you saved a lot of money! If you'd like to show your appreciation more, I do have venmo/cashapp/paypal in the description. No pressure...Either way, I'm glad you got it fixed!
Hey Tim , I’ve replaced the gas control valve and the thermocouple assembly. All works well for the first thirty minutes and then the pilot light and burner both turn off. I was able to get everything working one time to where it would get to temperature , burner would turn off, and the pilot light would stay on. It would cycle through again and then shut everything off. Any ideas.? Also awesome video , I wish I would of tried this first 😅. Cheers buddy.
Howdy! Hmm...my first thought would be to double check that the flame is hitting the new thermocouple. You could test the voltage on the opposite end of the flame sensor if you wanted. I would then check to see if your little vent is plugged on the bottom (it needs to suck in air easily or it will be turbulent, causing the flame to go out. Another thing I would wonder is if you have a leak in your chimney or some sort of draft coming down and blowing out your pilot light. But if you can't even get it to stay lit, this isn't an issue probably. Maybe you could clean out the pilot light gas tube… Maybe some ants blocked it or a bug is in it and not allowing enough? You see All sorts of random things. I would look to your gas control valve… But you already replaced that, so no need. Let me know if any of that helps. They are pretty simple machines… At least most of them if they are like my model.
The gas water heater that I was trying to fix looks very similar to the one you were working on actually.! AO Smith , about 20 years old. I replaced the whole igniter , pilot tube , and thermocouple assembly. As well as the gas valve. I suppose I will need to double check that the thermocouple didn’t get bent or something whenever I was reinstalling it and then test the voltage. The vent on the bottom is nice and clean. I took a peak at that while I was cleaning around the pan to check for leaks. I can check for a backdraft through the chimney , that’s not a bad idea either. You’ve given me plenty of food for thought though. Thanks for the reply , I’ll keep you updated if I find anything out. God bless.!
Hello there, just wanted to let you know that we resolved the issue buddy.! I took the assembly back out and double checked everything. It looked in order so I put it back in and tested it. Like magic it worked again. I believe you were onto the issue with the pilot light not being on the thermocouple properly. I think it was just crooked when I installed it the first time and the flame wasn’t covering majority of the thermocouple. Good looking out sir.! Thank you very much.
We don't have a gas water heater but I love learning about stuff. You just never know when you may run into one! Thanks for the information. Your video is well done. The opposing view of the burner from the inside is very helpful. You show what cannot usually be seen and I'm sure you are helping someone figure out what they need to do.
Hi thanks for the video. I have the same exact thermocouple but unfortunately mine is broke. All the replacements I've seen or have been told will work from parts departments do not have that black battery looking piece. I can only find it on amazon. What is it and is it not needed? Can I replace it with a regular thermocouple? I did a temp solder to make sure that was my issue and the water heater worked fine so i know its the thermocouple. Thanks
@FishingWithZach oh, ok. I know what you're talking about and I wondered what that was too. I'm not sure what that is. I bought the whole kit on Amazon that came with it.
So I have that exact HW heater and thermocouple/ pilot assembly. I replaced the assembly this time last year. After replacing everything still no joy. Solution : My intake and exhaust were clogged with lint and dirt. (Tank is in the garage next to the dryer.) Blew everything out with my compressor. And this is the longest it’s ran so far.
hi great video I was thinking about the same solution before I found your video because I did the same procedure for years to my furnace and actually I have taken out the burner assembly right now and stop because I found a piece of twisted metal plate that fell down from the exhaust center of the heater do you know what that is and do I have to replace the whole heater? appreciate any advice
Hi, I believe the spiral metal piece is your flu baffle/heat exchanger. I do not know if you need to replace it, but I do know you need a functioning flu. I’ve never heard of chunks of the baffle falling out. my concern would be if the top pieces are falling, it may clog the flu, and not sucking the fumes up the chimney correctly
I had a water heater that shared a 2 story vent with the furnace. If the air in the vent had cooled and was filled with cold air, the draft inducer on the furnace would blow back down the water heater vent and blow out the pilot light. Adding an electronic igniter to the water heater solved the problem by reigniting the pilot flame whenever it did not sense the flame.
Rod removal: My water heater is 6 years old, but cheap brand. Heater went off by itself for 1st time and I think it needs all you said, including rod replacement. It would be proper maintenance. In your vid it seems that you remove the rod AFTER trouble shooting the pilot light, correct? Without flushing the tank and removing rust from bottom? With water heater on, you just lift rod and replace, when water is hot? Or turn all off, wait till it cools, then proceed? If I remember well (not in the attic now) the rod is pretty tight, not easy to grab. Do you have a vid for that, and again, before or after servicing the pilot light/thermocouple?
I have the same exact water heater and I sanded the thermocouple but it's still going out. It will stay lit when I light it but then after a couple minutes and it's not calling for heat anymore the pilot goes out. Maybe I need a new burner assembly? Or you think just a new thermocouple will work?
I would first mess around with your current thermal couple and make sure the flame is hitting it directly. If it's only partially hitting it, it can be fickle. Then, I would change the thermal couple. I doubt it would be your burner assembly, especially since it works until it loses a pilot light.
Also, I've replaced my polot assembly and it still wont stay lit. I'm thinking it could be the sensor (black fuse looking thing) on the thermocouple, but this is the 2nd thermocouple I've tried. How do I test it if its brand new? I may try cleaning the old one like you show in this video to see if it stays on with it.
Thanks for posting this. I do have a question. My issue is with the burner as it doesn’t turn on. The pilot light stays lit and the status light is normal. It blinks once every 3 seconds but the burner is out. I took out the whole burner assembly cleaned it and also cleaned the thermocouple like you did in the video. Put the burner assembly back and the burner won’t stay on. Took the whole assembly out once again and this time replaced the thermocouple. Put the assembly back with the new thermocouple. Now the pilot won’t stay lit and the status light does NOT come on at all. No blinks or anything. Just completely out. The pilot light goes out after I let go of the dial knob. I hope you could help me out. Thanks again.
I may be able to help. If the pilot light does light, but doesn’t stay lit (after holding it for 1 minutes) you need to adjust the thermocouple position so the flame hits it properly. Im confused… does the burner turn on or just turn on for a while? Also, your gas valve should have a code on what the blinking lights mean. What code does it read?
@@HandymanHertz I tested the thermocouple which is rated at 750mv with a voltmeter and it is reading at 649mv. My question is, is that enough voltage that it is getting to send that little current to the solenoid to open it up to let the gas flow to the burner to turn it on? Because that’s my issue, I don’t think the motherboard is detecting that current that the thermocouple is sending. How much voltage does the thermocouple need to send to the motherboard to open up the gas valve? So just to be clear I’m able to light up the pilot light. After holding it for 90 seconds, I get no blinking from the status light indicator. So as soon as I let go of the dial knob, the pilot light goes out.
@ktp0913 it sounds like you have a bad gas valve to me. The new ones go bad more often than I’d like in our rental houses. I like the old mechanical ones without the blinking codes. Your thermocouple (technically called thermopile if it puts out that many mV) should be putting out enough mV to open the pilot tube solenoid for the pilot light to stay on. (If pilot isn’t on, main burner won’t turn on either) I looked at a few forums online and I think it’s a bad control valve. I would try tapping it on the bottom with pliers, you may get lucky. Sorry I couldn’t help you more
I replaced my pilot assembly just like you said but and the pilot lights and works great now. However I am getting a small gas leak that I just can't get rid of. Nothing is cross threaded and I just barely tightened the fittings at first. And the smell only develops once the pilot is lit so it must be the fittings on the bottom of the control unit. Any idea what I should do short of just getting a new water heater? This heater is about 6 years old and I don't want to keep throwing money at it! Is yellow teflon tape ok to use on those fittings?
Glad you got it working. 👍🏼 regarding the gas leak, you can see in my video that I didn't use any pipe dope/thread sealant or any yellow (for natural gas) tape. That's because the way they seal is a compression fit, not a threaded fit. The threads are only there to compress the fittings together to make a tight seal. My first thought is that maybe some of your tape is hindering that seal? Or maybe some tape got in between where it seals? What I would do is mix a tablespoon of some dish soap on a bottle, shake it, and spray it around the fittings. That way you can identify which one is leaking. Bubbles will form wherever there is a leak. Once you've isolated where your leak is, you can tighten it until there's no more bubbles. If tightening it doesn't help with the bubbles, I would shut off the gas, take it apart, and try it again after you clean everything, especially the yellow tape, and inspect it for obvious damage. if it still leaks, I would look into replacing the control valve AND/OR the gas tubing, which will be cheaper and easier than replacing the whole water heater. Hope this helps.
@@HandymanHertz Thanks for the quick reply! I did not use any thread tape yet... I was just wondering if I should try some because I can't seem to get the leak to stop any other way. And I would only put it on the threads not the actual compression fitting. In the mean time I'll try the leak test because the 2 connections are very close to each other so I'm not sure which one is leaking.
In my situation I can light the pilot and it stays on. Then I set the desired water temperature. It heats up water but when the water temperature drops( after some time) and it should turn on automatically, but it does not. It appears the pilot light is off. For some reason the pilot light goes off after the first cycle of heating. I am completely puzzled. Do you have any idea why that can be? Thanks!
I think I can help you. This is exactly what happened to me on when I made this video…the pilot would light and stay lit, but after if heated up the water, the main burner AND the pilot light would go off. So, for several days, anytime we wanted hot water for laundry or a shower, I would have to go start the water heater 30 minutes beforehand. I cleaned up the thermocouple real good, and it worked. You can replace it too easily and cheap. Hope this helps!
Is there any chance the thermocouple nut might be glued in place? I tore up the nut trying to remove it. It still won’t move. Guess I’ll be spending my day off on this tomorrow 😂
Hmmm unlikely, at least with the brands I've dealt with. You may try using a flare wrench or vise grips. The main burner tubes if Bradford whites can be a bear sometimes.
Your video just saved our butts man! Thank you! Gf tried to take a shower and said there was no hot water… found the pilot out but gas to the furnace. Could not get the pilot to stay lit and your video got us going! We are in CO and it’s been in the 10s all day and have a baby on top of that. Thanks for making this and helping others.
You’re welcome! Glad it helped. I love comments like this.
Didn’t have hot water at midnight. Came across your video about an hour of looking into it and thanks to your video we have hot water again! Very much appreciated! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Glad to help! I love comments like this!
Polished the thermocouple and vacuumed up some rust and debris. It worked like a charm. YOU DESERVE A MEDAL!
Alright!! Cool, glad to hear it worked well for you, too. 👍🏼
You said it all! It worked like a charm 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you so much for your video!
Thank you so much! Very helpful. Just got off from a "repairman" who just took a quick look, without even showing any effort toward repair, and said you need a new heater, and started giving me numbers for a new heater. Immediately I realized his bullshit and asked him to leave. I started doing my own research and got here. I can't thank you enough. You saved me a whole lot of trouble and probably thousands of dollars.
You're welcome! In return I hope you pushed the like button on the video 😉 👍🏼
Literally saved my family $1,200 for a new water heater + installation. I tried cleaning my old thermocouple, but still didn't work. The wire appeared to be broken right where the probe begins. Bought a new one from Ace for $10 and instantly fixed the problem after replacing it. God bless you!
Great! Glad to hear you saved a lot of money! If you'd like to show your appreciation more, I do have venmo/cashapp/paypal in the description. No pressure...Either way, I'm glad you got it fixed!
Plumber wanted to charge $650 to try and change out possible 3 issues (lighter, gas tubing, sensor) and it wasn’t guaranteed to work. Or replace the whole thing with a new heater with labor and haul away of old one $2600! Sir you just saved me so much $$$, THANK YOU 🙏🏽
I saw this video and started the process but decided to replace the whole pilot assembly for only $50 and it is working perfectly now. Thank you so much for helping us keep our appliances going!
Wow, thank you so much for the tip! Glad you are back up and running!
This solution worked for me. My pilot light kept on going out after multiple attempts. I’ve had to do this in the past with other UA-cam vids, but I found this video to be straightforward and easy to understand.
Well....woke up this morning to cold water for my wife and two boys. I just followed the video instructions and my light is staying lit and heating the water! God bless you sir!
Brother we are blessed that people like you are out there. God is good all the time 🙏
Thanks for the video!!! Worked perfectly. Luckily our local ace hardware store had competent employees and I purchased a complete pilot assembly replacement kit. I tried the first option to clean the thermo coupling it didn't work. I'm very happy as I only spent $50 for the kit. Way way less then a service/repair visit from the repair man!
Great! Glad you got it fixed! Yeah, an honest plumber would have charged $200+/-, And a dishonest plumber would have told you to replace the whole hot water heater $1,000 +/-
I've got an old ass gas water heater.. I'll try but if you don't hear from me again.... It's been an honor!
Good luck! Hope that ole thing keeps ticking for many years.
@@HandymanHertz Not sure why this says I commented hours ago because I commented this last week lol. I been restarting it every morning ever since. I've got a plumber coming out to check and an electrician to check the house the next day because I also lost power in half the house 3 days before the water heater(which is gas lol). Everything is failing all at once. I inherited my older parent's house and it seems everything wants to just stop all at once. Because 3 weeks before the water heater(gas) was the gas oven pilot light.
Edit: I'm severely at a loss without the money to hire all these people to check everything.. is there anyway I can DM you or text or email to get information for the next hour to ask questions I'm concerned about?(this will be deleted in an hour)
Yes looks like I got your email
Wait, it's powered by "ass gas" ? Free energy, that's genius!
lmao 💀🙏
Just did this exact procedure and it works perfectly now , thank you and god bless. You just saved me god knows how much money 👍🙏🏼
Thank you! Pilot wouldn’t stay on suddenly. I followed your video, sanded the thermocouple, and now working fine. One hour start to finish.
Good, hope it keeps working. sometimes it works for a long time, sometimes it needs replaced
19 years old! Let’s goooo!!! That’s maintenance at its finest
That’s great! What sort of maintenance do you do and how often?
this video is SOOOO well made holy crap. the inside angle on the hot water heater was awesome!
Hey thanks! Glad the extra effort was noticed
Thank you for this video, this was exactly the problem with my water heater. I watched other videos which led to them saying to replace the gas valve, but I was still not convinced. Then I saw your video and without even trying it I knew it was going to work. Thanks a lot, you saved me money.
Thanks brother! While I still plan on getting a new water heater I didn't really want to do it last night. While I knew the thermocouple was probably the problem, this tank is also 20 years old. I wasn't going to mess with it until you said your tank is 19 years old. Gave me the hope to try it instead of installing a new tank starting at 6 pm yesterday. Glad I saw your vid and that you mentioned 19 years!
Glad I could help! I know it's old, but I am of the mindset if it's not broke, don't fix it. Especially if you maintain it, by changing out the anode rod and flushing it, it should last a while I would hope. 👍🏼
Thank you so much for this video! I never would have messed around with my water heater before, thinking it's too complicated and dangerous, but you made it extremely simple and may have saved me from having to buy a new water heater or pay a lot of money for repairs. I keep checking the pilot light, expecting it to be out again, but it's been on for 2 days now (compared to going out every few hours before) so I'm feeling hopeful! If nothing else, now I know how to take it apart and try other repairs. I also loved being able to get in there and clean out all of the debris and polish up the little viewing window.
Yeah! Some stuff like that is so easy, but so intimidating. That's why I love UA-cam...someone showing us how to and empowering us to do it ourselves! Now, go check out my anode rod video and flushing the water heater video to keep that water heater humming for years (hopefully)
@@HandymanHertz update: the pilot light went out again after a few days, but now I was confident in working on my water heater. First, I bought a new thermocouple and replaced the old one, but that didn't make a difference. Next, I figured out that if I bypassed the high limit switch, the pilot light would stay on. So, I replaced the old limit switch with a new one (which cost $40) and the pilot light has remained lit for a week so far. I'm quite confident that the limit switch was the problem and I have avoided buying a new water heater! Thanks again for your helpful video!
Nice! I do not know anything about the high limit switch, I've not had to do with that yet. If that still gives you trouble, one of the main reasons why a new thermal couple doesn't work is the flame isn't hitting the thermal couple when it's put back in and is aligned wrong. Make sure the flames contacting the thermal couple good 👍🏼 Glad you got in there and fixed it though!
Thank you very much sir. My wife and baby will have hot water in the morning now. Thanks to your informative video
Great!! Glad to help! 👍🏼
I just paid my plumber to do this for $400 and it was still not working, he told me i needed to order a new heater. I watched this, and it took me 20 minutes and now it works fine 😕
Glad to help you, sorry you got bamboozled by your plumber. That's one reason why I love fixing as much stuff as I can, and learning how to do it myself. Even if I break something or do it wrong. 👍🏼 good job for fixing it.
Also, you may consider leaving them an unfavorable review on yelp/facebook or online somewhere. Sounds like they run a sloppy business at best and are lying thieves taking advantage of people at worse. People should be aware. $400 is thievery for what they did (or didn't do). Plus trying to sell you a new heater too.
Lucky you. I did this and the burner plate is not lighting... the gas works. You can smell it when you drain it. It ignites up. But the burner plate itself does not catch fire.... please why?
Brand spanking new thermocouple assembly and burner plate. Matches codes for water tank
So you have a pilot light but main burner not coming on?
You’re filming and editing skills are stellar! You even filmed from INSIDE the water heater?! And even ignited it! Wow, excellent job. 🎉
Thanks! That means a lot! We worked hard on this one. My buddy is taking over the editing. we are amateurs, but hoping each video gets a little better in some way. 👍🏼
I was thinking the same thing
And bought a new camera right afterwards
😂@@rossmiller7778
thank god for modern tech i was never taught any of this maintenance stuff thank god for people like you cuz otherwise owning and maintaining a house would be a thousand time more expensive
I 100% agree! UA-cam has saved me so much money on everything in life that needs fixed. Few things need an expert I find. 👍🏼
Great video! This worked after cleaning it twice, I decided to try cleaning it a second time before the hardware store opened and just needed an extra sand with sanding pad instead of paper.
Great! Glad to hear it. sometimes The flame doesn't hit the sensor when it's reinstalled, so if it gives you issues, that might be something to look at as well 👍🏼
Thank you for this! Worked like a charm. My roommate and I have had so many things break this week, it was really helpful to be able to handle this ourselves with just a bit of sandpaper we had on hand. Cheers bud.
Great, glad to hear it! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the help, just did this to mine and now it’s working 👍
Great to hear!
Thank you! Great video, well voiced and well edited! Appreciate your time and effort to put this out. Boo to all the pedantic people and their comments about hot water heater vs water heater. Good grief! Get a life people! This guy just helped hundreds if not thousands of people save a lot of money, time, and effort to continue having hot water for their families. Well done sir!
Thank you! I do not let Internet comment Trolls affect me one bit. They have no credibility, and are likely people whose opinion I would not respect anyways. Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the video
Worked like a charm, I sanded it to clean, it’s roaring right now. Liked and subscribed. Your the man
Hey, glad to hear it! So satisfying, hearing that roar after fixing it, isn't it?👍🏼 thanks for the like and sub!
This video is so helpful, im actually changing mine out tomorrow & had no idea how to do so until now. Definitely going to try clearing it first. Very informative, thanks.😌🤘🏻
You're welcome. Great! Hope it works for you!
You da man! Got our 33 year old water heater going again. Yes it needs to be replaced but I would rather do that on my time and financial schedule.
Awesome video. Very detailed. My water heater is giving me problems with the pilot light and this seems like a logical answer as to why. My heater looks different from yours, mine does not include an igniter or the faceplate where the tubes travel through. Also mine has a blanket wrapped around and foil taped to it making it hard to see the make and model. Not entirely sure what to buy to replace the thermocouple. I believe this is the original water heater that was installed in the house by the previous owner back in 2003.
Thanks for watching! I would assume you would need a generic one like in the packages I showed in the video from Honeywell. I’d say of all of the hot water heaters I’ve worked on, my style is more rare. But I’d look to make sure. It should be an easy fix if you can get to it.
You can search for a thermal couple video that will show you how to replace that specific kind you have. Good luck to you.
Had same problem. Followed the video. Cleaned up the thermocouple nicely as instructed. No change. Replaced thermocouple, still no change. Pilot dies out when I release the red button on top, no matter how long I allow the pilot light to heat the thermocouple. Looking for next part to check. Ideas?
make sure the flame is touching the thermocouple. If it is and you replaced it already, I wonder if it's a a bad gas valve. Not exactly sure how they work, but I would think the voltage isn't tripping the gas valve. Maybe check the voltage at the end of the thermocouple with the flame on it, and google what the millivolts is required for you type?
Mines doing same thing…brand new pilot assembly pilot won’t stay lit. Did you find the problem?
Make sure flame is touching thermocouple. That's an easy one that overlooks and can come across as intermittently working.
Clean the intake screen under neath , air flow
Posted almost a year ago and still saving people $100s! Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm big on people fixing what they own 👍🏼
BRAVO. MOST COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONS AND YOUR DELIVERY IS EXCELLENT.
Impressive video angles, well done and very helpful 👍👍
Thank Jerry! That one was a bear to edit but we thought it turned out good. a friend helped edit this one. 👍🏼
I haven't done this, but this video was so straightforward and clear that I know it's going to work
Thanks for your video. It helped me to replace the thermocouple on my 28-year-old water heater.
Glad to hear that. Wow, 28 year water heater. That's impressive.
Just want to say that mine has the same issue. I can light the pilot and hold the button down for like 5 minutes then the flame goes out. Gonna buy a new thermocoupler today and replace it. Thank you for your video. I don’t know why but having never done this I’m really looking forward to it
Good luck! Make sure flame is aligned in a way that the flange hits the thermocouple.
best damn plumbing repair video ever
Oh, wow, that's very nice of you to say. Glad you liked it!
This is perfectly done. Great job brother, thanks for sharing the knowledge 🙏
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the nice comment. 👍
Thank you! Just a quick cleaning based on your instructions. Back up and running!!
Great to hear that you’re up and running again. Thanks for watching.
This was an amazing post. Straight to the point. I truly appreciate it, brother!
Appreciate it, glad it helped!
Started having problems with my water heater this winter. Now I don't have an excuse to not get it fixed. Thank you!!
Thanks for watching, I hope this is the cause to your problems!
Excellent instructions, appreciate the straightforward & detailed directions...
Thanks for watching 👍🏼
Big ups, this was the fix for my water heater and took me only 45 minutes!
Alright! 👍🏼 glad you got it up and running again
Very well explained. Detailed and easy to understand as well. Is it ok to use compressor to blow carbon rust from the burner assembly. Many thanks for the video.
You’re welcome! Yeah sounds like a good idea to me…I don’t see why not.
Yeoooo….thank you so much, this video was so detailed and guided me in fixing the pilot light not staying on. Thank you again
Hey glad to help! I love reading comments like this. Glad to get you up and running again!
Great video straight to the point
Thanks, I try not to waste anyone's time.
Amazing video! Thank you sir from Australia,
Got my hot water unit running again!
Alright! Love to hear it. You're welcome, mate!
This really helped me. I cleaned the thermocouple, I was holding the button down for 5-6 minutes, and it was going out immediately, after cleaning it and reassembling it, I held it down for 5 seconds, and it stayed on long enough. Thank you. There was a burnt up rubber gasket around the compartment that I couldn't do anything with, will this be a problem?
Glad it helped! It it's the small one like in my video, I wouldn't worry at all about it unless you have gusts of wind, like in a garage or something that can blow the pilot light out.
Thank you.
Broooo this totally worked lol. Thank you a ton from New Mexico!!
Awesome! Glad it helped out there in New Mexico!
@@HandymanHertzhey brother, my pilot light went out again after this fix. What would you recommend I do next? It’s having the same problem as before. Do I take it out and sand it down again?
Hi. I'm so glad I found (and subscribed) to this channel. I have a 3yr old American gas water heater (model: G62-40S-40R). My pilot keeps shutting off every day during the summer. I replaced the thermocouple but it didn't help. I believe the problem is not good enough air supply. My attic isn't vented and in summer it's very very hot. Did you hear of this problem? Is there any "easy" (simple/cheap) solution to this? I'm considering an attic fan, but that's thousands of $$$ and I'm looking for a cheaper and simpler solution. ANY THOUGHT/HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS I'VE SUFFERED THIS FOR OVER 3 YRS NOW. THANK YOU !!
Hi, if your pilot light goes out it's due to one of two reasons. It gets blown out by a gust of air, or the control valve shuts off gas to it. I would check to see if the flame is fully hitting the thermocouple, it may need adjusted. Then I'd make sure no windows were open where it it located. I'm not sure on the chimney flue, but maybe there's a backdraft that comes down and blows out the flame?
@@HandymanHertz Hi there. Thank you SO MUCH TRULY for replying to me. It certainly isn't the thermocouple cause not only I replaced it, but also this problem happens only in the summer, not in the winter. I thought it was not enough air supply, rather than a draft that's turning off the light. I will look at the chimney even though the fact this happens only in summer when temperatures are so high (over 100) suggests it has to do with the weather, cause all else is equal (thermocouple, chimney, windows, etc..). I thought air supply coming from under the tank is needed to supply oxygen to keep the pilot light on. Isn't that true? would you know how I can test how much air supply or oxygen I have there under the tank?
Thank you very much! I just fixed mine thanks to your video.
Alright! Glad to help!
Excelkent video! I was looking for something like this to show a friend how to fix his. Thank you ! Thumbs up.
Question: Why would you heat hot water? Its already hot. Isnt it just a "water heater" ?
thanks for sharing your hard earned expertise
Wow, thats so nice of you!! thanks, i truly appreciate it!!
Thank you. I cleaned the parts and reassembled. My pilot light needed to be purged for about a minute and then it light up.
Nice, glad it worked for you! If it gives you more troubles, maybe look into making sure the pilot light is hitting the thermal couple properly. This is common when reassembling that it gets bumped.
Great video. Straight to the point. Hmmm 🤔 I'm so tempted to fix it myself.
Thank you! Yeah, I think you should give it a go.
The best video so far 👌
Thank you 😊
Thank you for this, I just fixed my water heater with this video!
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!!
thank you for this video, saved me money and time.
Great! Glad to hear you saved a lot of money! If you'd like to show your appreciation more, I do have venmo/cashapp/paypal in the description. No pressure...Either way, I'm glad you got it fixed!
Nice to see the inside the hot water heater view.
Kind of a cool view
Fantastic Video, very nice information, easy to understand, great stuff here. I'm going to investigate some other videos.
Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoy the channel! 👍🏼
Amazing! Best video production. U could watch this 100 times and never get to doing the job 😂
Haha wow thanks for the compliment! Now, get to fixing it! 😆
@@HandymanHertz 😂
Thank you for your valuable advice it worked exactly like your video said ❤
Glad it worked for ya!
Hey Tim , I’ve replaced the gas control valve and the thermocouple assembly. All works well for the first thirty minutes and then the pilot light and burner both turn off. I was able to get everything working one time to where it would get to temperature , burner would turn off, and the pilot light would stay on. It would cycle through again and then shut everything off.
Any ideas.?
Also awesome video , I wish I would of tried this first 😅.
Cheers buddy.
Howdy! Hmm...my first thought would be to double check that the flame is hitting the new thermocouple. You could test the voltage on the opposite end of the flame sensor if you wanted. I would then check to see if your little vent is plugged on the bottom (it needs to suck in air easily or it will be turbulent, causing the flame to go out. Another thing I would wonder is if you have a leak in your chimney or some sort of draft coming down and blowing out your pilot light. But if you can't even get it to stay lit, this isn't an issue probably. Maybe you could clean out the pilot light gas tube… Maybe some ants blocked it or a bug is in it and not allowing enough? You see All sorts of random things. I would look to your gas control valve… But you already replaced that, so no need. Let me know if any of that helps. They are pretty simple machines… At least most of them if they are like my model.
The gas water heater that I was trying to fix looks very similar to the one you were working on actually.! AO Smith , about 20 years old. I replaced the whole igniter , pilot tube , and thermocouple assembly. As well as the gas valve. I suppose I will need to double check that the thermocouple didn’t get bent or something whenever I was reinstalling it and then test the voltage. The vent on the bottom is nice and clean. I took a peak at that while I was cleaning around the pan to check for leaks. I can check for a backdraft through the chimney , that’s not a bad idea either. You’ve given me plenty of food for thought though. Thanks for the reply , I’ll keep you updated if I find anything out.
God bless.!
Hello there, just wanted to let you know that we resolved the issue buddy.! I took the assembly back out and double checked everything. It looked in order so I put it back in and tested it. Like magic it worked again. I believe you were onto the issue with the pilot light not being on the thermocouple properly. I think it was just crooked when I installed it the first time and the flame wasn’t covering majority of the thermocouple. Good looking out sir.! Thank you very much.
@sethlozano5450 hey, glad to hear it worked out for you! I hope that works for you for many many years!
We don't have a gas water heater but I love learning about stuff. You just never know when you may run into one! Thanks for the information. Your video is well done. The opposing view of the burner from the inside is very helpful. You show what cannot usually be seen and I'm sure you are helping someone figure out what they need to do.
Thanks for watching. I’m like you, I love learning about new stuff. It was fun playing around with the different angles and footage.
Thanks to your video I was able to fix my water.
Albright, glad to hear it 👍🏼
Hi thanks for the video. I have the same exact thermocouple but unfortunately mine is broke. All the replacements I've seen or have been told will work from parts departments do not have that black battery looking piece. I can only find it on amazon. What is it and is it not needed? Can I replace it with a regular thermocouple? I did a temp solder to make sure that was my issue and the water heater worked fine so i know its the thermocouple. Thanks
What do you mean black battery looking piece?
@@HandymanHertz I'm not exactly sure what it's called. A fuse link? It's the piece there that looks like a small watch battery.
If you pause @2:01 its the little round thing in the bottom left corner. @HandymanHertz
@FishingWithZach oh, ok. I know what you're talking about and I wondered what that was too. I'm not sure what that is. I bought the whole kit on Amazon that came with it.
So I have that exact HW heater and thermocouple/ pilot assembly. I replaced the assembly this time last year. After replacing everything still no joy. Solution : My intake and exhaust were clogged with lint and dirt. (Tank is in the garage next to the dryer.) Blew everything out with my compressor. And this is the longest it’s ran so far.
Cool, thanks for sharing this. Nice to know other people's experience and input 👍🏼
Saved me an emergency service call. Thank you so much. Who knew a little sandpaper could save the day.
Awesome video, thoughtful explanations. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent directions…… thank you!
You're welcome
hi great video I was thinking about the same solution before I found your video because I did the same procedure for years to my furnace and actually I have taken out the burner assembly right now and stop because I found a piece of twisted metal plate that fell down from the exhaust center of the heater do you know what that is and do I have to replace the whole heater?
appreciate any advice
Hi, I believe the spiral metal piece is your flu baffle/heat exchanger. I do not know if you need to replace it, but I do know you need a functioning flu. I’ve never heard of chunks of the baffle falling out. my concern would be if the top pieces are falling, it may clog the flu, and not sucking the fumes up the chimney correctly
Oh thank you you just save me money probably took me 15 minutes to pull that assembly out and clean off that sensor with some Thousand grid Brillo pad
You're welcome, Glad to hear it 👍🏼
Worked great thank you
You're welcome
I had a water heater that shared a 2 story vent with the furnace. If the air in the vent had cooled and was filled with cold air, the draft inducer on the furnace would blow back down the water heater vent and blow out the pilot light. Adding an electronic igniter to the water heater solved the problem by reigniting the pilot flame whenever it did not sense the flame.
Very interesting. I hadn’t heard of that before, Thanks for sharing!
Yea thank you so much now I’ve got hot water your the best
Glad to help! 👍🏼
Rod removal: My water heater is 6 years old, but cheap brand. Heater went off by itself for 1st time and I think it needs all you said, including rod replacement. It would be proper maintenance.
In your vid it seems that you remove the rod AFTER trouble shooting the pilot light, correct?
Without flushing the tank and removing rust from bottom?
With water heater on, you just lift rod and replace, when water is hot? Or turn all off, wait till it cools, then proceed?
If I remember well (not in the attic now) the rod is pretty tight, not easy to grab.
Do you have a vid for that, and again, before or after servicing the pilot light/thermocouple?
I have the same exact water heater and I sanded the thermocouple but it's still going out. It will stay lit when I light it but then after a couple minutes and it's not calling for heat anymore the pilot goes out. Maybe I need a new burner assembly? Or you think just a new thermocouple will work?
I would first mess around with your current thermal couple and make sure the flame is hitting it directly. If it's only partially hitting it, it can be fickle. Then, I would change the thermal couple. I doubt it would be your burner assembly, especially since it works until it loses a pilot light.
You’re the f’n man! This worked like a charm. Subscribed!
Thanks for the sub!
Thanks dude. Super helpful info!
You bet!
Also, I've replaced my polot assembly and it still wont stay lit. I'm thinking it could be the sensor (black fuse looking thing) on the thermocouple, but this is the 2nd thermocouple I've tried. How do I test it if its brand new?
I may try cleaning the old one like you show in this video to see if it stays on with it.
Great camera view from inside the unit! Regards from Baltilmore.
Thank you! This worked for me
Great! Glad to hear it!
Thanks for posting this. I do have a question. My issue is with the burner as it doesn’t turn on. The pilot light stays lit and the status light is normal. It blinks once every 3 seconds but the burner is out. I took out the whole burner assembly cleaned it and also cleaned the thermocouple like you did in the video. Put the burner assembly back and the burner won’t stay on. Took the whole assembly out once again and this time replaced the thermocouple. Put the assembly back with the new thermocouple. Now the pilot won’t stay lit and the status light does NOT come on at all. No blinks or anything. Just completely out. The pilot light goes out after I let go of the dial knob. I hope you could help me out. Thanks again.
I may be able to help.
If the pilot light does light, but doesn’t stay lit (after holding it for 1 minutes) you need to adjust the thermocouple position so the flame hits it properly.
Im confused… does the burner turn on or just turn on for a while? Also, your gas valve should have a code on what the blinking lights mean. What code does it read?
@@HandymanHertz I tested the thermocouple which is rated at 750mv with a voltmeter and it is reading at 649mv. My question is, is that enough voltage that it is getting to send that little current to the solenoid to open it up to let the gas flow to the burner to turn it on? Because that’s my issue, I don’t think the motherboard is detecting that current that the thermocouple is sending. How much voltage does the thermocouple need to send to the motherboard to open up the gas valve? So just to be clear I’m able to light up the pilot light. After holding it for 90 seconds, I get no blinking from the status light indicator. So as soon as I let go of the dial knob, the pilot light goes out.
@ktp0913 it sounds like you have a bad gas valve to me. The new ones go bad more often than I’d like in our rental houses. I like the old mechanical ones without the blinking codes.
Your thermocouple (technically called thermopile if it puts out that many mV) should be putting out enough mV to open the pilot tube solenoid for the pilot light to stay on. (If pilot isn’t on, main burner won’t turn on either) I looked at a few forums online and I think it’s a bad control valve. I would try tapping it on the bottom with pliers, you may get lucky. Sorry I couldn’t help you more
I’m gonna check the gas valve and see how much resistance it has. Thank you for your help.
@ktp0913 good luck to you, hope you get it 👍🏼
Thanks for this video worked like a charm
Great, glad it helped! I love success stories!
thanks, awesome video. plain and simple...
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching
Thanks dude, this is rad!
You bet, thanks for watching!
Excellent video my friend.
Thanks! And thanks for watching 👍🏼
Thanks!
Wow thank you! I appreciate thwt!
You said Hot 🔥 Water 💧 Heater.... no real need to heat hot water? Seriously though your video is what I needed, thx
OMG. Every time I hear "Hot" water heater," I cringe.
Do you have a video installing the new thermocouple for this model water heater?
I replaced my pilot assembly just like you said but and the pilot lights and works great now. However I am getting a small gas leak that I just can't get rid of. Nothing is cross threaded and I just barely tightened the fittings at first. And the smell only develops once the pilot is lit so it must be the fittings on the bottom of the control unit. Any idea what I should do short of just getting a new water heater? This heater is about 6 years old and I don't want to keep throwing money at it! Is yellow teflon tape ok to use on those fittings?
Glad you got it working. 👍🏼 regarding the gas leak, you can see in my video that I didn't use any pipe dope/thread sealant or any yellow (for natural gas) tape. That's because the way they seal is a compression fit, not a threaded fit. The threads are only there to compress the fittings together to make a tight seal. My first thought is that maybe some of your tape is hindering that seal? Or maybe some tape got in between where it seals?
What I would do is mix a tablespoon of some dish soap on a bottle, shake it, and spray it around the fittings. That way you can identify which one is leaking. Bubbles will form wherever there is a leak. Once you've isolated where your leak is, you can tighten it until there's no more bubbles. If tightening it doesn't help with the bubbles, I would shut off the gas, take it apart, and try it again after you clean everything, especially the yellow tape, and inspect it for obvious damage.
if it still leaks, I would look into replacing the control valve AND/OR the gas tubing, which will be cheaper and easier than replacing the whole water heater. Hope this helps.
@@HandymanHertz Thanks for the quick reply! I did not use any thread tape yet... I was just wondering if I should try some because I can't seem to get the leak to stop any other way. And I would only put it on the threads not the actual compression fitting. In the mean time I'll try the leak test because the 2 connections are very close to each other so I'm not sure which one is leaking.
@tommichaels2466 sounds good! I'm curious to see what you find, keep me posted!
Really great video! thankyou!
Nicely done and well explained. I did also order the gas sensor and dampness meter off you site. Great ideas, thanks!!!
Keep up the good work!!! 😃
Thanks a lot for watching and for buying it off of the links! 👍🏼
I have this exact same tank... hopefully i get 19years out of it
Very helpful, thanks!
You’re welcome, thanks for watching!
Thank you, saved me over a thousand dollars
In my situation I can light the pilot and it stays on. Then I set the desired water temperature. It heats up water but when the water temperature drops( after some time) and it should turn on automatically, but it does not. It appears the pilot light is off. For some reason the pilot light goes off after the first cycle of heating. I am completely puzzled. Do you have any idea why that can be? Thanks!
I think I can help you. This is exactly what happened to me on when I made this video…the pilot would light and stay lit, but after if heated up the water, the main burner AND the pilot light would go off. So, for several days, anytime we wanted hot water for laundry or a shower, I would have to go start the water heater 30 minutes beforehand. I cleaned up the thermocouple real good, and it worked. You can replace it too easily and cheap. Hope this helps!
Is there any chance the thermocouple nut might be glued in place? I tore up the nut trying to remove it. It still won’t move. Guess I’ll be spending my day off on this tomorrow 😂
Hmmm unlikely, at least with the brands I've dealt with. You may try using a flare wrench or vise grips. The main burner tubes if Bradford whites can be a bear sometimes.