If the pilot will light and stay lit, then ECO is not tripped, and thermocouple is probably good.
If ECO is tripped, then pilot will have no gas.
Usually if thermocouple is bad or installed incorrectly, the pilot goes out immediately after releasing the pilot knob during lighting.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-test-water-heater-thermocouple.htmlFirst thing is to clean water heater air intake and get more fresh air to the water heater and see if that solves problem. Combustion of hydrocarbon requires oxygen that must be pulled into the water heater from surrounding rooms. If water heater is closed off, or located in hot attic that is not correctly vented, or house is tightly sealed, or air intake is clogged, then there is not enough oxygen to support combustion.
Next thing to check is color and size of pilot flame.
If color of flame is NOT clear blue, or if flame is weak, then that says the pilot orifice and burner tubes and burner should be removed and cleaned, along with cleaning combustion chamber.
Additional suspects include combination of things, including: , bad gas control valve, low gas pressure, air in gas line, water dripping down vent and putting out pilot, reverse air flow or backdraft down the vent that blows out pilot, damaged burner parts because of exposure to trace chemicals such as bleach and wax.
Open following link to see various images and read resources.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-install-gas-water-heater.html#troubleshoot
×