The water heater pilot on my '78 soverign won't light. The main burnner will light if I heat up the thermocouple and it will burn until the thermostat shuts the burnner off but since the pilot is not lit it will not relight. The thermostat is an ITT which is not covered in the service manual. I have checked the tube and it seems to be clear. The pilot seems to be the "bent tip" type not the type with two disks. Any suggestions appreciated.
If the thermostat assembly is original it is probably put together with screws and not rivets . If it has screws it can be taken apart and cleaned . There is an internal pilot filter and an automatic pilot valve assembly that can be replaced if parts are still available .If that don't work you'll need to replace it . Good luck.
It is an origional and is assembled with screws. I have been a little reluctant to open it up as I don't know how complex the gasket is ie can I make a replacement if necessary, and was not sure if it was worth the effort / risk.
Is the inside pretty straight forward? Are there any spring loaded part that tend to fly out when the cover is removed?
I believe that I noted somewhere that parts are not available unless someone knows of a source for used parts.
Opening the thermostat control box is frowned upon by nearly everyone
Quote:
Originally Posted by APB
... I have been a little reluctant to open it up as I don't know how complex the gasket is ie can I make a replacement if necessary ...
I did not have to make a new gasket on my original '67 water heater. It struck me that Permatex gasket maker would have been sufficient to repair the existing one had it torn.
The innards were quite straightforward, and nothing sproinged apart.
BTW, the filter ticki2 mentioned was clean on my 40 year-old unit. If yours is really nappy, you want to consider flushing the LPG lines with appropriate solvent.
Try adjusting the knob while the burner is lit. you may be able to turn the knob and watch the pilot light being sure to leave the pilot light burning while the burner is on. I adjust mine this way and if I position it just as the indicater shows the pilot light goes out when the thermostat turns the burner off. Good luck Phil
Thanks all. I'll try playing with the dial and if that doesn't work I'll open it up and see what I find. I'll probably wait till after my planned Father's day trip to the Huck Finn Bluegrass festival just in case I have unexpected problems. At least I can get hot water now.
What would an appropriate solvent to flush out propane lines be?
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