the pilot on my water heater is off. Is there any way to manually turn on the fire so the water can get hot? It's only a couple years old, so it's probably an automatic pilot.

 

matches?

 

Should be a manual button (striker/ignitor) somewhere to spark it..

 

That little copper wire that goes into the pilot area is called a thermocoupler, they go bad all the time, replace it and you will probably be all set, I think they are like $7.00 at a plumbing supply house or Home Depot.

Careful relighting it, use a match and hold it with a pair of plyers.

 

Most older gas water heaters need to be lit with a match. Newer ones have a push button igniter like a gas grill. I recently replaced mine. Both the old one and the new one had instructions on a label on the water heater.

To relight, you typically turn the gas valve at the heater to pilot and press and hold it down while using the match or igniter to light it. Continue to hold it down for about 1 minute after it has been lit, then turn the gas valve to on.

BTW, if the flame is out, you are probably dumping raw gas in the house. Hope you have shut the gas supply off. If you haven't, I would shut it off and air things out for a while before attempting to light it. You should also shut your furnace off. If the furnace turns on it could touch off the gas from the water heater if enough has built up.

 

look on the front of your heater near where a knob should be. Usually there are instructions on how to re light. Or call your gas co if you are not sure, some do pilot relites for free.

 

Gas water heaters have had safety valves for as long as I can remember. If the thermocouple is not heated, the gas valve will not stay open -- unless the valve fails, of course. Natural gas and propane are pretty easy to detect though by the smell added to the gas.

As stated above, there are instructions on how to light the pilot on the water heater. The key, is to hold the "bypass" button for a period of time after the pilot lights to allow the thermocouple to warm. Otherwise, the pilot will go out as soon as you release the button -- still might if the thermocouple is bad.

Get the gas company to come out and light it if you are not sure or uncomfortable. They will typically do it for free.

 

lighting it following it's instructions didn't work. I think the problem is the thermocouple. the pilot will stay lit as long as I'm manually holding the button down, otherwise I guess the thermocouple is shutting of the gas valve.

glad it's a cheap fix, but damn life sucked without hot water this morning.

Thanks guys!

 

Good to know!