[Shop-talk] water heater troubleshooting

[Randall]

> It's almost certainly the thermocouple.

Guess it depends on how your valve is designed.  Although I have seen gas
burners where the thermocouple didn't also disable the pilot light; I was
under the impression that US law had not allowed that for oh, 50 years or
so.  On every water heater I've ever owned, if the thermocouple fails, the
pilot won't stay lit either.

If you have to push and hold a button to light the pilot, the pilot is
controlled by the thermocouple.  Which would mean the problem lies
elsewhere.

My water heater is right next to the dryer vent ... a long-standing leak in
the vent eventually blew enough lint into the heater burner to clog it up.

Randall