Water heater pilot keeps going out

[vcrt]

I've had this problem with the gas pilott going out for quite some time. This week, while we were camping, I tried something new. I placed a piece of wood as a wind baffle between the pilot and the outside vent and the pilot stayed lit. It seems to me that the wind (and there doesn't need to be much) blows into the heater control compartment through the vent area and knocks out the pilot. The sheetmetal box that surrounds the vent area is open at the bottom and this allows the wind to reach the pilot. I was thinking of completing the enclosure by installing another piece of sheetmetal at the bottom to prevent air from getting past the vent area, but before making any modifications, wanted to ask here to see if anyone had any ideas on this.
Thanks,
Rich

[PTHutch]

Rich,

Can you post some pictures? That would give us a better idea of what you’re thinking of doing.

It sounds reasonable, but I’m hesitant to suggest anything because I don’t think I fully understand how your HW door is.

Hutch

[vcrt]

OK, Hutch, take a look at these, the area I'm asking about adding to is just under the boxed sheetmetal that is directly behind the vent. You can see that only the top and sides are boxed in, while the bottom is open.





Thanks,
Rich

[PTHutch]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Just a thought is the pilot be extinguished by the wind coming in or the exhaust not being completely vented.

Here's a picture of our previous Sunline T-2670, but this was an auto-ignition HW unit.


For a simple test / adjustment, you may want try bending the flange a little more to decrease the opening (or increasing the opening). This may help with exhausting to see if this may be the problem. It would be a simple mod & test before going through the effort of attaching additional sheet metal.

If that doesn't work, maybe you could add a wind deflector on the inside of the door, on the bottom of the door vent. Not sure if this is what you were originally thinking of doing.

We're bringing our Sunline home this evening to get it ready to go to the Eastern M&G, so I’ll check it and compare to your picture.
Hutch

[Greg Morin]

I doubt that the wind is blowing the pilot out possibly the unit needs cleaning or the thermocouple could be weak. Try blowing it out after you light it if you have a weak pilot I would clean the burner and try blowing it out again also if the pilot isnt in contact with the thermocouple or the thermocouple is bad the pilot will go out.

[vcrt]

Thanks Greg, I'm sure anything could be at fault, but I have changed first the pilot/thermocouple assembly about two years ago and the control box last year. The pilot has a good flame and the thermocouple above it will get red hot after awhile, but this has been an ongoing problem even with the part changes.
Rich

[vcrt]

We just got back from a week in Williamsburg VA, and although it was not really windy, I still had a problem with the water heater not working. here's what I found. Some mornings, we would have hot water, some not, so it is an intermittent problem. Usually, when I go to re-light the pilot, I turn it to "pilot", light it and then, after holding for a half minute, turn to "On" and the main burner flame comes on. Sometimes, the main burner flame does not start up when turned to "on". When this happens, if I lightly tap the control box, the flame then comes on. I replaced this box about a year or a year and a half ago, but I think when you re-light the pilot as I described with a not too hot water tank, the burner flame should come on right away, so I don't think it is a delay that would eventually light if left alone for awhile.
Does anyone know why this water heater is acting so undependably?
Thanks,
Rich

[Greg Morin]

On Ebay you can get a new DSI HW Heater for around $300 it might be worth the investment to get rid of the headaches of pilots. it wont take long buying parts to pay for a new one.