How To Change A Thermocouple On A Sealed Water Heater

How to Diagnose and Ready the Water Heater Thermocouple

Take you e'er heard about the thermocouple or have any idea exactly what it is? Do yous know that it is one of the important components of your water heater? Sometimes when the thermocouple breaks down you may remember that the water heater needs replacement. The skillful news is that this component is adequately inexpensive and simple to repair.

Diagnosing the Problem

Before you can really diagnose and place that the problem has something to practice with the thermocouple, you have to know where it is located. Within the burner compartment just in front of the airplane pilot light yous volition run into a pocket-size cylindrical metal, this is the thermocouple.

For gas-powered water heaters, the thermocouple serves as a prophylactic device to discover if the pilot light is burning. When the airplane pilot goes out, this component send a signal to the gas valve to make sure that it remains airtight while the pilot calorie-free is not yet lit.

This means that if the thermocouple goes bad, there is no way of detecting if the airplane pilot light is burning or not. And when the pilot light goes out, you will not have hot h2o supply in your plumbing system. To test if the problem is with the thermocouple, try to relight the pilot. If it goes out when you release the button, then the component has worn out.

It is not necessary to remove the burner assembly in order to replace the thermocouple. Professionals can repair the component easily, but, if the burner associates is removed, it becomes easier to clean out the burner compartment and the burner as well.

If you demand to buy a replacement, only caput on down to your local abode centre or hardware store. Before you zip out the door, brand sure that yous mensurate the onetime thermocouple to make sure y'all go the right sized replacement.

Disconnecting the Thermocouple

Replacing the thermocouple is fairly uncomplicated to do and requires simply a few wrenches to let you to remove the burner. A screwdriver will allow you to remove the admission embrace. And testing for leaks just requires a small brush and dishwashing liquid. Still, unless you are capable of doing this, it is ameliorate to phone call for professional help.

Disconnecting the thermocouple would require turning off the gas supply to the unit and turning the temperature valve off. The burner gas line and pilot gas line connections tin exist unscrewed using open up-end wrenches. This allows you to pull downward the gas tubes as well as the thermocouple from the gas valve. The burner can be slid out of the unit after disengaging the tab holding information technology in place.

Replacing the Thermocouple

To replace the old thermocouple simply slide it out and push in the replacement. The replacement should be installed the aforementioned way as the old one by taking note of its position and mounting. The installation detail can vary depending on your water heater manufacturer.

The burner tin be reinstalled subsequently that by pushing its ends. The thermocouple and pilot tubes should go into the gas valve. The nuts should exist hand tightened to ensure that the threads are not stripped. Use the wrench with moderate pressure to completely tighten the basics.

Testing for Leaks

Information technology is important to make sure that there are no leaks on your water heater afterward you supplant the thermocouple. Open the gas supply to the unit of measurement and light the pilot. Reinstall the access covers and slowly turn upward the temperature until the burner is lit.

Use the dishwashing liquid solution to bank check the connections around the pilot light and burner. Make certain that the burner is turned on when you lot do this test. When yous meet bubbling, shutoff the gas immediately and tighten the fittings further. If yous still observe a leak afterward doing this, information technology is time to telephone call a professional service.

As simple equally it may sound, you can see some problems when replacing the thermocouple. So your safest bet in fixing information technology properly is to call Scott English Plumbing then that your water heater can be checked thoroughly and request for a water heater replacement.