Yesterday my wife was complaining to me that we didn't have hot water. We've lived in this house for about a decade but have never really noticed any issue with the water heater (ours is gas) until this day.
So I go down and check it, notice there's some leaking, and hear the sound of gas flowing. There was no smell of gas, and no particular heat coming from there. I wasn't sure what to do so I turned off both the gas supply and the water just in case something was failing, as well as the gas knob to off. It was a 1991 Kenmore branded heater, and there was a sticker on it saying that it was guaranteed to be leak free until 2001.
So today I figure I'd try it again. I take off the cover and remove the guard to see what's in there. The lighting instructions were on a label, but partially covered by a strap holding it to some pillars. I didn't quite get it right, as I found that it would only light the pilot if I pushed it down when turned to pilot. So the pilot lights and I hold it down for about a minute as the instructions recommended. So now the pilot is on but it's not doing anything else. I guess the pilot could have eventually warmed up the water, but this obviously isn't working correctly. So I just did the obvious which was to turn the temperature control, and it fires up immediately.
I figure it's about time for a new one, but money is a little tight for us right now. Any idea what might cause an otherwise working (although leaking) water heater to stop working? I didn't smell any gas when I initially checked, but I guess the pilot could have blown out. But could it have been something like a bad thermocouple?
So I go down and check it, notice there's some leaking, and hear the sound of gas flowing. There was no smell of gas, and no particular heat coming from there. I wasn't sure what to do so I turned off both the gas supply and the water just in case something was failing, as well as the gas knob to off. It was a 1991 Kenmore branded heater, and there was a sticker on it saying that it was guaranteed to be leak free until 2001.
So today I figure I'd try it again. I take off the cover and remove the guard to see what's in there. The lighting instructions were on a label, but partially covered by a strap holding it to some pillars. I didn't quite get it right, as I found that it would only light the pilot if I pushed it down when turned to pilot. So the pilot lights and I hold it down for about a minute as the instructions recommended. So now the pilot is on but it's not doing anything else. I guess the pilot could have eventually warmed up the water, but this obviously isn't working correctly. So I just did the obvious which was to turn the temperature control, and it fires up immediately.
I figure it's about time for a new one, but money is a little tight for us right now. Any idea what might cause an otherwise working (although leaking) water heater to stop working? I didn't smell any gas when I initially checked, but I guess the pilot could have blown out. But could it have been something like a bad thermocouple?