Buckshotmckee

I know with the wealth of knowledge around here someone hopefully has an answer. Here is what I got. I have 2 gas wall heaters. 1 is fine, but it's the 2nd one thats giving me the problems. Here is the story: I lit the pilot last week, went to adjust the thermostat and the pilot goes out, re-lit pilot several times, same problem. Lit pilot, let burn overnight, the next morning I turned it on and it worked for about 20 min and poof the pilot went out. Now the problem I have is when I lite the pilot and let the button out, the pilot won't even stay lit now. Anybody got any thought? Thanks

Tye

2500Ram

I'll bet the thermocouple is shot. Rod over the pilot light, must be hot or at temp to deliver gas. Most home centers (home depot, lowes) have replacements but a wall heater might be dealer part. I've only dealt with water heaters and furnaces. Cheap and easy to install if that is the problem.

gerry

Hey Tye...

If you heater has a thermostat then it has a pilot generator (PG)...

Chack to make sure that the pilot flame is blue.. if it is yellow in color then when the main burner flame turns on it will drag the pilot flame away from the PG.

I would almost bet that you have some dust in the little air opening causing the pilot flame to be soft. If it is try tapping it with the handle of a screwdriver and at the same time ust a piece of tubeing and blow on it to get the dust out....

If you have a probelm Give me a call.. I think you have my phone number.. If not PM me and I'll give it to you..

Gerry

durasmack

I have had similar problems with spiders getting into the pilots.... Just something to think about... air compressor blow gun usually solves it easy..... could also be thermocouple....

gerry

thermocouples at aprox 75 milovolts and only hold a valve open with a small electric magnet once it is set..

If it has a thermostat it will be a pilot generator... 750 milivolts.. to operate the valve..

there are some instances in Boilers or Forced air units when there is an electric gas valve to the thermostat.. then the safety is inline with a therocouple...

rharveysr

Tye,

Why do you need a heater where you live


Rick

Buckshotmckee

]

Because its been getting down to 45 deg @ night! Thats too cold for me. I live in God's country, 3 miles from the beach. Its not suspose to get this cold here.

P.J

I have been fighting the SAME exact thing with an Empire 15K BTU wall heater myself. (we got down to 47 last night burrrr).
Actually, I just finally got the darn thing to fire up at about 10AM today.
It's your Thermo thingy as previously stated, costs about $25-40 bucks depending on your unit. I got the universal jobber and it worked out fine. Trick is that the burner won't fire up unless it KNOWS that the pilot is burnging correctly, saves you from filling your house full of gas. Be careful of the aoircompressor/clean out your pilot tip, I did that and blew the tiny orphice (sp?) across my garage which cost me another 4 cold nights to wait for a replacement to come in the mail. Use a tiny piece of wire if possible, that would have worked out much better for me.

Should be a straight forward job, can be taken care of by the average homeowner with hand tools.

SHUT OFF THE GAS SUPPLY AND PUT DOWN THE CIGARETTES!

spunbearing

Thermocouplers and pilot generators aren't $25-$40.... they are only $3-$5
Tye you can pick one up at Miners right there on Grand Ave. One more thing to check. If it's a newer unit ( like a williams) it will have a vent safety switch. If the vent is clogged or otherwise not venting properly the switch will not allow the pilot to stay lit. On a williams wall furnace it is located on the left side of the unit towards the top behind the louvered part of the cover. It has two wires going from it down to the control valve. For testing purposes you can loop a wire between the two terminals and bypass the switch. DO NOT LEAVE IT LIKE THIS. Just for testing purposes only!

P.J

Alllrighty then. The pilot generator that I got was @24.99, its a metal probe looking thing with a metal clad wires comming from it. If I ordered it from sears it would have come straigth from the manufacturer and cost about $34.00 + tax and shipping.

Part Description: Quantity: Part Number: Model
Number: Price per unit: Cost:
THERMOCPLE R1054 (672064) DV-215-7SG $ 33.99 $ 33.99

Note: Subtotal does not include shipping, handling and tax. Subtotal: $ 33.99

spunbearing

Guess it's been awhile since I ordered one of those. They must have started plating them with gold. I stand corrected. Just looked it up in my book. 18" and 24" thermocouplers are $3.59. The 36" is $4.49. Robertshaw 750 millivolt pG9 style pilot gen. with pilot burner are going for $25.98. I did find one for $14.00 but not sure of the source. Must be a surplus place.

http://www.iarsf.com/ProductInfo.aspx?id=212909

Buckshotmckee

Thanks for all the info guys. It looks like I got my work cut out for me tonight. I tried blowing out the dust in the pilot hole but still no go.

budsowner

Usally it is dust i just take a straw that bends on the end and blow the dust out that most of the time fixes it try that first before you go spending money .We install several f these heaters.

durasmack

It wasnt 45 in the middle of the day here.....

Buckshotmckee

Replaced Pilot generator today (Shelf Price $46.95, after discount $24.75). Still wont stay lit. Pilot goes out as soon as I depress the pilot button.