Starting last winter (year 2013), the pilot light of my gas furnace (about 4 years old) keeps going out about every 10-12 days, depending on the usage. It doesn't take long to relight it up and there would be no problem for 10-12 days until the pilot light goes out again. I don't remember how many times I did that in the last winter. Oh, I have to mention that the pilot light never went out in the summer b/c I had no problem of turning on the heat in November 2014. I have kept asking people about the problem and was told that the thermocouple (T/C) needs to be replaced. So I had the T/C replaced in early December and everything was okay for 20 days then the pilot light went out again. I relighted it up then 10 days later, it went out again. It doesn't seem like it is the problem with the T/C because I just put in a new one. It also appears that the pilot light only goes out in the winter time when the heat is turned on. Does anybody know what the problem is? Any feedback will be appreciated because it's been driving me crazy!!!

HN

 

The T/C shouldn't have anything to do with the pilot light going out as it controls the gas valve to light the burner,do you have any other gas appliances?how well do they operate,is this propane or NG?
Geo

 

I suggest you clean the pilot orifice. Cleaning the pilot will correct most problems. To clean it:

Follow the pilot tubing from the gas valve to the pilot burner. Usually a brass ferrule holds the pilot tubing into the pilot burner. The pilot orifice is inside the pilot burner where that ferrule screws in.

Remove the screws that hold the pilot burner in place. Gently bend the pilot tubing to move the pilot burner out where you can work on it.

Use a 7/16" open-end wrench to loosen the brass ferrule holding the pilot tubing into the pilot burner. Finish loosening the ferrule by hand so the pilot tubing comes away from the pilot burner.

The pilot orifice will probably fall out of the pilot burner at that point into your hand.

Use a wire from a wire brush to clean out the hole in the end of the pilot orifice. Be careful to not enlarge the hole. Sometimes very small holes will need to be blown free of dirt and dust.

Use a wire brush to clean up the rest of the pilot burner. Reassemble and re-install the pilot burner.

 

Thanks for the info. Would you happen to have a picture of the gas burner? Is it closed to the T/C? I am trying to explain the process to my uncle so he could do the cleaning, but I guess I am not doing a good job. He doesn't understand what I am saying. Thank.

 

The line you are looking to disconnect is the tube coming into the pilot and is located adjacent to the thermocouple. To better assist, post the model number of the furnace.

 

The other gas appliances work fine. It's NG.

 

The model number is CG-C 30. I really hope cleaning of the pilot orifice will fix the problems. Ohh, there's a couple times that the pilot light goes out when the burner is on: like the heat is coming then it stops and we find the pilot light is out.

 

Also, make sure you have a blue flame and have between 3/8" and 1/2" impingement on the thermocouple. In the attached diagram the red arrow points to where you disconnect the gas line to remove the pilot orifice. It is a quick and simple procedure to clean the orifice. The pilot orifice is labeled as 33A in second diagram.

 

cool, thanks again. will let u know how that goes