Hey folks, I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice. This morning I went to light my pilot light. I pressed the blue knob you see below to the "pilot" position, and then got the pilot lit. Unfortunately, I let go of the knob too soon, and the pilot went out. I turned it back to pilot after switching it off, but the pilot would not light after that. I have tried probably a dozen times since then, but I am never able to get it to light. I waited a few hours in between one of the attempts, but this made no difference.

Could I have messed things up earlier somehow? I turned the knob past the off position that first time, could it have somehow completely shut off the gas to the furnace? I've read there are shut off valves - but I'm unsure where mine is, and I didn't touch anything but the blue knob.

Attached are a couple of pictures - the first is a picture of what it looks like above the blue knob (the little arrow indicates where I light the pilot). The second picture shows the blue knob I turn to light the pilot.

Thanks in advance for any advice!



This is what the furnace looks like under the grill, where I light the pilot.



This is the blue knob I twist to light the pilot.

 

P.S. I did hold the blue button down for a good 2-3 minutes, wondering if there was any air trapped in there (I was told about that previously), but this also made no difference. (Also, if the light did light successfully this morning, I'm assuming that means there's no more air trapped in there anyway?) SHould I just hold it down for longer?

 

That's an ITT Midgitrol gas valve. (millivolt model)

Do you have to push it down to go from off to pilot ?
It says "press to reset" on it. I'm not sure if that referring to press when turning or pressing with it off.
It may have tripped if the pilot generator is bad.

It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong.
It could also e possible that the pilot orifice is plugged.
It's a little tiny hole in a brass fitting where you light the pilot.

 

Thanks for the response - I remember your avatar - you helped me last winter in figuring out how to turn this thing on haha. So I appreciate your response to me again.

Yes, I have to press it in in order to go from one knob to the next. Will check the pilot orifice. If it did trip, is there anything I can do to reset it? Or is this a situation where'd I'd need to have someone come out and repair it?

Is there anything I can do to check if the orifice is plugged (or unplug it, if it is?) Or do I just need to kind of fiddle with it to get any dirt, etc. off?

I'm also unclear what the 'press to restart' is referring to, to be honest.

 

Getting to the orifice is a bit tricky. Your arrow is pretty much pointing to it. It looks like there is one screw holding the pilot assy in place. You could take that out, disconnect the gas line off the bottom then look thru the assy. You should be able to see all the way thru the pilot assy.

 

Thanks a lot Pj. I might try and tackle this. Appreciate the guidance. If I'm able to get through to see the pilot assy - what would this tell me? Would there be any visual clues to look for? (Will this give any clues about the pilot having possibly tripped?)

 

I remember seeing those valves but I don't remember pushing to reset. I would just play with it and try to push it in when it's in several locations. Don't force it.... you don't want to break the valve.

If you can see thru the pilot orifice...... it's clean.
Try this...... before reconnecting the orifice.... put the valve on pilot and push the button. You should get a blast of gas out of the line.

 

Interesting, thank you. I'm curious what 'reset' even means here. I did push and play with the button quite a bit on that first attempt (as I was having difficulty turning it), so I wonder if I somehow reset something. I will attempt this again tomorrow. Thanks for the info on the orifice, that is very helpful.

 

Hey I'm sorry, I forgot to ask - for when I attempt to get to the orifice to check if it's plugged - should there be some sort of main shut off valve that shuts the gas off to the furnace? (Or, if that blue knob is in the 'off' position - is that all that's required? I wasn't sure if there was anything else I needed to shut off, to make sure it was safe.)

 

That blue valve will shut the gas off.
There should be a main shut off nearby.... possibly under that appliance.
Always good to know where the shut off is to an appliance in case of emergency.

 

thanks! yes I was exploring this in the night, and read I can trace that thick gas tubing to see where the shut off is. It runs underneath the furnace in to the wall, so I imagine it is elsewhere. But I'm going to explore and find it, yeah, just seems like a good thing to know.

 

Hey guys, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong - and now I have heat! Updating this in case anyone with a similar problem ever stumbles upon here in the future! I ended up having to have an HVAC guy come out, as I really thought there was a problem with the furnace. I was just doing it wrong.

I was not depressing the blue button properly. When I was attempting to light this, I was starting in the 'off' position, then simultaneously pressing and turning to pilot at the same time. This made me think I was actually pressing it in, and I was wondering, why won't it light? Instead - what I needed to do - (1) turn from off to the pilot notch (do not press in at all during this, just turn it), (2) now that it's on the little tick for pilot, THEN press in. You will feel the knob go all the way in, there will be no mistaking it.

I can't believe I messed up something so simple. But you live and learn, and now I know! I hope my dumb mistake saves someone the trouble by reading this one day!

Thank you again PJ for helping me out, both this year and last, I understand so much more about these furnaces due to you, and I was only able to get this lit last year because of your help. Can't thank you enough.

 

You're welcome. Yes.... those gas valves can be a little tricky. Good that all is well.