Pilot won't light with Honeywell WV valve. Possibly thermocouple?
Gas AO Smith water heater with a Honeywell control. First no hot water and the pilot was still lit so was able to get it going with the very hot, hot, pilot for 10secs thing. Then the pilot was out but got it lit fairly quick. Now it won't light at all. Took it apart and confirmed nothing was clogged etc.
Before I spend time taking it off and going out and buying one could a bad thermocouple be the reason for the pilot not even lighting? WH is 8 yrs old so may just get a new one if it's not a simple fix.
Thanks
Water heaters are no longer simple/basic devices. The safeties keep getting more sophisticated.
The thermocouple only holds the pilot lit...... once it is lit.
It won't keep the pilot from lighting.
Make it dark....
look thru the sight glass and see if the spark is actually working when pushing the button.
When you had the first problem... was there a blinking code on the valve ?
You said the pilot won't light. Is that.... won't light at all or won't stay lit ?
Can you post the Honeywell valve model.
There are diagnostic routines for them.
Good.... that's a Honeywell WV series control valve.
This video is by far the most comprehensive repair method for testing that valve.
She goes over the entire testing procedure.
The only thing I don't do/recommend is sanding the thermopile. Honeywell WV testing video - Frugal DIY
I haven't done anything new- just got back to the WH today and I don't know if just letting it sit that long did something or what...but now it lights up right away each time. Just won't stay lit. No blinking light even if holding the button in to keep it lit for a few minutes.
I did have the whole unit out all this time and before installing it again I turned the gas on for a couple of seconds. Then off again to install the unit. I didn't smell any btw I don't know if you're supposed to or not..maybe I didn't have it open/on long enough.
I'm planning to try a new thermopile/couple unless there's something else I should do first. I've been watching the YouTube vids and the one thing everyone seems to agree on is- the HoneyWell unit sucks. I've looked at that reset button etc etc etc.
Btw..the reason I turned the gas on before installing it again was to check if gas was even coming out. I didn't read or watch anything that said to do that but just thought it odd it wouldn't even light. Maybe doing that cleared something out but maybe just a coincidence that it lit up right away this time around. Obviously there's something else going on that it won't stay lit now.
If the pilot light has been off for a few minutes then there will be no blinking lights on the water heater control box.
Hold the button in, pilot light lights normally, then hold button in for three more minutes and pilot light is still lit -- then let go, if pilot light goes out now then next step is to check or replace the thermocouple or thermopile.
Yeah I did that but I'll try it again. Does it matter how those 2 wires are attached to where that reset button is? They're both red. Pretty sure I had them on as before I took them off but switched them back and forth while trying to light it before this latest successful lighting of the pilot. I'll probably do the same tonight when trying again to see if it'll stay lit.
When you press and hold hold a knob or button and the pilot stays lit, that does not depend on the condition of the thermocouple. To me, which wire is which does make a difference but there could be exceptions. I have never seen a thermocouple with two identical (e.g. red) wires although I have seen some with a red wire and a white wire, and others that have a single screw in fitting (actually a coaxial plug) to attach to the control box.
Yeah it's not staying lit no matter how I put those wires. I don't have the assembly here but it did have a red and white wire but the ones that go to that reset thing are both red. Maybe one starts as white.
I've ordered a whole new assembly so will see how that goes.
Well that was a waste of time so far. Put the new one in and it's the same- pilot lights but won't stay on. 3+ mins with the button pushed in as well. Will try it some more but unless there's another trick to keep it lit I probably should have just gotten a whole new WH right away.
Btw..the red wires I was referring to can be seen in this video. Seems like that's how most if not all are: https://youtu.be/t490QVYdywY?t=480
Hello again,
A few weeks back, I posted (and received great help) with an issue with our water heater. Here's the link to the post: [url=https://www.doityourself.com/forum/water-heaters/642616-electric-water-heater-inop.html]Electric Water Heater Inop[/url]
The result of that work was finding one of the cartridge fuses blown in the dedicated switch mounted just above the water heater. That was about two a half weeks ago. I replaced both cartridge fuses and everything was great. This evening, I found that another cartridge fuse was blown, causing loss of hot water again. The original cartridge fuses lasted nearly 20 years. Any idea why this one blew after two and half weeks? Are there any other systems or wiring I should be looking at that could be causing this? The breaker in the primary load center wasn't tripped and we've had not storm or obvious power surges to the house during this time (also, we have a whole-house surge protector installed).
Thanks!
05-12-23, 02:24 PM
