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GONZnotFONZ t1_itt1zvv wrote

Reply to comment by PernPorson in Water Heater Suddenly Only Produces Warm Water by PernPorson

You can see the burner or the pilot? If you turn the temperature knob all the way up does it then kick on?

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PernPorson OP t1_itt2tzf wrote

You know... I'm second guessing myself. Pretty sure I'm seeing the pilot, not the burner. I may need to dissamble a little more to see the burner assembly.

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GONZnotFONZ t1_itt36iw wrote

If you turn it off, relight the pilot, and turn the temperature knob up you’ll be able to hear the burner kick on. If it doesn’t, it’s probably something with the thermostat. If it does and it still is producing warm water, then the unit might just be bad.

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PernPorson OP t1_itt472a wrote

Gotcha. I'll restart it tomorrow. If it turns out to be a bad assembly, would you expect anyone could change it safely? I know my way around a toolshed, but I don't want to blow up.

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jeffersonairmattress t1_itt6oja wrote

I don't think your burner is lighting at all. You can prove that the warm water is just leftover by just letting it run and finding it eventually just cold.

Nobody has mentioned a thermocouple. That's the easiest and most common fault of a gas DHW heater. Google thermocouple replacement. No need to drain the tank. Just turn black knob to off, slide access panel open, re and re thermocouple, then follow instructions to re-start your controller (typically turn black knob to pilot, press and hold and light pilot while new thermocouple heats, turn black knob to on, hear satisfying click and whoomph, close access panel)

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PernPorson OP t1_itt7ast wrote

I'm thinking this is it. I just turned the pilot light off and tried to restart it, but the thermostat isn't detecting it. Surely that means the thermocouple is bad. I'll rip it apart tomorrow and check.

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Gobucks21911 t1_ittfsju wrote

I’d call a reputable plumber. Just had ours looked at for a vent flue issue and initially he was thinking it would need to be replaced (done rust). But he was pretty quickly able to identify the issue and fix it for a couple hundred $$ instead of $3k, plus I didn’t have to worry about natural gas explosions, lol.

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