Good tip. I just checked my energy providers rebate program. They have one, but the funds are all used up for the year.

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.

I'm not so certain the burner is on anymore and flushing it will be the last thing I try. That's a lot of work and I don't have the time to handle that right now.

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.

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.

I'll call a plumber out before I go that route. We're not strapped for cash, but we were saving for some other expenses.

OK. We're not getting any boiling sounds, only a slight hiss. Should we still drain it?

Well it appears that mine doesn't have a reset button. It's a Honeywell WT8840B1500. I read some weird stuff on Google saying I have to turn the knob to a few different positions, but that didn't do anything...

😔 we were hoping to get a little more time with it.

It's not super old. About 10 years, but the house was vacant for 4 of those.

Cool, I'll go try that one. Do I need to do anything beforehand? I know if you're restarting the pilot light, you should drain the tank. Is there anything like that that I'd need to be aware of?

I'll keep that one in mind, but my burner is lit. I can see it from the little window.

Any idea on how I could check that?

I doubt it. It's on a scale of A->B->C and it was at B which is above the recommended settings. I moved it up to B and a half and got no change from it.