natural-gas
I'm going to install a new tube for my pilot light gas supply. Should I consider using a tubing bender, or is that just silly? I can bend it easily by hand, but I don't want to risk kinks.
I can get a bender for under $15, but I don't know if these are meant for such soft tube like these pilot supply tubes.
For reference, I'm using this kind of tube:
I'm considering one of these benders:
or
The thermopile in your fireplace puts out millivolts, nothing near the 120V the light switch was designed for. It's probably just a matter of finding a switch with a low enough on resistance. A generic low voltage switch from a electronics store, or ripped out of a toy, would probably do it (for example a 12V SPST). Really here the smaller the better, but beware of anything too cheap as that may put you down the wrong path again.
There are some fireplace specific forums which could help, particularly with a model number given. An example is http://www.hearth.com/talk/ . The above image is from "Discover Circuits Magazine (December 2009 Issue 4)", which has a guide on this exact topic along with a clever booster solution from one "Mr. Wily Widget". Find it over at http://www.discovercircuits.com/dc-mag/Issue_4/pg-7.htm
You can also try cleaning the thermopile which may have crust of soot. Measure the voltage between those two exposed wires to see if your cleaning makes an improvement.
So I did it! And it turned out not to be the problem...
Things to note:
Here is the joint compound that I used
I also used teflon tape.
And of course, be sure to turn off your gas when working with it, drain your water heater if it is an older style model (like mine) and be careful putting everything back together.
My problem: My problem ended up being the thermocouple. The replacement pilot light assembly I had installed just 8 weeks ago ended up having a faulty thermocouple. Obviously I should have taken more time to test the thermocouple rather than spending all the time and money on a new valve. Ah well! I'll be putting in a new anode shortly and hopefully I will get another 3-5 years out of this water heater. Enough time to take care of the freon line when the budget allows...
Also worth mentioning, I found an identical gas control valve from a vendor on Amazon. Ever since I got the new pilot light assembly in place it has been working just fine.
Best Answer
A tubing bender works quite well on this stuff and isn't expensive. An alternative you may want to consider for more open bends is an external bending spring if you can get one in the right size.
Bending by hand is quite likely to kink the tube and isn't a good idea.
What is the tube made of? It doesn't look like copper in the picture. Aluminium won't bend nicely or at all, steel needs a tool even more than copper.
When using a pipe bender on thin stuff, take it easy and release the tool a few times rather than trying to make the whole bend in one movement.