I have 2 GE 28 gallon water heaters, both of which have the same problem. The water heater is turning off after a while, and I have to light the pilot again to got hot water. What could be causing the pilot to extinguish when the main burner shuts off?
Water – Why is the pilot on the GE water heater turning off when the burner turns off
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It may be built into the design of the heater; kind of like most cars' cooling systems, the blower may be staying on to evacuate any remaining combustion gases and cool the heater element to preserve it. However, if it never shuts off, ever, there's probably a bad sensor or relay in the system that is keeping it running.
It sounds like you are describing two different problems.
FIRST PROBLEM: Turning off a hot water heater.
First, there are two ways to hook up two water heaters: series and parallel.
SERIES
- In series, the water comes in to the first water heater, then passes through the second hot water heater, and finally goes to your fixtures.
- If you turn off the second water heater, then the water in the second one cools down between uses. This results in very long warmup times.
- If you want to turn one of these off, turn off the first one. (This is actually a legit way to save on energy costs if you don't need the extra hot water volume because in many places the water supply is colder than room temperature and the first tank allows the water to sit and reach room temperature before it's heated.)
PARALLEL
- In parallel, the incoming cold water is split between the two water heaters. Hot water coming out of the two heaters is combined and sent on to the fixtures.
- If you want to turn off one of the water heaters, you also have to close the valve to the inlet or the outlet. Otherwise you will just be mixing the cold water in one water heater with the hot water from the other heater.
- Leaving one heater closed off for a long time is a bad idea because the water can become stagnant and foul.
SECOND PROBLEM: Pilot light going out
Just turning off one heater should not cause the pilot light on the other to go out.
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Best Answer
'Gusting" of the combustion air can be caused if the shrouding around the base of heater is loose or missing. Such gusting can knock out the pilot.
Another cause of pilot extinguishing is a too rapid start up of the main burner. Usually there is a small baffle around the pilot, protecting it.
Too high a pressure of the gas would also cause a too large main flame. This would have to be checked at the meter by a qualified technician. This, obviously, is a dangerous condition. Other gas appliances (gas stove) might reveal this condition.
Conversely, too low a pressure (and therefore, low gas flow) might make the pilot more sensitive.
Once the pilot is knocked out, cooling of the gas valve thermocouple will prevent restarts.