2015 Richmond Natural Gas Water heater 6640-36F1 from 2015, not staying lit. It's been a while since I installed this new water heater in November of 2015. Water wouldn't get got today. Went down to look at it, and it wasn't lit. Tried relighting it about 20 times. Holding that pilot button down for a minute is not the most fun. Pretty sure the thermocouple went. I've replaced them in the past, but that was 20 years ago in a past life. These things still appear to be universal, as long as you have a long enough thermocouple that is. A 24" thermocouple should do it. Ace hardware has them for like $12https://www.acehardware.com/departments/heating-and-cooling/thermostats-and-heating-supplies/thermocouples/4894275 I'll have my wife pick one up tomorrow. Wish me luck and I'll enjoy my cold shower tomorrow morning to wake up.. I know you can test these, but they are cheap and fix the problem most of the time.
Grr. I got the new TC. Installed it and attempted to start the burne. But I can't get the pilot to stay lit after replacement of the TC. So no difference.. Yet I'll give it another try now
Do you have a nice blue pilot flame that has good contact with the thermocouple? If the air vents in the pilot light burner get dust clogged the flame will start to yellow and will pull away from the thermocouple. Pipe cleaners and a vacuum or canned air usually do the trick, if that's the problem. Good luck!
Flame looks great. The flame is directed right at the TC. I didn't he's with the holder if the TC end. So doubt that is the issue. It seems like the TC isn't holding the solenoid down for the pilot. Every time when after holding the pilot button down for minutes, well more than enough to make it work, it's not holding. The TC threaded in the gas valve seems like it's nit really engaged too deep in the housing, but there's also this plastic piece in there. I didn't look at the original one in how it was fitted, but it seems like it can't go in any more than this . Does this look right? If I don't have that threaded end of the TC correct in the gas block, it probably wouldn't hold the solenoid down to light it after pilot light.
It's that white plastic thing. Sounds like that's another safety that's been put in there by Rheem/ Richmond I hear on certain years of Rheem/ Richmond water heaters that three extra safety devices were problematic. Sounds like she people have removed them at bare minimum to test that the valve is good.
It's a thermocouple. And I think I found the issue. that white plastic thingy. I've never seen one of those before, but they apparently give a lot of people headaches.
See the little while puck with the wires? Popped it out and reconnected the thermocouple and then re lit it. Bingo. The water is already much warmer at the kitchen sink
It's full on hot water again. Nothing's better than a hot shower, after you took a cold one the day before
Waking up to a nice hot shower was much much better than the cold one I took yesterday morning. The funny thing is, that there never used to be another sensor between the thermocouple and the gas valve. It sounds like in 2020, this SIT brand ( Italian) gas valve really made a lot of problems and these discs that they put between the TC end and the gas valve were failing in days to a year at most. So to go along with supply chain issues during covid, they had faulty / crappy parts and you simply could not get them. There's a thread on Reddit about this, and not even Rheem/ Richmond knows what that sensor is called. They are not spelled out in the owners manual I have. Apparently plumbers were swapping the SIT gas valves out for White Rodgers valves to solve the issue. Also in addition to not knowing what they are called, nobody knows what they exactly safeguard against that doesn't already have a safeguard or 2 built in. The T&P valve will pop off of the thermostat fails. Also, there's an overheat ampule that will burst and snuff out an over fire. Then there's the thermocouple and the solenoid that will close the gas supply off if that's not all jiving. Somewhere in Italy, there's an engineer laughing his butt off.
have friend with a new LP hot air furnace experiencing roughly the same problem. At least his is under warranty but being in the boonies service is iffy at best. particularly with warranty work.
