Water Heater Source

D asked:


My hot water heater is about 25 years old. I had to shut my gas off the other day. When I turned it back on and lit the pilot, the light stays lit but the water heater doesn’t stay on.

Carlota

4 Responses to “My hot water heater pilot will stay on, but it is not heating the water. What could this be?”

1. heart o' gold Says:
   January 18th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

   Leda

   Did you turn the dial that controls how hot the water gets back to a hot setting? Usually there is a “pilot” setting you use while lighting the heater, then you have to turn the heater back on after the pilot is lit.

   I always forget to do this…

2. April Says:
   January 20th, 2010 at 5:24 pm

   Drew

   The heating element may have blown. 25 years is pretty old. If you upgrade to a new one you could save some money on your energy bill.I would do a price comparison on fixing the old one vs. buying a new one.

3. Craig Says:
   January 23rd, 2010 at 8:02 pm

   Hubert

   25 years is a good run for a heater,it’s probably just at the end of it’s life

4. listurhopes Says:
   January 26th, 2010 at 5:51 am

   Earlie

   If the pilot is not going out then thermocouple is probably good. Could be your burner control or burner having issues. Clean the burner and area around it. Check for rust. If you see excessive rust or moisture then replace the unit.

   I’ve spent $75 for a burner control unit for a 8 year old model recently and $20 for a new thermocouple on it a couple years back. Good luck finding parts for a 25 year old unit.

   I’ll agree with others here that 25 years is a long time for a water heater. I’ve replaced a 15 year old unit within the last year at my mom’s place through Lowes for under $500 installed.

   If ours give us anymore problems it will be replaced as well.