Here is an email I got today:
The pilot to my water heater has shut off for no reason. It won't stay lit, even when I attempt to light it. The type is a Kenmore Mixer 6.Please get back to me asap, and tell me if this is a serious problem or if it is a minor detail that can be fixed at home.Thank you for your time,Fernando D.
Probably because of my post on Fixing a Sears Kenmore Water Softner.
Comments
Anonymous (not verified)
Uncle Sam and the Zen of Water Heating
Sun, 2008/06/29 - 21:21First off I agree with a previous writer, the blame starts with the morons that let their houses blow up because they stored flammables next to their “gas” hot water heaters. Next we can draw attention to the beaurocrats for listening to the insurance company lobby and looking out for "their" best interests. In a free society with millions of people, some of us are just going to unwittingly blow ourselves up. No amount of legislation is ever going to stop this fact. Legislation simply creates complexity to any given situation, no more … no less! Morons aside, we all need to remain conscious and hone our common sense on matters that affect us.
Take for instance these new sealed burner hot water heaters that everyone on this forum is complaining about. (Brand names have nothing to do with the main problem). Fact is we are from a society where hot water heater simply work! Now enter the government, geared towards protecting the morons, and we have a period of adjustment for the engineers to get these sealed burner heaters working correctly in dusty conditions. (Remember an engineer does for $1 what any damn fool can do for $2). Engineering is not about the best possible solution, it’s about doing what is acceptable within the budget at hand. So let’s get real with the numbers, all 4 U.S. manufactures of heaters are struggling with the same failure rate on these early sealed units. Around 5-8% above their baseline failures.
Coming to any of these “complaint forums” for answers is akin to going to a judge for help with a problem in your life. We have all been there .... IT JUST ISN'T WORTH YOUR TIME!!! Live your life, wake up smell the roses., tackle the problems at hand like your grandparents did. Let’s face it, you unwittingly bought a first generation sealed gas hot water heater and your are going to have to deal with it. Now exercise some common sense. Don't look to the government/courts for help, be an informed human being living in free society and handle the situation yourself. (For those of you that already know everything … bear with me)
I know it’s painful but let’s take some time and understand how this sealed burner gas heater works. Don’t worry it won’t bite you! The lighting instructions are staring your right in the face. Read and try to understand them! Now start by removing the metal cover plate and look to see if your pilot light is still lit. Get right down on the floor and take a good look … can you see a flame through the glass plate? Wow, just think, you are actually looking up into that government mandated “sealed burner chamber” ….. now stop and say …. “Thanks Uncle Sam”. But seriously, do you see a flame, if no, click the igniter button and look for the spark, this spark lights your pilot flame, which in turn lights the main burner when commanded. Most problem are related to the pilot going out or not enough air entering into the burner chamber to heat the water sufficiently with the main burner lit. The 101 class is now over and it’s time to get down to business. Turn of the gas supply and lets clean that screen!
Start by removing that “useless plastic screen” on the very bottom of your water tank and take a look inside, you should see an empty chamber with a 6” ceramic disc with holes on the upper surface of this chamber. This is the thingy that gets clogged with dust, remember to have a fire you must have air. Is it dusty in the chamber??? A strong vacuum with a 90 degree attachment that fit in this small place would be outstanding. You don’t have one, do you. Ok use a straight vacuum attachment and use duct tape to make a 90 degree bend at the tip. Get inventive! Now that you have the dust cleaned up, it’s time to fire up the heater and see if the beast lives.
If the pilot still goes out or the main flame is still weak you will probably have to replace the entire burner assembly. Time to call the manufacture, be persistent, work the chain of command, don’t get angry. See if they will install an upgraded burner assembly that is not so prone to clogging in dusty conditions. If the best they will do is replace with identical burner assembly… then so be it. Don’t look to the repair technician for answers, most are simply doing what they are told. Remember the common denominator here is that ceramic inlet screen is being clogged with dust. In the future keep the area around your new hot water heater as free from dust as possible. Get yourself a furnace filter, tear off a small piece and stuff it around that useless "plastic air inlet screen", see it’s not so useless anymore. That way dust cannot enter the ceramic burn chamber, are you getting the picture here? Be proactive .... not reactive.
New construction is now raising the heaters 18" off the floor, ask yourself, is this practical in your situation. Yes/No? What will that cost me, will it help me control dust in the future. Make educated decisions based on facts. These sealed burner gas water heaters are here with us now and into the future. Can’t deal this, then perhaps it’s time to think about an electric hot water heater. Humm, what lobby wants these in every house in America???
Thanks again Uncle Sam! Keep up the good work!
Fred (not verified)
Water Heater Pilot Lite
Wed, 2008/10/29 - 19:20After lighting and relighting for several days I left the heavy gas valve cover off the unit.........the pilot light had remained ON. I would be curious if you were able to duplicate the fix.
Thanks
Fred
Chuck (not verified)
Kenmore Hot Water Heater Will Not Stay On
Thu, 2008/07/10 - 00:06Thanks for the suggestions on cleaning the sensors.
My Kenmore, Economizer 6, is 4 years old. 2 years ago I had this same problem. Called Sear took them a week to come fix. The repairman told me the sensors were dirty. I didn't watch him clean the heater but I purchased the warranty that was only good for one year. However, I never needed to call until now another 2 years later.
So, I turned off water heater, removed the plate where the igniter and senor are located, near the bottom and vacuumed out the burner area and area around the hot water heater "the floor" (basis house cleaning). I then looked inside the burner area and could see specks of ash on both the senor and the igniter. I then stuck my hand inside the burner area (with power off) and by using my fingers removed the specks of ash from both the senor and the igniter. I then vacuumed one more time, turned on the hot water heater one and it's now been running all day without any more issues.
This cleaning took me 5 minutes and I saved $185 (the quota I received from Sear to come fix my problem, with a 4 day wait). What took me 5 minutes (including the time it took me to moving my vacuum cleaner and light to the area so that I could see better)saved me $185.00. That’s an hour equivalent of $2,220 per hour. (5 minutes / 60 minutes is 12. 12 X $185 = $2,220)
Go save yourself some money!!!!! This was too easy.
Michael (not verified)
Sears Kenmore Power Miser 9 & Pilot Problems
Tue, 2008/07/15 - 14:03I've had pretty much the same problems as all of you. My Kenmore Power Miser 9 is 2-3 years old. I had a few issues initially where the pilot would go out and I'd simply re-light. However, a week ago I ran into the issue where the pilot would simply not stay lit. In order to save the cost of a service call, I employed some of the tactics recommended on this board and (knock on wood) so far, so good. I've gone a week with no loss of pilot light.
First, I took the entire burner assembly out (shut off pilot and shut off gas supply first, disconnect supply lines to regulator).
Second, I removed the plastic screens at the base of the heater and scrubbed the dust off of them with soap and water (dusty storage area which houses the furnace, the water tank and the cat litter box) and allowed them to dry.
Third, I rigged up a piece of 12" long 1/2" pvc with a 90 degree elbow to my shop vac. Basically just duct tape it and create a
seal to the vacuum's hose.
Fourth, buy a baby bottle brush. Gently brush the filter beneath the tank (I needed a light in order to see for this project as well) and inside the tank.
Now, put the vacuum on "discharge" and blow the dust down through
the filter in the bottom of the tank (this is where the 90 degree elbow comes in handy). Put on a mask of some type
if dust bothers you - I generated quite a bit. Switch around the hose and put it on "vacuum" mode and suck up all of the dust that
you've created, both in the base of the tank and beneath the tank.
I also vacummed the entire area around the tank and have now been
cleaning the screens on a weekly basis. Yes, I know it stinks but
it saved me a service call. Will the tank fail in the future? From what I've read, probably. However, I like to think that the money I save by taking preventative measures will be a deposit on my Bradford White unit when I put it in or have it installed. I'm
finished with Kenmore, Sears and any manufacturer who makes products for them. My last few washers, dryers and dehumidifiers
have been pieces of excrement. I've purchased my last Sears appliance. I'll pay more but have the piece of mind of knowing that I should also receive better quality.
Also, it appears that Sears gives you the double-whammy by having a thermocouple available only through them ($36.99). Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd like to have a few on hand otherwise.
Lisa (not verified)
My power miser 9 from Sears
Tue, 2008/07/15 - 21:13My power miser 9 from Sears SUCKS too!!!!!! The pilot light keeps going out. They have replaced the thermocouple and the burner and it's been o.k. for the last few months but now is back to going out multiple times a day. Sears is supposed to come out saturday so we shall see what they will do about it this time. I swear it's a damn good thing I renew my warranty each year. If I could afford it I'd tell Sears to come get their piece of crap and then I'd call Lowe's. But since I don't have the cash I kinda have to rely on Sears.I do think that Sears should replace all of the powermiser water heaters though because they are clearly JUNK!!!!
P. (not verified)
Thanks to all of you who
Thu, 2008/07/17 - 14:32Thanks to all of you who posted regarding Sears water heater. I have all the problems with the pilot light as documented by all your emails. After reading about how the heater did not have enough air to keep the pilot on and the burner burning I simply remove the rubber gasket that covers the main pipe from the on/off panel to the burner. That alone provided enough air for the burner and pilot to operate. It's been a week now and the heater is still operating nicely. Our heater is in the bathroom and no where near any flammable gas. I don't think the removable of the gasket make the system dangerous to operate. I'll still try to vaccum the bottom screen if I ever rig up something for the vaccum clearner.
Anonymous (not verified)
State water heaters make a
Wed, 2008/07/30 - 10:45State water heaters make a device. I have one. Sears I BET has one. But it did not solve my problem. Read futher.
DR.V (not verified)
Give the Pilot some air
Sat, 2008/07/26 - 12:16Comment from P on 7/17/08 is right on! The whole issue is after time the sealed chamber does not provide enough air for the pilot so unseal the chamber and give the pilot some air. Simply remove the rubber grommet from either the main gas line going into the burner chamber or remove the grommet from the thermocouple and pilot lines going into the burner chamber. That alone provides enough air for the burner and pilot to operate. It's been weeks now and the pilot has not gone out once. This heater is also in a location where flammable fumes do not exist which I am sure is the case in 90% of American homes.
John (not verified)
Why not?
Wed, 2008/08/06 - 19:58Maybe removing the ceramic filter and even the outside screen would be a solution. Sears techs and plumbers can't/won't do it because of the liability involved but the owner of the heater can, at his/her own risk. Then there would be nothing to clog-up and keep the pilot from staying lit. I don't know if it would actually work because it may let in too much air which might affect the gas/air mixture and efficiency of the heater also. But it would probably work just fine. Of course, it would void all warranties (if you have one) not to mention the purpose of the filters [safety] would be defeated but until a few years ago water heaters never had a safety device to prevent outside combustible gases from igniting anyway. Once removed there would be the possibility of burning your house down or bodily injury just like there is with tens of thousands of water heaters currently installed in homes and businesses throughout the U.S. but hey, you'd have hot water and no pilot staying lit problem unless the thermocouple or something else happens to go bad down the road. But that's a chance you have to take with any water heater anyway.
brianb33 (not verified)
Crappy Kenmore Waterheaters
Fri, 2008/08/08 - 13:53Loosening the rubber seal on the gas line seems to be the answer to the pilot light fiasco. How about a suggestion or instructions to get all that rust out of the combustion chamber in a 2002 Power Miser 9? Is it possible to get all that rust out of the combustion chamber without taking out the inner door and disconnecting the burner tube, the pilot tube and the thermocouple TCO?
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