This video shows how to troubleshoot and clean the flame sensor in your water heater. You have any doubts then you should call your local professional to show you how to fix your water heater. The purpose of this video is to show you how I cleaned my flame sensor to get my water heater working again.
Warning: Read your owners manual. It probably says: servicing
should only be performed by a Qualified Service Agent.
If you choose to do this on your own, injury or death can occur.
If you water heater fails to heat water it might be simply a dirty flame sensor. On my water heater, I was able to easily access the flame sensor, remove it, sand it clean with sand paper or steel wool, and reinstall it and that resolved the problem. IT IS BEST TO USE STEEL WOOL if you have it.
Symptoms: Your water heater might make several attempts to ignite and a flame lights up but then the system shuts the gas off and then makes another attempt. A dirty flame sensor makes the water heater think there is no flame and so it shuts the gas off and vents it out. After several attempts you will see an error indication and eventually your water will be cold.
If you reset the power and try it again (read your owners manual first) and you observe your water heater light the flame and shut down several times, then it is either a vacuum (vent) problem or it is a flame sensor.
Watch as I Inspect the Flame Sensor and its ceramic insulator for cracks and wear. I would Replace the Flame Sensor if it shows any sign of damage or excessive wear. Ensure the Flame Sensor is not touching the Burner surface, the gap should be approximately 1/2 inch.
Several websites, and my service professional both indicated that the flame sensor is the cause of failure of water heaters in almost every case.
IF you do decide to remove and clean your sensor (which I do not recommend until you have a professional show you how) then make triple sure that the water heater has cooled down in the burner area, and that you completely remove power by unplugging or shutting off circuit breakers….AND shut off the gas valve.
Disclaimer: I am only showing you how I was able to clean my flame sensor AFTER a professional showed me how. If you choose to try it yourself without having a professional show you how to safely remove and clean the flame sensor then you are responsible for the outcome of your actions and I am in no way liable.
This water heater is a power vent type…which means it has a vent fan that sucks the exhaust gasses out and makes a lot of noise. You might still have a standard draft type of water heater. Always refer to your owners manual.
You can still write comments if you find that this helped you understand your water heater better, and by all means, you can subscribe to learn about other home tasks.
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Thanks man. Worked like a charm for me as well.
VERY GOOD VIDEO
unplug? what kind of waterheater you got? Flame sensor? you mean thermocouple right? Dude, bro, Holmes, there's enough confusion as it is, please refrain from informal terms.
Mine just went and i changed the thermal coupler…but the ignition switch broke off..that little bbq button.broke off from the wire…i spent all afternoon..trying and nothing….I'll try again tomorrow…i refuse to pay for a service call…i rather buy a new one….
Wow, over 2 years of wondering why we had so much trouble with our hot water tank that heats our floor in our summer room during the winter. Even our friend, that's a professional, changed out the whole igniter/ heat sensor assembly, last year, had no idea. So here we are with a piece of steel wool and in a minute it's fixed!!! THANK YOU
Ha ha ha ..thank you for share your DIY brother. Your funny comment at the end, make me laugh. Ok ..brother to brother..
why does my gas hot water heater make a popping noise in the winter?
Also, pilot is staying on. Not shutting off
My pilot light is lit, I turned thermostat all the way to high, but water not getting hot. It's warm. Also, water leaking outside on side of house, out of pvc pipe. Help?!
Are you talking about the thermalcouple??
Dud you are man. Very well put together. God bless
Our water heater is also the boiler for the heating system in our apartment. It stopped last night and gas company stated a repair guy would be available Wednesday(this is Saturday, and it's cold outside). Cleaning is all that was needed. Thanks for that video.
Finally I found this video! We have had intermittent hot water for MONTHS. I took the fan off and cleaned it. Tried unplugging and blowing air in it to clean it out. Nothing worked. THANK YOU!!!
mines yellow flame cant find a vid
Excellent vid. Love it! This style of flame sensor works on the principle of flame rectification. Look it up. A small AC voltage is applied to the sensor and the flame conducts it to ground. And the control module looks for a tiny current. No flame, no conduction. The control module shuts it all down then. That's why cleaning it to a shiny finish (and possibly repositioning it) works. The flame "electrically connects" the sensor to ground.
Omg. So need to try this. Plumber just replaced dip tube (apparently he's the dip!) then saw the code flashing that the sensor has issues… and wanted to charge $350 plus taxes to replace the whole thing! And he billed me $105 for "diagnosing" my problem… haven't paid the bill yet. Might just give him $20 for his travel and call it square since his 2nd diagnosis appears to be wrong as well!
Thanks for your video!! This saved me a home visit and the charge that goes along with it!!! Our cats were the issue too! We had our cat boxes next to the water heater heater. When you mentioned cats my wife and I looked at each other and laughed. You saved the day!!!!!
You're awesome. I just ripped my propane water heater apart this weekend to fix it after reading just the service manual. Such fun doing something dangerous for the first time. I noticed that your flame looks a little air starved. I would open your air intake a tiny bit to see if that gets the flame a little bluer and cleaner.
Just had the same issue. My repair man was nice enough to give me the same advice. One thing he told me is to make sure you vacuum the intake to, it slows down the corrosion and you won't have to clean the sensor as often. Thanks for the video!
Thank you so much! We have hot water again!
thank U and all the best!
hi I have been having reoccurring issues since replacing new tank 5 years ago = a least 2-3 times per year- hot water people say they cant figure out what is causing it- new set of eyes are thinking its the condensation off of my dryer since its in the same room – gas line has been cleaned – things replaced ignitors etc– they are saying something gets rusted but the last incident was within 2 weeks– the normal is every 6 mos or so– there have been 2 instances where it has happened within 1 mos of repair guy being in– so now I am going to be shortening my dryer hose to see if this helps– does this make any sense to anyone ???
ok
Thanks!!! You've saved me big $'s!!
Hello. I think I am having the same problem, had it before. I was able to remove the outer cover however there is another cover behind it which I can't remove with a standard regular or phillips screw head screwdriver. Any suggestions? Thanks.
You don't need to remove the sensor rod from the assembly, just scrub it with a dollar bill.
Thank you, great video. I followed what you did and fixed my water heater.
Thankyou.
Adding myself as another happy viewer of your video. I have this exact setup and I was having sporadic problems with the heater not lighting. Mine is 20 years old, so I was resigned to spending big bucks on a new one, but since it "mostly" worked OK, I decided to search for an answer to my problem. After watching your video, I wasn't sure this would solve my problem, since mine would only fail occasionally (once every day or two) and yours seemed to not light every single time it tried. But I cleaned the flame sensor, which was much dirtier than the one you showed, and my water heater is lighting consistently now, success every time for several days now. Thanks! I know that 20 years is a good lifetime already for a water heater, but I hate to do a total replacement as long as it is still working. Thanks, and wish me luck for a few more years please!
YOU ARE THE MAN! This is EXACTLY what my water heater needed! I didnt have to use steel wool or anything, just wiped it off with the glove i was wearing. Thank you so much! I fumbled around with it for 2 hours before i saw your video. Watched you do it, grabbed my screwdriver and fixed it myself! my wife is going to be so proud of me when she gets home XD thanks again! LIKING THIS VIDEO!
I have have a Kenmore Miser 9 that was having the same problem, the pilot would not stay lit. After watching your video I went into the water heater took out the thermocouple took the sandpaper to it put everything back together and now my hot water heater is working like new. Thx so much for putting up this video, it was a great help : )
Thanks, cleaning the thermocouple with emory cloth fixed mine for now…. 16 years and still working!
Thank you! You saved me a service call. My sensor was not removable so I just reached in an touched it up with sand paper.
Great video and appreciate you taking the time to share!
Can happen to the furnace as well. awesome repair man you got .
wount
my water heater burner amount ignite
Thank's from Ohio, you saved me a hot water tank 🙂
Gas scares me. I wouldn't be able to stop worrying about the house blowing up somehow.
You can also try repositioning the sensor slightly closer to the flame if it is out of place. The heater's trouble shooting manual should show where it should be positioned.