We hit -22 night before last with wind. Yesterday the pilot light was out on the water heater. This has never happened before and I am trying to figure out if it is related.

When mine did that, the thermistor was bad.
the heater wasn't getting a signal that the flame was lit/working and so it shuts off the gas automatically...

Natural Gas or LP?

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
When mine did that, the thermistor was bad.
the heater wasn't getting a signal that the flame was lit/working and so it shuts off the gas automatically...

It might be a bad thermocouple. Have you tried to relight it? Did it stay lit?

Don't rule out the wind. It is not uncommon for a gust to hit just right and blow out the flame

Natural gas and it has stayed lit since I relit it. My dad was a gas man for 30 years and he would have known what the problem was.

Check out your vent, extremely low temperatures can build up hoarfrost which can solidify in the vent.

Far easier to diagnose . . . heavy winds played the flue like the Pied Piper. Blew it out. I've seen it before. Can be in a sealed house but more likely a door opening at just the right time created a mini-weather system, with air rushing from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Or the other way around, and in reverse. Sucks the pilot pout or blows it out, same difference to the flame.

Relight, hold the pilot button long enough to get the thermocouple good and hot, and release. Rubber Duckie time.

Exactly as you did.

quote:

Originally posted by maxwayne:
Natural gas and it has stayed lit since I relit it. My dad was a gas man for 30 years and he would have known what the problem was.

Wind

Yep. Gone with the wind.

Happens once in a while

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Yep. Gone with the wind.

You'll be OK; just relight it. After all...

When a wind storm blows out pilots, there's normally an improper vent system to allow such an outage.

Bob Dylan knows what happened: The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

quote:

When a wind storm blows out pilots, there's normally an improper vent system to allow such an outage.

Correct. This did not occur when men lived in caves and blazed their fire at the entrance.

As far as I can recall, it has happened once here in two decades. Sometimes wind is rushing down the alley at 40mph and it feels like a giant vacuum is sucking air out from the front of the house.

My WH does not have a sealed combustion chamber. Standing pilot, like yours.

As long as your WH has a draft hood, properly-sized flue pipe, and you're not running commercial exhaust fans in the house, your "issue" is the same as millions of people.

When a commercial customer loses a pilot at an appliance, I relight it and blame the exhaust fans. If it keeps up, it can be a thermocouple or thermopile losing its mojo, or even (more rarely) a failing gas valve. I'll temper my conjecture with the possibility the utilities were working on the pipes and introduced a large amount of air into the gas line, but that may be borderline B.S. Makes sense to a layman, though.

Wind maybe. Thermocoupler if the unit is more than 6 years old. They go out. It's quick easy replacement, but best left to a professional.

Thanks for all of the replies. Wind was my first guess also. I did learn a few things from my dad over all those years. The wh shares a vent with the furnace, however it does not have a pilot.

I will watch it and see if it repeats. If it does, I will call a professional.

As mentioned... just keep a watch on it for a while.... I hate not having hot water... probably just a fluke with the wind.