Gas Water Heater Thermocouple Test

Turn off the gas to the water heater and remove the thermocouple from the water heater.

Gas water heater thermocouple test.

Sometimes when you try to light the pilot it does not want to stay lit. The burner typically sits loosely or under clips in the burning chamber and just slides out. Importantly always make sure the tip of the thermocouple is directly in the pilot flame. Inside your gas operated water heater is a tiny gas flame called a pilot light whose purpose is to ignite the burner whenever the temperature falls below the thermostat setting.

How to test a thermocouple with a multimeter. If you test the thermocouple with the multimeter and you get a reading above 25 then you have another issue. A gas water heater in boise baton rouge buffalo or boston uses a thermocouple that includes a probe attached to a copper tube that screws into a port on the gas valve. First shut off the gas valve on the water heater and the gas valve on the gas line near the heater.

Install the new thermocouple turn on the gas and light the pilot. You know you have a problem. Then unfasten the three nuts that hold the thermocouple and the two gas tubes to the valve. This is a safety device whose purpose is to monitor the pilot light and send a signal that shuts the gas burner valve should the pilot.

For a basic test attempt to turn on the pilot light. Anything under or hovering around the 20 millivolts mark means the thermocouple needs to be replaced. A thermocouple is a safety device that helps control the gas supply in gas heated furnaces. The thermocouple will be located right next to the pilot.

The gas water heater thermocouple is the safety element that is designed to inform a gas control valve is the pilot flame on or off and open or close the gas to the main burner. How to test a thermocouple. When it stops working the furnace s pilot light also turns off. The reading should be between 25 and 30.

Thermocouples designed for residential gas appliances such as fireplaces water heaters and furnaces are made for 30 millivolts. How to test a thermocouple for a water heater everyone who has owned a gas heater including furnaces or water heaters will know that from to time you have to light the pilot light unless you have the electronic ignition that automatically lights the pilot light. Right next to the pilot light is a small metallic tube known as a thermocouple. If the thermocouple is working you should be able to measure 30 to 40 millivolts of voltage at the connection end of the tube when the pilot flame is on.