Pilot Light Keeps Going Out

A pilot that refuses to hold usually means a safety device has already failed, so call rather than relighting it again and again.

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When this becomes an emergency

The pilot dies again within a minute or two of every relight.
The flame is small and lazy, yellow instead of a tight blue cone.
There's a rotten-egg odor near the equipment; leave the house and call from outside if you smell it.
Black powdery soot has collected around the pilot assembly.

What a pro does

The pilot flame is rarely the actual problem. What keeps the gas valve open is a thermocouple or thermopile generating a small current off that flame, and once it corrodes, drifts out of the flame, or simply ages out, the valve reads no flame and closes the fuel off within seconds of a perfect relight. Draft is the other big one. Deep cellars with a bulkhead that doesn't seal, a chimney thimble that's opened up, or a dryer pulling makeup air can push enough moving air past a standing pilot to blow it out, and finding that takes looking at the room instead of the equipment.

Frequently asked questions

Is a thermocouple an expensive part?

It's one of the smaller components on the system and does a single job, which is proving the flame exists. Failure there causes far more service calls than the part's size suggests.

Why does the pilot go out more on windy days?

Wind changes the pressure across the chimney and any gap in the foundation, and in a drafty stone cellar that shift can be enough to disturb a standing pilot.

How many times is it reasonable to relight a pilot?

Once or twice tells you whether it holds. Beyond that, repeated attempts are fighting a safety system that's already made its determination.

Does soot around the burner mean anything on its own?

It points to incomplete combustion, which is worth taking seriously because the same conditions that produce soot can also produce carbon monoxide.

Pilot Light Keeps Going Out?

Get connected with a local pro now.

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