Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - HELP! Furnace/pilot light shutting down

My furnace keeps shutting down. I light the pilot light and the furnace will start, but it only stays on for about 10 minutes. Then everything, including the pilot light, shuts down. It is about 10 degree's outside!!

info info how old is furnace? Is this a standing pilot or like is it on all the time?;) ED

if this is a free standing pilot, sounds like you may need to replace your thermocouple.. These can be brought at any home centers like Home Depot, or hardware store.

The furnace is about 20 years old. Before the problem, the pilot light is on all the time. One thing I noticed is that the thermo coupling is not directly in the flame created by the pilot light. Could that be the problem?

Get a new T/C and put it in. For now see if you cant blow out any dirt in and around the pilot light up in its venturi tube there. You need a good clean flame on the T/C.;) ED

I put in a new t/c and still have the same problem---I light the pilot light and everything works fine for about 10 minutes, then all the flames go out...

Did you clean the pilot light real good . Blue flame on it T/C gets red???????? ;) ED

Do you pull the whole pilot light assembly out? It is way back there and hard to reach with anything except a long match. It looks like two screws hold in the assembly.

1) Is the main flame shutting down taking the pilot with it? Watch the main burner shut down and observe whether the pilot stays stable.
2) Is the end of the pilot getting a dull red if not the pilot may not be big enough to heat the t/c enough to generate enough current to hold the main gas valve in for long. Either the pilot spud is getting kudded up or the pilot adjustment could be adjusted on the main gas valve to give a better flame.
3) Is the t/c fitting into the gas valve clean take it out and make sure threre is no deposits on it. and also that is nice and tight. Don't over tighten it but make sure it is firm. Don't use a 12" Cresent on it.