Water Heaters - what could make the pilot lite get yellow and longer?

Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.



PDA
mybad
01-01-08, 10:16 PM
I replaced the thermocoupler and now the pilot lite is about 4 inches long and yellow, other than that the water heater works fine.
I replaced the thermocoupler with a 36" universal kind, if that matters, bytheway, the w/h is a rheem 50 gln. and about 3-4 years old still under warranty (12yr)
Any clues why the size of the pilot lite? HELP!!:(

chandler
01-02-08, 06:22 AM
Lack of oxygen at the flame. How yellow or blue is your main flame? You may have to adjust the air inlet on the outside of the tank to get a good blue flame.
mybad
01-02-08, 06:49 PM
the burner flame is nice and blue, normal Iguess?, the wierd thing is the pilot got bigger after I cleaned/changed the thermocoupler, I made an appointment with the gas co. to check the presure and stuff, just following the manufacture request, but the gas co. wont be at my house til Monday, so for now I'll have to live with the large pilot flame.

What dou you think is the problem?

chandler
01-02-08, 07:20 PM
No, the only problem with a yellow flame is it will blacken things, since it is not a hot complete burn like a blue one. You can live with it until then, as long as it ignites the main burner.