Water Heaters - pilot light keeps going out - A/C related?

I having a problem with the pilot light in my water heater going out. We’ve lived in the home for 2 years and never had an issue with it before. The water heater is a State Select (don’t know the model) and is in an enclosed 34” x 34” closet. I feel like it might have something to do with the A/C… as this issue just started last week when it started getting really hot and we turned the A/C on. Our water heater guy thought it might be an issue with the pilot light not getting enough combustible air, so we left the door cracked to the water heater room over the weekend. It stayed lit the whole weekend, but we had all the windows open and the A/C/was off. As soon as we turned the A/C back on yesterday, the pilot light went out again in about 5 minutes (even with the door still cracked).

Has anyone ever had an issue with this before or might know what’s going on? There is a pipe blowing air from the A/C into the water heater closet. The pipe is about 8-12" off the ground, but the current doesn’t seem strong enough to blow out the pilot light when the A/C kicks on. Also, last night when I tried to light the pilot light back up, the box which holds the igniter and the and thermostat was very warm to the touch (not sure if that's related).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

....."There is a pipe blowing air from the A/C into the water heater closet".....WHY?

I tend to agree with your heater guy about combustible air. Water heaters in closets are required in most areas to have air grills on the top and bottom of the door, there is a measurment for this, but I don't have my charts handy, cracking the door may not be enough.

Unless there is a reason for the air blowing into the closet, I would blank it off. Luck.

Need to reopen this thread as the issue is still not resolved…

I have a new suspicion about what the issue could be that I wanted to run by the forum… We have determined that is not due to the A/C or a lack of airflow into the water heater closet. We have had the closet door open all summer and the pilot light is still going out pretty frequently (4-5 times a week at least).

What we have been noticing recently is that when the water finishes reheating, the pilot light shuts off. This weekend we were trying to take a shower and the pilot went out 3 times in less than 90 minutes. Every time I would relight it, it would go out once it finished heating the water. I now think that it is because there is not enough gas coming thru the line to keep the pilot lit. When we relight it, we often have to hold the button down 15-20 seconds before the pilot will relight. When it does relight, the flame is not very strong at all. The gas company came and said that it is not a problem with the gas line from outside the house. Sometimes when relighting, when I let my hand off the button it will go out then too.

The best thing I can compare this to is the idle on your car motor. For example, if you’re car’s idle is set to low, the engine will not turn enough times to keep the motor running and the car will stall. I suspect this is what is happening with the pilot and it’s not getting enough gas in the line to keep it constantly lit. I feel like maybe if there was a little more gas coming through the line then we’d get a stronger flame and it wouldn’t go out so much.

Does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone had any experience with this issue or can confirm that this is what might be happening? I had a repair guy come out and test the inside line and he said that it was getting enough gas but the flame looks so weak though that I have a hard time believing it. I’d like to try to get a handle on this before I have someone else come out to take another look at it.

Thanks in advance!

weak thermocouple or it isn't tight into the top of the gas valve.

have to agree with (sminker) the thermocouple is where I would look first, could be dirty, defective or corroded, if you are handy they are not hard to replace and they are not expensive, luck.