Water Heaters - "Observe Pilot Thru Viewport"

I just flushed my Whirlpool water heater for the first time. Manuf instructions say turn it off, so I did. (Procedure in this section says leave water/pilot on, which makes sense.) Manuf instructions for relight say (abbreviated): "Remove outer door. Set control to Pilot. Press Reset, then Igniter. Hold Reset and observe pilot through viewport. Turn control to On. Replace outer door." I did the hold/press, but didn't see anything in the viewport. After about the third try I just set the control to On. The burner lit off smartly; I could hear it and see the flame through the viewport. The question is: What was I supposed to see when I looked for the pilot through the viewport?

When you peer thru the observation window you would see the pilot flame and if the burner is on you will see that in operation. If you need to light the pilot, rotate control knob to "pilot", push & hold down the button, and then push igniter repeatly to light the pilot. Sometomes when the pilot is on you can't see it. In this case take a wrench and tap on the gas line close to the heater and that will brighten the pilot and you will be able to see it. When you have verified the pilot is on, after 30 seconds let the button up & rotate knob to "on" position.