Most homeowners tend to ignore their gas water heaters until there’s an obvious problem. However, water heaters require periodical maintenance to increase its lifespan of operation, as well as to save energy and maintain efficiency. Generally, your water heater is faulty if you notice:
- Your water heater fails to heat water
- Your water heater isn’t able to heat enough water
- Your pilot light fails to stay lit
Before attempting to relight a gas water heater, read the manufacturer’s manual or look for a label attached to the gas water heater, which provides guidance for specific heater models. Depending on the manufacturer, there are several steps to relighting a heater:
- Use the right tools (barbecue lighter and flashlight) to execute this process correctly.
- Then, switch off your gas control valve and wait for a couple minutes before switching your gas control valve to “pilot,” while holding it down to initiate flow of gas through the pilot gas supply tube.
- With the gas control valve is held down, wait for the pilot light indicator display. If the heater has to be manually lit, use a lighter to ignite the gas at the end of the supply tube.
- Holding the control valve down, wait for a couple minutes after relighting the pilot light indicator. This enables the thermocouple to heat up.
- Next, release the control valve.
- If the pilot light malfunctions and fails to light, switch off the control valve, leaving for one to three minutes before repeating the process again.
- If the pilot light remains lit after releasing the control valve, turn it back on. The burner should ignite depending on the thermostat’s control configuration.
If there’s any gas leakage, never attempt to relight your gas water heater pilot light or perform any maintenance on your unit. Just move away from your house and find professional help.