My water heater burner won't stay lit. Here's what I know:
- If I light the pilot, it can stay on indefinitely. So I think the thermocouple is actually functioning.
- If I then turn on the burner, after a few seconds there will be a
I have removed the burner assembly, and uploaded several pictures to photobucket to illustrate the situation.
Questions:
- One thread I found on the internet suggested that when the main burner comes on, the draft pulls the pilot light flame away from the thermocouple, causing it to cool. Is this plausible? If so, how do I fix it?
- If that isn't it, what else might be wrong, and what is the solution?
- What is that element that's wired into the thermocouple (visible in pictures 6 and 7)? I don't recognize it, and every thermocouple picture I find on the internet doesn't have it.
- The thermocouple appears to be soldered into its bracket. Is this common practice?
BONUS QUESTION: Does anyone know what the heck that is in picture 10? It's a tool belonging to my friend, and neither of us know what it is. It's two parallel edges, perpendicularly attached to a single square tube. The edges are lockable via the white knobs, and one has a hinged piece on the inner side that swings out maybe 10 degrees from the tip. In the picture, it has swung out about as far as it's able to. What is it?