Solving water heater left hand thread thermocouple problem (2023 Update)

[Bob F]

The thermocouple on my 7yo Whirlpool water heater went out Sat. The stores open on the weekend had only right hand thread thermocouples, and as far as I could find out, the manufacturer would sell me a conversion kit for $31 which would take 10 days to receive. (out of warrantee)

My solution: I carefully clamped the threaded fitting on my old thermocouple end-to-end in my vice so one face was up, then used a 1" cutting disc in my dremel tool to cut a slot into the fitting so I could slide it off of the tube. I slid the threaded fitting on my new thermocouple down out of the way, then slipped the slotted one over the tube and carefully screwed it into the valve fitting. It works perfectly.

If you have a several years old Whirlpool or American Products water heater, you might want to check to see if it has the left hand thread on the thermocouple. If it does, and it is still in warrantee, contact the manufacturer now so you can get the conversion kit for free ahead of the time you really need it.

The early symptom of failure on my thermocouple is that it took 1 1/2-2 minutes of holding down the pilot light to get it to re-light and stay lit. The new one took about 20 seconds.

[andrewdavidrice1]

Bob! Late night fix. Worked great. Going to get me by until I can order a new left hand thread thermo.

[Danny D.]

I don't know what the suggested fix was as this seems to be an orphan post, but what I do just about every couple of years with the proprietary thermocouple of my hot water heaters is I remove it, sand it, return it, and it works again (for about two years).

I'd replace it with the hardware store type, but mine is a proprietary shape so it can only be replaced with the original part.

[Mike the old fart]

Was confronted with same problem, and made same conclusion. A simple cut and all worked well. Glad to see others still thinking "Outside the Box"

[trasinater]

Life saver! Thanks

[dansoltis1]

Thanks, did the fix as you explained, my water heater is 3 years out of warranty. As far as i can tell it all works fine. Happy to have this as an option especially on a tank that may not have many more years ahead of it. $10 fix.

[lil.flint810]

U rock. Funny how the obvious somtimes is not.

[jimburnetto]

You are a genius. You are a hero. Thank you for saving my family from 5 days shipping time for that part.

[kevin]

Bob F. Thank you!

I did this on a John Woods hot water tank. It worked flawlessly.

The stores were telling me to replace my entire burner assembly. They wanted $170 Canada bucks. The new thermocouple was $7. You are my hero.

[Jess Sain]

If your house burns down because of your cheapskate hack, your insurance company could refuse to pay the claim.

[beszham]

You saved our weekend & we can now bathe and wash dishes! The guys at the hardware store looked at my husband like he was from Mars when he asked the m for a left-handed thermocouple. Had never heard of it. We bought the th ermo., discovered it was RH in the parking lot, returned it, and then went back and bought it again after reading your article. We promised the store we wouldn't be back today! It worked! Thanks to you!

[elmo]

I had the same problem, no one has a simple LH thread thermocouple. Replac ement is a pilot and thermocouple unit for about $35, but an hour and a hal f away, or it can be shipped at additional cost. I followed your lead, cut a slot in the nut lengthwise, put it above the nut on a new thermocouple a nd it works fine. My water heater is a 16 year old whirlpool, so I hated t o sink much more into it. Thanks for the insight.

[hannahlpowell03]

Awesome fix! Had my water heater back up and running same day. Saved us a week of cold showers, or a new $500 water heater. THANK YOU!!! P.S. I was able to perform the same fix with a reciprocating saw, and I am sure a hacksaw would work too.

[hsapien415]

Glad I found this. Yesterday I drove 25 miles to Lowes for a thermocouple that was supposed to be a left hand thread for the specific Whirlpool heate r we have. Lucky I checked it before leaving because it was a right hand th read, and they did not have any left hand thread. Only had an open box ful l kit, that did not seem to have the right parts.

I raised Hell with the Lowes store manager who said they no longer carry th is brand and I should look elsewhere. They sell yet not support their prod uct.

And for Whirlpool building in this odd ball feature to force you to get som ething that I couldn't even find on-line! NEVER WILL BUY WHIRLPOOL brand a gain! I have sworn not to buy Fuji either after they stuck it to their lon g time customers using their instant film.

Boycott and bad publicity is the only thing consumers in the USA have to fi ght back. Other countries have strict laws requiring spare parts for at le ast the normal life of an appliance. All we have is weak protection for ca r parts, and nothing for appliances. Large screen TVs in dumps because a s mall circuit board is no longer...

Anyhow, thanks again for your help. Wish I had the old copper tank with ma nual pilot water heater. These lasted a lifetime and didn't clutter the co untryside with dumps.

[ajtheguy]

I hope this tempered water heater has been retired by now. Because what you did is a hack and defeated the burning chamber overheat prevention feature.

The OEM part Thermocouple has a built-in temperature fuse. While the universal Thermocouple available at home improvement store does not. That's why the manufacturer chose the left-hand thread to prevent universal right-hand thread thermocouple can be used to replace the OEM thermocouple at the first place.

The new Whirl Pool FG model tune-up kit has left to right-hand thread adaptor to work with the original thermostat, and the temperature fuse has been put into a separated piece of hardware. The new assembly kit thus uses the universal right-hand thread Thermocouple. There are a couple of different models for each size and BTU water heater. Choose the one made for your model.

[blambert0830]

I just wanted to say that this fix worked! Cut the bolt, put it on the new thermocoupler and screwed it back in! Thanks so much for sharing your fix. I don't think I would have thought of or tried this otherwise!

[erinlids]

Your ingenious idea saved my marriage. I have a Dremel and the disc for cutting, and it worked perfectly, cutting the original to slide the new couple into. So glad I saw this post.

I was worried about the "why", and the fact that my original thermocoupler had a strange bulge that was attached to the pilot gas feeder, which the replacement did not have.

So I read all posts in this thread, and a recent one answered that, saying that a safety feature exists that the store-bought universal replacements don't have. Thus the reverse threads.

I used your idea (ingenious), which worked, of course, but only as a temporary fix. I ordered the replacement kit for the whole kaboodal, and will replace when it arrives ($45).

I also find it amazing that a post from 2015 (I think) is still paying dividends to this day. Thanks again.

[angelalbusch]

Where did you find a replacement kit?

[jimbe311]

At this point, 8 years after the original post, the plumbing suppliers almost laugh at your left-handed request. But ten minutes with the Dremmel and away we go. Thanks

[jesse166]

Brilliant! I just did as you instructed would have never thought of it in my own but works perfectly!