Put in a new Reliance water heater that worked fine for about 6 months until the pilot light started going out frequently. It also started to make sizzling nosies that seemed to be coming from the top of the tank, so I pulled the flue baffle to see what I could see, and the problem went away- pilot light stays lit and no more sizzling.
Can anybody tell me what's going on here?
I guess that the combustion water was condensing on the baffle and falling back down onto the burner and tripping the thermal cutoff switch, but why did it take 6 months for the problem to appear? What are the consequences of running the water heater without the flue baffle in place?
The flue is vented into the same brick chimney that every other water heater that was ever installed in this building, and the air flow is good- I can feel the warm air being sucked up the chimney when the vent pipe is off. The water heater is located in the corner of a 12 x
15 kitchen next to the porch door, so I think it's getting enough replacement air.There does seem to be some rusty patches on top of the tank near the anode rod and the flue, but I don't see any water.
Can anybody out there in home repair land give me a clue about my baffling flue baffle??
Thanks in advance.
Alex