Gas Furnace Pilot Light Out

Some of the possible serious reasons for pilot lights to go out include loose or broken gas valves thermocouples or heat exchangers faulty venting low gas pressure or high winds.

Gas furnace pilot light out.

Lighting the pilot light on a gas heater is simple to do. When you release the button the flame should stay. Ensure you only hold the switch down once the pilot light has ignited to reduce the chances of any gas accumulating again. If the thermocouple fails to shut off the gas all the gas flowing through the furnace could get into your home.

If you smell gas don t continue to light the gas heater and call a professional heater repair person. However if the light goes out frequently there could be other issues. For better or worse a pilot light extinguishing isn t all that uncommon as even a light breeze or draft of air is enough to kill the tiny flame. If a gas fireplace pilot light goes out problems with the thermocouple might be the cause.

The thermocouple is the copper rod the pilot flame directly hits. A pilot light going out can be inconvenient because it will completely cripple your furnace. Turn the gas knob to the off setting and wait 5 minutes to clear out any gas. When the pilot light goes out it does not leak carbon monoxide gas.

Which means the thermocouple will shut off the gas flow to your furnace as a safety measure. Turn the thermostat to its lowest setting. The pilot light needs a strong flow of gas to make a strong steady blue flame that the thermocouple can sense. The thermocouple is meant to stop the gas in the case if the electric igniter fails or if the pilot light goes out.

A pilot light is a small continuously burning flame that is used to ignite the burners in older gas furnaces. Sometimes it s referred to as the flame sensor it s a safety mechanism that shuts the gas off should the pilot go out. A thermocouple is a component of a gas furnace that you can find near the pilot light. Remove the front cover panel on your furnace or boiler.

The flame is monitored by something called a thermocouple that is designed to shut off the gas valve to the pilot light in the event that it extinguishes or burns inefficiently. This should expose the pilot which simply looks like a small single burner kind of like a candle or if you only had a single flame lit on a gas stove. Turn the gas to pilot press and hold the reset switch for one minute and hold a flame to the pilot light at the same time.