Lever Grips

21
Sep/080

remove thermostat gas water heater?

Whirlpool 40 gallon gas water heater thermostat seem to not be working. How do I get this off. The manual says not to use vice grips or levers. Then it tells u to remove it.Rent a gorilla?

it is a simple process, but it is important to do it correctly. you need to get some box ended wrenches(just your plain ordinary wrenches) if you use a crescent wrench (one with the little wheel that lets you slide it around) you may run into problems. turn the gas off! there should be three lines running from the bottom of the thermostat. carefully unscrew them but don't bend them around. take your time! if it comes with push button ignition you should be able to pull it's wire from the bottom of the sparker assembly then you need only to remove the larger gas inlet line from the left. it is imperative that none of the threads are damaged on any component. opps, i just forgot about the large one in the back. I am not sure if you have to drain the tank to remove it. have the water turned off above the tank and two buckets ready just in case. I have never actualy removed the thermostat, but I have taken the whole burner assembly out. when you put the old or new one in remember that tight is tight, but too tight is broken. make all of the gas lines comfortably snug, but the thermocouple line( usually smallest and all the way to the right) is special. finger tighten it until you cant tighten it any more, then use the wrench to give it another quarter turn. by the way, make sure you finger tighten all the other lines first so you don't cross thread anything(disaster). when you are done you will need a bottle of Windex. (I have found it to work the best) when you turn on the main line, spray the main connector with Windex. really get it on there because if it starts to bubble on it's own it means there is a leak. if it does leak turn off the gas, take it off and tighten it back down. tighten it a bit harder but DO NOT BREAK IT. if it doesn't leak it is okay to light. usualy you must turn the knob to the lowest heat setting, and turn the top knob to the pilot setting. push the button down and begin pressing the igniter button(or stick a long lighter in there) when the flame appears(it may take a moment, the line will have been full of air) keep holding for about 10 seconds. if the pilot goes out you may have a bad thermocupple. try again a few more times. if still no change, try reconnecting the thermocupple line. if this does not fix it then that means your thermocupple is bad. the new one will have detailed instructions on how you are to change it. if it does light then simply turn the top knob over to the on position and turn up the heat. you will know shortly if the thermostat was the problem.