Natural Gas Direct Vent HWT Issue Last Night

[06Honda]

I have a Giant (Green Foam) Natural Gas Direct Vent Hot Water Tank Model: UG50-62. Last evening I noticed the house seemed cool even though the thermostats were callin for heat and did not hear the tank starting for an extended period. Decided to turn on a tap and no hot water, figures late night and cold out - anyway the Thermostat pad had all the lights on a blinking, after checking the manual and finding the one that seemed to match out of 16 different possible light combinations it showed this:

Condition: All the lights are on
Cause: The internal circuit
Remedy: (1) Turn off the power to the heat for 10 seconds, check polarity and turn back on.
(2) If the above step did not clear the error, replace the gas control value.

** Note: Check polarity, not sure what this means so I skipped this step.

The tank and system have been running since doing this last night. Main question is this just something that can happen from time to time with tanks, this one was installed by professional plumbers 11 months ago. With the Christmas season coming up it will be near impossible to get a service call if this happens again. I will of course call someone if it does but is this indicating that some part IE: Gas contral value is failing. I had the tank running at a temp of 120 F, bumped it up to 125 F. Thanks for any info on this, much appreciated.

Paul

giantinc.com/tech-data/GI-GSResGazPV-GenIEn.pdf

 

[Dj2]

Call Giant and explain to them what you just wrote. Note the name of the person you talk to, date and time - in case you need it later.
Be persistent and ask for a replacement gas valve under warranty.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[06Honda]

Here is something I learned today, a plumber who I spoke too since on the phone said they with the gail force winds we have had for several days likely happened was this caused the tank not to stay lite and after 3 tries it locks out as a safety precaution. Can't remember exactly what he said but did talk about the outside piping and how the very strong winds can cause and issue but it does not happen often. He told me to unplug the unit for a few seconds and it should work. His background was doing HWT tanks installs; repairs and replacements for a large HWT company here in my region. Since then he has retired from that. Did what he said and all is back to normal since that time. Will pay closer attention to it in case this is not what happened just in case.

* As a side not I decided to up the tank temp from 120 F to 125 F, can feel the floors now have some heat in them so maybe it was a little low at 120 F for winter infloor heating.

 

[Jadnashua]

Does that system even have a pilot light? Most of the newer, more efficient ones do not. With a radiant system, often, the heated floor will not actually feel hot, but it does not feel cold if that makes any sense. There are limits on how hot you can set the water for both safety and efficiency. Some flooring materials have limits, too (wooden floors can't take super hot water temps, or ultimately getting the board above a certain temp).

Many of the newer burners use a hot wire/surface or sparker to light the burner...not a pilot light. If it is a pilot light, just turning the power off then on again would not automatically relight the pilot, so it sounds like it does not have a pilot light. High winds can blow out a pilot, or if not, move the flame away from the sensor so the burner control will not realize it is lit...they have a safety circuit in there that won't leave the burner gas on unless it senses the burner actually lights. The sequence often is: pre purge old gasses, power up the igniter, open gas valve, sense flame, continue...or, if not, repeat (x-times). If you have a pilot light, the pilot light will be adjusted to heat a sensor that tells the gas valve it's safe to open since there's a flame (the pilot) there to light it...those often do not have further safety interlocks.