Whirlpool pilot goes off every 6-10 months

[Rmk9785e]

I have a Whirlpool branded US/Craftmaster natural gas water heater that is fairly new. It was installed in the garage on a pedestal and its surroundings are clear. The pilot light keeps going of without any obvious reason.
Professionally installed: 12/2/2016
1st outage: 4/24/2017
2nd outage: 10/4/2017
3rd outage: 8/17/2018

Every time I can light it up and it starts working again. What could be the cause of this repeated failure and is there anything I can do to resolve it?
Thank you.

 

[Dj2]

There could be a few causes, some related to the WH and some related to where it's located.
But at this point, you are still under warranty. Call customer service, give them the info they will ask for and wait for replacement parts to arrive. Unfortunately, they won't cover labor.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

Being in a garage, having the door open with the winds in certain direction and speeds may be the source of your problem. Also, make sure that the grid around the air inlet is cleaned periodically.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

first remember that this brand is a total 100% piece of junk...
You probably have a down draft that is blowing out the light
most of these whirlpools that we have dealt with in the garage never
had too many issues with lint and dirt choking them out....... unless
your dryer is near by.....

but still, many folks have had to remove the looking glass on the firewall of
the unit and slightly open the front of the unit it up for more air to get into the chamber
and ease the downdraft and also allow more air to get into the bottom of the unit........

if the unit is on a stand in the garage it is high enough already for codes,
and it does not matter if that glass is missing.... it probably will solve the problem

if this does not correct its you probably have a weak thermopile or control

 

[Rmk9785e]

Thank you all for your advice. Spoke to manufacturer tech support and was told they can only help troubleshoot if a licensed plumber is present on site. I am not yet ready to pay for extensive troubleshooting labor for this intermittent problem.
The air intake grid was clean with no dust or clogging. I guess we'll have to live with this issue until it is time to buy a replacement after expiration of warranty.

 

[Jadnashua]

Do the outages correspond to a time when the winds have been strong?

 

[Rmk9785e]

Not as far as I can tell. There were no strong winds this weekend but it shut down. Can't recall about the previous 2 incidents.

 

[Radiobug]

rmk9785e I have a Whirlpool water heater that began having the same issue this week that you described in your original post. Wondering if you have figured out a solution (other than trashing the entire thing).

 

[Rmk9785e]

rmk9785e I have a Whirlpool water heater that began having the same issue this week that you described in your original post. Wondering if you have figured out a solution (other than trashing the entire thing).

Unfortunately not. Because of the intermittent and unpredictable nature of the problem, it is very difficult to diagnose it.

I wish there was a sticky in this forum with recommended brands/models so inexperienced people like us don't end up buying less reliable water heaters.

 

[Jadnashua]

ONe thing to keep in mind is that there really aren't nearly as many actual manufacturers of WH as there are brand names...a few make them for lots of different brands, and the design/execution is nearly identical for all of them coming out of their factory, just with different brand names on them.

 

[Rmk9785e]

ONe thing to keep in mind is that there really aren't nearly as many actual manufacturers of WH as there are brand names...a few make them for lots of different brands, and the design/execution is nearly identical for all of them coming out of their factory, just with different brand names on them.

Understood, but when much more experienced professionals consider this particular brand to be no good, it would be helpful to know which brands are considered better designed and more reliable (even if it's by the same manufacturer).

first remember that this brand is a total 100% piece of junk...

A higher quality product would probably be more cost effective in the long run.