GE Water Heater Condensation; Pilot Going Out

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steve8091

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Hey everyone - I've done a fair bit of reading on this site, but I'd like some advice on my specific issue. A bit of background info - I have a GE tank-style water heater with a sealed burn chamber. It is located in the basement, and it is vented alongside my chimney to the roof of my two-story home (the venting has two 135 degree elbows near the unit, but I believe it's a straight shot otherwise). I believe it's about 6 years old.

A few months ago, the pilot went out, and I couldn't get it restarted. While it was out, I got a TON of condensation in and around the unit. After some research I thought I'd replace the thermocouple, but when disconnecting the lines, I managed to snap the control valve connection. I ended up replacing the whole control valve assembly (and the thermocouple), and after a little bit of fighting with it and drying/re-drying the burn chamber, I was able to get it working again, and it has been working well...until today.

I came home to find the pilot out again, and condensation in and around the unit. I'm not really sure if the condensation is what is causing the issue to begin with, or if it is just an after-effect of the vent cooling down. The only other point of note is that it is an especially hot day for us (95 degrees!); we get very few if any of these each year.

I would just like to get some thoughts. I'll probably go down and dry the burn chamber and try to relight, but that proved fairly difficult the last time (I must have hit the ignitor a few hundred times). I think I'm ready to pull the trigger and just replace the unit altogether, but I thought I'd post here first to get thoughts. I'm a bit nervous that the venting just isn't adequate.

Thanks in advance.
 

Terry

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This GE lasted ten years.
How old is your tank?
 

steve8091

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On second look, it's only about 5 years old. Is there any value in just replacing the burner assembly? I realize that I'd probably be getting into 'new unit cost' territory, though my wife won't sleep at night unless I get a pro to install a new unit, so I have to factor that into my decision! :)

Update: I pulled the burner assembly out, and the burn chamber is indeed flooded with condensate (not surprising). I assume that at this point I am stuck waiting for all of the condensate to drip down before I can get it dry enough to re-ignite.
 
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Plumber69

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On second look, it's only about 5 years old. Is there any value in just replacing the burner assembly? I realize that I'd probably be getting into 'new unit cost' territory, though my wife won't sleep at night unless I get a pro to install a new unit, so I have to factor that into my decision! :)

Update: I pulled the burner assembly out, and the burn chamber is indeed flooded with condensate (not surprising). I assume that at this point I am stuck waiting for all of the condensate to drip down before I can get it dry enough to re-ignite.
Never heard of a hot water tank condensating that much. My guess is you have a leak
 

steve8091

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Never heard of a hot water tank condensating that much. My guess is you have a leak

Thank you, sir. I actually was coming on here to say the same - I put a towel below the vent pipe to catch the condensate, and it seems to still be actively leaking down below, albeit from the center of the heater. Looks like I'm in the market for a new one.
 
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