power vent water heater troubleshooting

[randy9712]

My cousin has a 2 year old GE power vent water heater that he cannot get to work. It has been fine until this morning. He cannot get the pilot light to
ignite at all. He has spark and has patiently bled the line. I am thinking
it is the gas valve. I am going over there tomorrow to see if I can help him out. Is there anything else it could be- something to do with the power vent
perhaps? Thanks for looking.

Randy

 

[journeyman]

try to unplug unit for a few minutes then plug back in. see if that will at least get you buy tonight. but more than likley you will need a new gas valve heater should still be under warranty if it is only two years old.

 

[Beni]

The power vent has an air pressure switch proving the vent blower is running. That switch has to close before the gas valve will open. So if the blower is not working right or the switch is bad, the gas valve will not open..

The pilot electrode might have carbon buildup on it too. A light sanding may solve that...

 

[stevemachine]

Yeah but if the igniter is trying to light then it couldn't be a pressure switch. It wouldn't try to light the burner if the pressure switch didn't click. I've personally disconnected the gas line a tiny bit, just a hair. Put soap on it and if it bubbles you know you have gas coming out of the valve. But obviously gas isn't to be screwed around with so I'd be real careful. I've misdiagnosed a power vented water heater before and it sucks when you spent all that time replacing parts that don't fix the problem. But I'd say if there's no gas coming out of the valve then yeah it has to be gas valve, obviously Assuming the gas is on.

 

[IFIXH20]

It could be as simple as someone placing something over the vent pipe at it's termination point , check the simple things first using the manual.