Pilot Light Keeps Going Out

When this becomes an emergency

• The pilot lights, burns for a moment, and drops out as soon as the knob is released.
• The flame is lazy and orange instead of a tight blue cone.
• You catch a rotten-egg odor near the unit; leave the building and call from outside if you do.
• Black soot has collected on the burner face or the pilot hood.

What a pro does

The pilot flame is almost never the problem. What holds the gas valve open is a thermocouple or thermopile sitting in that flame and generating a tiny voltage as proof of fire, and once it corrodes, drifts out of the flame, or simply ages past its output threshold, the valve closes within seconds of the knob being let go. A tech puts a meter on it. That reading settles in under a minute whether the sensor's weak or whether the fault lies in the valve, the wiring, or the draft conditions around the unit. Draft is worth its own look in older houses that also burn wood, since a stove or a bathroom fan can pull enough air to lift a pilot flame right off its hood. It doesn't take much. On propane, a regulator struggling in deep cold can produce the same intermittent behavior.

Frequently asked questions

Pilot Light Keeps Going Out?

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