The thermocouple of your water heater may be bent or dirty, causing the light to turn on

A customer who owned a Bradford White model reported that the pilot light had been going out regularly for the last three days. Here are some of the more common reasons why this happens in gas water heaters.

1. The thermocouple may be dirty. This device detects whether or not your pilot light is on. It does so by creating an electrical current. If the thermocouple gets cool, it will shut off the gas because it senses that the light is off. Look at your pilot light and see if the flame is touching the thermocouple. If you can’t see the thermocouple, turn off the gas, wait until the thermocouple cools off, and clean it with sandpaper.
2. The thermocouple may also be bent. If this is the case it will not be heated by the pilot light. Because the device is cold, again, it will turn off the gas because it senses that the pilot is off. Make sure the gas is off and the thermocouple is cool, and then carefully bend it toward the pilot light.

Call Jones today if these fixes do not work and your water heater is not operating correctly.