A.O. Smith ProMax Plus Safety Question
First let me apologize for the lengthy post, I just want everything that occurred so far to be known. This is for our A.O. Smith ProMax Plus GVR 50 101 Propane Water Heater. The other day I realized that we did not have hot water, so I went out to check the water heater and noticed that the pilot had gone out. The water heater sits next to a standard door which leads out to the side yard. My son goes in and out through that door many times each day and we often have high winds where we live. I called our propane guy out to light the pilot for us. We got hot water and took showers, but the next day again no hot water. Again, we called the propane guy out, again the pilot went out after showers...still having high winds though. Anyway, the third time I lit the pilot myself with no problem but assumed it would go out as it had the first two times. So, the next morning I went out to re-light it without first checking to see if it was still lit...I turn the gas knob to off, and the temp valve to pilot, came back in to give it time to be in the off position for awhile...(I'm scared of anything that involves gas fire). After a half hour, I went back out to light the pilot which lit the first try but the burner wouldn't light right up. I turned everything off again and decided to try again later. My daughter had just gotten out of the shower as she had to get ready for work and hot or cold, needed to get a shower...she came out and said the water was already hot...so stupid me, I probably turned off the water heater when it was already on and working properly. Well because the burner wasn't turning on, I decided to wait til today to mess with it again. The pilot lit right up, I turned the gas valve from pilot to on, then turned the temp from pilot to low, then to A, B, then C...but it did not start right up, so I turned it off again. I'm not giving it a lot of time because I'm intimidated by the possibility of it exploding lol...The first time I did this, the heater started right up when I turned the valve to B. I know I'm probably being stupid, but I just want some reassurance that if I turn the knob all the way to B or higher that everything will be okay. The first time I did this, I was able to hear the burners ignite right away. But because it didn't light right away this time, I was afraid and turned it all off again. My questions are, once the pilot is lit, is there any danger? Does it matter how long the valve is on pilot? Once the pilot is lit, and the temp valve is turned to low or the A or B setting, is it safe to leave the room even if I don't hear it start up? I can't keep calling my propane guy out, they are supposed to charge $50 every time they come out, so far he hasn't, but I don't want to abuse the service. BTW, I read through many help sites and forums where it is said that the fix is to clean out the lint and what not from the porcelain thing underneath...I did that, and maybe that is why it stayed on the third time. The pilot seems to stay lit, at least until the water gets hot and turns off...I'm not sure if it went out the third time though since we had hot water 24 hours later when my daughter took her shower. You would think the water would have gotten cold by then. Well...I probably won't convince you....but there is very little danger of any sort of gas explosion. That said....ventilate the area as you see fit before and after lighting. The water can stay hot in a tank easily for 24 hrs. You'd probably never notice the temp difference in the shower...you'd just use less cold. No...it may not fire right away after lighting if the water is warm enough. If you want to test it....run the tub (highest water usage fixture in the house) for 10 min on hot til it runs cold. Light the pilot...turn the temp to the desired setting and I bet it fires w/in 2-3 min. The pilot has a sensor that if it doesn't detect heat from the flame, turns off the gas supply. Not positive but the main burner has similar I think. I know furnaces do. When gas valves fail...I don't think I've ever heard of one failing so that it keeps the gas flowing....just not the way they work. If the Propane guy didn't do the cleaning thing...that could be why there was still an issue. I doubt all of them (if any) are certified repair/maintenance types. Haha, Thank you...I feel a little bit better about trying it again and leaving the temp valve at the B setting and leaving the room. So one more time...If the pilot is lit, I can turn the gas knob to on, then turn the temp valve to whatever setting I want, and simply leave the room? I think you are right about it having a safety feature that turns off the gas, as each time we noticed that there was no hot water, the valve was on, pilot out, but we did not smell any gas. So I will try again and tomorrow check to see if the pilot is still lit. Thanks for the confidence. Janine You can leave the room...or if you want a little bit of piece of mind...just stay and wait til it kicks on. My wife can get in the shower and 5-6 min later I hear the burner kick on. Our supply water here is very warm (80+ degrees) in the summer...so very little hot needs to be mixed in. So, today we woke up to hot water. My daughter took her early morning shower. When going out to the car to take her to work, I heard the water heater turn on. So thankful that it is working properly. I do believe that the bottom porcelain thing needed to be cleaned, and that's why it stopped working in the first place. The water heater was installed when I had the house built in 2006, so it is 6 years old and seems to still be working okay. Knock on wood. When I first realized there may be a problem, I found this forum and read through all the AO smith issues. My heart had sunk as I thought I would be in the same boat as many other AO Smith owners. It is great to know that there are knowledgeable people and experts here to lend a helping hand. I was an AO smith rep for some time. From what you state it sounds like it is indeed the corderite disk/flame arrestor. is clogged with lint. I wrote several posts regarding this issue. What happens is the unit starves for air when the disk gets clogged. There is a thermal sensor on the thermocouple and when the unit starves for air it trips this sensor. You will only be able to re-lite is when the sensor cools down. It re-sets itself. If you look on the orange wire tag it should say 180c. There is a upgrade pilot assemble to a 210c temp. That chenge along with a thorough vacuuming of the disk should eliminate your issues. Some units by a dusty area need yearly cleaning, such as by a dryer or furnace. AO Smith has a fix that uses a toilet brush to clean. But I find a homemade vacuum attachment works best. Here is the AO smith bulletin http://www.hotwater.com/lit/fvirtechbulletin.pdf First off to Lawrosa I say THANK YOU! I was trying to figure this out for quite a while until I ran across the other thread. You are why these threads/forums are so great! A wealth of knowledge and willing to teach instead of overcharging for simple knowledge and unwilling to teach for future use. Now that the butt kissing is done, I wanted to jump in here to let anyone with the GVR40 or 50 AO Smith know that you don't have to buy the $70 pilot assy from AO Smith to get this fixed. I ordered this Amazon.com: Reliance Water Heater #9003542 Nat Gas Pilot Assembly: Home Improvement for $34.99 on Amazon with 2 day free Prime shipping and it is an exact part # match to the AO Smith version 9003542005 A O Smith Water Heater FV Pilot 190 Degree C Natural: Amazon.com: Industrial Scientific that sells for $90.48. It comes with installation instructions and is simple as can be to replace. WH is back purring like a kitten again and I got to clean it all out real good while doing the maintenance. It truly amazes me that a HVAC maintenance guy would want $200- $250 to do this job but I guess there are enough people out there that don't want to learn or have 0 mechanical aptitude, and would rather cough up the dough.
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