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Question About A.O. Smith Water Heater None
Pilot light won't stay lit...

The pilot light won't stay lit, how do I clean the filter?

Asked by Henri on 01/12/2011 7  Answers

ManualsOnline posted an answer 13 years, 10 months ago

The ManualsOnline team has found the manual for this product! We hope it helps solve your problem. Get the Manual Here

BW posted an answer 13 years, 10 months ago

4 The filter for our water heater is about an inch off the ground located in the middle of the heater, and it's approximately a one foot diameter circular screen. If you take off the air intake screen at the very bottom (looks like a black plastic strip with holes about a foot long), grab a mirror and a flashlight, you can see the circular filter underneath the water heater.
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BW posted an answer 13 years, 10 months ago

0 Our 3 year old ao smith gcv 40 100 water heater's pilot light recently kept going out. Would stay on to head up one cycle then go out. Called plumber since didn't feel comfortable replacing piece on own and got thermocouple replaced for $180, but didn't solve the problem. My guess is filter was plugged up, and when burner went out, gust of wind couldn't escape and blew pilot light out (or air couldn't get in to keep pilot light on).
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BW posted an answer 13 years, 10 months ago

0 Went to Lowe's, bought a 1/2" 5' pvc pipe (couldn't find a 2' or 3' 1/2" pvc pipe) for $1.19. Bought a 1/2" elbow too, but elbow didn't fit under the water heater to vacuum directly on filter. Made an approx 1" x 1" x 1" box from cardboard and duct tape, left one side open. With open side facing up, cut 2 edges to open another side like a flap, taped flap to the pvc, taped other end of pvc to where vacuum attachments go, and was able to stick the pvc pipe under water heater and vacuum filter directly.
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BW posted an answer 13 years, 10 months ago

0 I'm sure there's probably an easier way to make an attachment to vacuum the filter, but this is just what I did, which fixed our problem! Sorry for all the bad grammar, max of 512 characters per post... But hopefully your problem isn't the thermocouple but the filter like ours and this $1.19 fix will save you a couple hundred dollars!
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Jeff posted an answer 12 years, 4 months ago

0 Take the 1/2 elbow and cut one of the nipples flush with the body. it will then fit, I then attached that to a 24" pipe and connected to vac with duct tape. Works great, tape ur attachment to side of water heater so you won't lose it.
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Robert posted an answer 11 years, 4 months ago

0 I just pried off the little window so air can get to the pilot. 1 min fix.
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