Gas Water Heater Help

Went to bed last night and the water heater was running. The wife took a bath so I didn’t think anything of it. Woke up this morning and it was still running. Went to take a shower and no hot water. Went down stairs to check it out. It was pulling air through the intake and it was coming out through exhaust, so nothing seemed to be plugged there. I noticed the control panel where you change the water setting had 3 lights on. There are usually no lights on at all unless you change the heat settings. There are 6 lights and the first green light, middle yellow light, and last yellow light are all on at same time. Is this a code to tell me somthing is wrong? If so anyone have any ideas? I unplugged the unit and waited about 30 seconds and plugged back in. It started running again but the lights wouldn’t go out as normal on the heat settings. Any ideas on what this would be on a gas water heater?

Brand – A.O. Smith Power House Water Heater

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/water-heaters/480041-ao-smith-50-galon-power-vent-not-igniting-all.html#b good luck with that

How old is the water heater? Find the owners manual and it should tell you what the error code is. It may also be on a label near the gas control. If its just about anything other than a hot surface ignightor and the water heater is out of warranty you are most likely looking at a new heater.

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How old is the water heater? Find the owners manual and it should tell you what the error code is. It may also be on a label near the gas control. If its just about anything other than a hot surface ignightor and the water heater is out of warranty you are most likely looking at a new heater.

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The water heater is about 6 years old now.

You might want to check to see if it still has any warranty on it. Most are at least 6 years.

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You might want to check to see if it still has any warranty on it. Most are at least 6 years.

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I’m going to call the place that installed it this morning when open to see if warranty is still on it. I’m guessing warranty doesn’t cover the time & labor to look at it though.

Thanks

Most likely not. Most labor warranties are 6 months to a year depending how provided it. We do two years.

Mike, thanks for the info.

Had that same water heater. Just after the six year warranty it sprung a leak and the water would trickle down into the ignitor and then it would show error codes.

Don’t make them like they used to.

I am in a development and all the house were pretty much the same age. I know of 4 out of the 7 of us that have already replaced our water heaters at just after 6 years.

I replaced mine with an electric. Electric unit is cheaper and with rising LP costs it didn’t make sense to replace with another gas unit.

Good Luck!

Found my book; might let you know what is up with it.

Take the burner assembly out and clean the burner ignition stick and thermocouple with steel wool and reassemble. I have the same water heater and I have to do it once every three months. Been doing that for four years. Takes 10 minutes.