Water heater pilot blowing out

[Bruce Currier]

I have a new Redman New Moon doublewide on piers. It has no skirting but has a concrete block wall with vents. The water heater is an Intertherm, and draws it's air right from the crawl space. Every time there's a good wind, which is often this time of year in Michigan, the pilot light on the water heater blows out. It runs on propane and has the proper jets. I've had the local gas dealer check it out and he says everything looks fine, so it's not a faulty part issue. There was a recall on the valves but that was replaced and works fine when it's not windy. The dealer I bought it from says it will blow out on windy days. I have to believe there's a way to fix this or reconfigure something so it won't keep blowing out. Any ideas?

[Mark Bower]

Generally when the pilot is blowing out the problem is the chimney that runs up through the roof. Did the service guys climb up and check that? What I run into is that sometimes the cap is loose. Also water heaters have been changed, but the chimney wasn't changed to the proper one.

Mark
You gotta see my repair manual!

[Mac]

The cap might not be sufficient for that wind. I had that happen on my site-built. I constructed and attached a small shield out of sheet metal. If the prevailing wind is from one direction, you can block it by doing this. Nothing like a nice cold shower first thing in the morning, eh? cheers Mac

[trmimo]

This is a very common problem in Michigan. Partly because Michigan straddles the south and mid roof zones (20# and 30#). The trouble is, most installers forget that the chimneys have to be extended. Most homes sold in Michigan including Redman ship with south zone chimneys. All you should need is an extension in the water heater chimney and your pilot outages should stop. It is easy to fix. You will have to pay for it, or convince your dealer to pay for it. Redman will not and the water heater company will not because installing the correct chimney for the location is considered part of set up. Your propane dealer can probably do it for you or call Capitol supply, they have service centers across Michigan.