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| Pilot Light | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sat May 24th, 2008 04:23 am |
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1st Post |
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RD Member 
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Rheem Fury is 3 years old in new home. Several homes in new subdiv have same problem. Builder says they can't fix it and to leave access door to attic open and garage door cracked so cooler air can get to unit. Sounded fishy and did not work anyway. After relighting the pilot it may work for a week or only a few days and go out again. All other facits of the system seem to work okay. Attic can get up to 140 in hot texas summer but there are hundreds installed in the subdiv that work just fine. Why just a few are bad and why can't the builder's plumber contractor correct it? It was on first year warranty when the problem surfaced. RD
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| Posted: Sat May 24th, 2008 03:32 pm |
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2nd Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: So, trying to get a good picture here, the heater is in the attic, yes? The vent goes straight up through the roof. Yes? Hopefully it's on a drain pan  How many feet long is the vent pipe from the top of the heater to the top of the vent pipe outside? If it's short, or if there's much non-vertical pipe, or if there are many bends, it'll be hard to get good draft at any time. Supply air is another consideration with its own set of questions.Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Sun May 25th, 2008 09:19 pm |
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3rd Post |
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RD Member
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The flue is mostly a direct shot to the roof about 3 to 4 ft. above the tank. Any thing that might need cleaning around the pilot lighting mech? Any reason high [140+]ambient temp would affect it? Too much air? Too little air? thanks
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| Posted: Sun May 25th, 2008 09:20 pm |
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4th Post |
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RD Member
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Yes to drain pan.
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| Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 12:47 am |
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5th Post |
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Ej Member 
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What if any repairs have been made to the heater so far. Is this a new problem or has it exist for the last three years?
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| Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 02:32 pm |
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6th Post |
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RD Member
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No repairs. Problem has been there almost from the first few months the house was built. Plumber contractors for Lennar were called in to fix the problem but gave up [did not try too hard]. The conditions for other homes in the 265 home subdiv that have this problem are similar. I know of two other homes with this issue. There are slight variations to the installations on duplicate model homes. The position of the tank may be moved a few feet if the AC guys put vents in the way but all in the attic, a hot space in the summer, and fairly near the roof decking penetration. Seems to me there is a hardware problem in the original tanks or the installation is the root cause. Could be some part has failed just after installation.
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| Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 03:59 pm |
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7th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: That vent pipe sounds very short to me. Minimum height should be mentioned in the installation instructions. My computer is in a mood right now, so wasn't able to get that info online. the National Fuel Gas Code will have useful info also. I'll guess that with the hot attic, combustion byproducts are not sufficienlty hot to make good draft with such a short vent. I would talk with the maker for their thoughts. Another possibility is anything that could affect the air flow in the attic. That usually is wind or fans. Poor flow up the vent basically smothers the pilot. Please do let us know what happens  Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 10:24 pm |
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8th Post |
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Ej Member
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Since this problem has happened since day one and and you really don't state that this is a summer only problem I would call Rheem and tell them you have a intermittent pilot outage problem and you would like them to send you a new gas valve. Your heater should have a six year parts warranty so there will be no cost to you. You can change the valve yourself. Also maybe you can visit a neighbors house who has a working heater and compare installations.
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| Posted: Thu May 29th, 2008 05:00 pm |
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9th Post |
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RD Member
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Good advice. Many thanks. Will look into those steps and report back.
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