Your pilot flame should be a lovely shade of blue. If it is yellow in the least , there may not be enough heat to generate the 20 or so millivolts required to keep the pilot soloniod energized. If you do have a yellow flame , disconnect the pilot tube at the gas valve and blow it out with compressed air or something similar. This will clear an oxide that builds up on the pilot orifice.
To test a thermocouple.You need a Multi meter set to dc volts in the millivolt range. Unscrew thermocouple from gas valve.(This test requires the use of aligator test leads or 2 people , one to hold the leads and the other to light and hold the pilot button) One lead on the outer copper and the other on the silver tab on the end that screws into the valve. Thermocouple should be encased in the pilot flame. With a good flame (sorry not a match or aim-n-flame) you will see the voltage climb over 20- 30 seconds to max out around 30 mv. You need a minimum of 18-20mv to keep a gas valve pilot open.
If you have a thermopile (It will have wires) then you should expect to see something like 300 to 500 millivolts in a functional thermopile.Last edited on Sat Feb 20th, 2010 02:28 pm by ACtechGUY
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Don't know much. But learned early on, once you let the smoke out of a something electrical, you can never put it back in!!
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