Water Heater Thermopile - Voltage Test & Replacement | Repair and Replace 

My husband and I are very thankful for your easy-to-follow tutorial, we were able to safely replace the thermopile ourselves. Once again, thank you!

This is the first time I am commenting on RU-vid. But this is the best hot water heater trouble shooting vid I have seen. Thanks

Excellent tutorial. Got straight to the point, no excess talking, clear and concise.

very clear & informative video I really appreciate your videos I've learnt a lot from them which helps me a lot as a plumbers apprentice keep them coming & thank you for making them

This is one of the best videos explaining the subject!! Great Job!!

Amazing! Very thorough instructions. Thank you!

Thank You for this presentation! By far the most clear and safe explanation step by step beginning to end. You guys rock!

Very educational and thorough. Thanks for great explanatory video.

The way you explain it was very clear. Very informative, very well explain.

Very informative!!! Thank you🙏

Very clear presentation Video Great Job Thank you!!

Thank you! I was able to fix my family’s water heater!

Thank you for clear information

Excellent video, thank you.

Very nicely done video! Thanks.

Thank you for this. Saved me $2200 the plumber guy quoted me. Love your style of slowly explaining each step.

Thank you for the video!!!

Beautiful work Thanks 😊

Excellent, excellent video! You helped me so much. Thank you!!

Excellent work thanks for the clear instructions.

straight to the point! nice video! thank you very much!

Excellent video! Was very helpful for me when replacing the thermopile on my A.O. Smith GCV 40 300. Thanks!

Good video, I’m going to be doing this today hope it takes care of the problem, Thanks for posting

Getting about 540mv max after severaall minutes. Under specs but above 400mv you mentioned. Will try cleaning if I can't get a replacement today. Also will try to find a therm cutoff switch and replace even though continuity is good since it keeps popping the button. Will see if every thing is clean and able to breath wihile I have it apart. State select model GS640YBRS 300. Thanks for all the great video's.

Wow thank you!

Amazing presentation! Clear as a day instructions. Thank you!

Thanks much appreciated , well it looks like i know what ill be doing this weekend. Peace from Califas

Excelente trabajo felicidades por es explicar perfectamente

excellent and infomative!

Best video made best well presented instruments thank you

Just saved me an expensive call over a holiday weekend!!

This was very informative. My control panel flashes RED twice indicating (Thermopile Low Voltage) My pilot light goes out and I have to ignite it manually. It's a Rheem Performance Plus unit from HD. How often does this part have to be replaced? Thx for sharing

Fantastic video! Thank you! However, I am having trouble finding a thermopile. I have a whirlpool tank and their customer service is worthless, unfortunately. I found a couple that look the same, but how do I know they are compatible? Thanks in advance.

Thank you

Great presentation. Our unit is showing low voltage thermopile code. Our unit is about 16 years old. In looking inside the fire chamber I could not see the fresh air source from the heaters bottom !?

Excellent video!! Problem, definitely need to replace my thermopile but the burner assembly seems to be stuck. Screws out, and I cannot get it to budge to get it out. Any ideas?

Thanx bro...

Hi AMRE, Great video! Where do I get a new thermopile? Thanks.

When installing the pilot tube and burner tube back into the control valve. Do you suggest adding teflon tape onto the threads?

1st of all, this is an excellent video, question, can i test the voltage after cleaning by heating it up over the gas stove burner.

Nice video, thanks Question, I don't see a 1/2' gas union ? How did you get all that rigid pipe installed ? Or is this a riddle ?

Hi quick question. Should the igniter spark be jumping to thermopile or to the pilot? I've replaced my thermopile but the problem I'm running into now is that even though I see the igniter spark, the flame doesn't catch. I ended up using a match to light the pilot. By the way, thanks for the video.

I had to change the whole gas assembly on my heater,i pulled the burner out to clean that whole area,the top of the burner,the big round area is kinda redish,would it hurt to maybe scrub it a bit with some scotch brite? Didn't have any problems with the pilot lighting, my problem was something else altogether so i assume the thermopile is ok,its not carbonized or nothing , another issue i had and i was just curious, when i pulled the burner assembly out, that big black rubber gasket came off in some places, could i glue it back on with some red super high temperature rtv i got for my furnace a few years ago? i mean glue it back to the sheetmetal of the burner assembly, not to the tank itself, thank you for your time and input.

saludos desde mexico city.....

Awesome presentation in trouble shooting water heaters. I followed your steps in diagnosing the issue. This is the result: Thermopile gives more than 760 mV DC Thermal Cut Off Switch shows continuity (0.1 ohm) I will describe my problem, any input is appreciated. This water heater is manufactured on Feb 2016 by Whirlpool. I brought this house on Sep 2017. On Jul 2018 is when water heater turned off (pilot turned off) and I restarted it. After few days it went off again. I called service company and they cleaned the thermopile and started it back. It run for few days and it went off again. Service company came and replaced the electronic gas valve (Honeywell). I was not convinced they root caused the issue. After few days it went off again and I restarted it. By this time it was fall (September) and it continued to run till 2019 July. All through the summer, it went off 4-5 times and I restarted it each time (I was less concerned as it didn't give any problem during fall, winter or spring) Come the summer 2020, it started showing same issue. Already I restarted 4 times. On Jun 26th, I have followed your steps and cleaned the thermopile and restarted it. It run for 4-5 hours and when pilot went off, I was near by (just went to check). Water heater main burner was running and then it went off straight away. I tried restarting pilot and it did not start. But one thing I observed, bottom body of water heater is hot, pilot tube is hot. I shutdown the gas valve and didn't tried restarting it. Today, 27 June, I followed the steps and measured. Thermopile and TCO is good as per the test results. I have a gut feeling that, this issue only happens during Summer (water heater is placed in basement without any heating) and the body appeared to be hot when it turned off yesterday, it is most likely because of over heating. Can you please provide some inputs on what might be causing water heater to over heat ? Or is it some other problem ? Appreciate any inputs.

I checked my thermopile with wires disconnected, like you did, from valve and get 750 mV, but when connected, voltage climbs very very slow. Would that be normal or would it be a weak thermopile?

Hello, I was hoping I might be able to get a question answered. The spark igniter wire on my old assembly has a sticker on it that says "Warning Use Same Part Number", but the replacement assembly I ordered (which on its listing did have my water heater's model number showing on the compatibility list) doesn't have a sticker with its part number or any mention of its part number on the instructions or listing. The two wires look almost the same, aside from the black shielding on the plug end is a bit thicker. But the plug hole diameter looks the same. I'm just trying to determine if I am safe to proceed with the install. Thanks for the helpful video!

I have replace twice. It will light up for about 30 to 40 mins and then it will completely shut off. Any suggestions? Model 6g40s-34f3 thanks

what if the pilot won't even light to test the thermopiles dc voltage?

How do I find what specific model I need for my water heater?

Hello, I have whirlpool water heater N50T61 403 and it does not light up. where do I buy the thermopile for whirlpool water heater? is the heater model important when getting a thermopile?

Hi Vance. I have a question. The pilot light remains lit however the burner doesn’t kick in. Would you recommend doing the same thing for the thermopile and the switch.? Pls reply. Thanks.

Is there a universal thermopile for a honey well gas box?

What model of multimeter is that?

i have replace de control gas valve and the pilot kit and it keeps telling me that the thermopile has low voltage i replace it again and it keeps telling me the same thing any tips after a while heaters off

all good except you need to remove the water pan under the water heater and of course my bradfore white has a compleatly defferent thermopile assembly

Que voltimetro me recomiendas

I've done this, but still can't get the pilot light to ignite. Whats my next step?

Voltage test passed 690mV, thermal cutoff switch passed continuity test, I’m seeing that the pilot stays lit but the burner does not. What am I missing? Thank you in advance.

Should use steel wool instead of any emery cloth or sandpaper. It can deposit silica that can bake on an insulation

Whats going on when the pilot light is on but the burner doesn't kick ok to heat water

In the other video you said 20-30mV.

Ugh. Instead of a "component block" I have a round rubber washer with 3 holes. I can't see how to remove the wires from the washer without cutting the washer, then reassembling it with JB Weld or something.

Hired a plumber... dude reset my switch and said nothing is wrong... obviously something is wrong as the heater isn't predictable and pops the switch 3 times now. I'll run the following tests soon. Thanks.

I replaced my thermopile and the DC mV dropped to 0.7... after reaching 410.2.......Ugh

650-850 mV = Good < 400 mV = Bad What if the reading maxes out around 550 or 560mV?

Guy reminds me of Bob Ross for HVAC...

Let's not forget that there's a battery inside that compartment it is a 9-volt battery and that is why sometimes it does not stay lit or shows low voltage thermopile

Great Channel

Wow, so you have to do all of that just to rub the thermopile with an emery cloth 🤯

xlint video

1.5x playback speed gang

I can appreciate the narrator speaking slowly and clearly while guiding from one step to another, but, I found this same cadence jarring when he was simply speaking directly to the camera. Perhaps I expected him to have a fro.

Есть на русском нехрена не понял

Why is the clip so easy for everybody but me? Such bs. I broke the little bastard and now am furious.

Probably the best out of 5 videos I watched thank you 🫡