So… our water heater just exploded a little. No one is seriously injured, and the water heater itself seems to be fine. But my ears are ringing pretty bad, and I have a bit of a headache.
Let me explain why I’m not worried about it happening again…
Our water heater has been complaining about a failed, “thermostat/well sensor” for months. Usually, I just need to reset the motherboard on the gas valve, and it runs fine for a few weeks. Sadly, this past week, it got much worse.
It’s a pretty common issue with this model of water heater. The thermostat is situated in a flimsy plastic “nook” that screws into the side of the water tank. After a few years of usage, the nook develops some cracks, and leaks water into the thermostat. The thermostat complains about being wet, and quits working. While it’s possible to replace the wet thermostat, that’s a waste of money because the nook (or the “well”) is cracked and will ruin the new thermostat after a few months.
So I ordered a new gas valve, which included a new well, thermostat, motherboard, and gas fixtures. It arrived today, and my plan is to install it tomorrow after work. (It will take a while, as the tank needs to be drained, and that will be a challenge because the tank is way overdue to have the sediment flushed)
ANYWAY, in order to have moderately warm water until I can install the new valve assembly, I’ve been resetting the thermostat so the heater will work for 10 minutes or so. Then I have to go down, reset the thermostat, and start the process over. Well, I’ve gotten REALLY good at resetting the thermostat. So when I go down and reset it, it’s finished before the thermocouple (which senses the pilot) cools down. Unfortunately, this last time, the thermocouple signaled to the motherboard that the pilot was already lit and turned on the gas.
But I didn’t know that.
So when I turned the knob to “pilot” and pushed the igniter, the entire water heater chamber was full of gas. And… the igniter did its job.
It was VERY loud. Dirt and rust particles from the burner area shot out of every opening. I still have grit and ick stuck in my hair, and my ears are ringing 45 minutes later. But I don’t think I suffered any serious injury, and once I realized what happened, I was confident in lighting the water heater again. I just need to let it cool down enough that the motherboard doesn’t think the pilot is lit.
Being an adult is weird.