"Roy" > wrote in message
...
On Sunday, January 12, 2014 10:13:01 PM UTC-7, Julie Bove wrote:A bunch of
stuff about a water heater.
>
>
> Anyone have any suggestions?

Julie, I would say you have a "downdraft" problem. Wind is coming down the
vent pipe and floods down around the pilot light and blows it out.

I have had this problem when a strong wind comes from the north here and
bounces off my roof and down the chimney. Since the hot water tank vent goes
to the chimney the downdraft floods over the tank. I usually have this
problem once or twice a year...no biggy but can be dangerous if enough fumes
enter the house that should be going OUT.
===

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Thanks! If it were only twice a year, I could handle it but it's getting to
where it is once or twice a week now and many times seems to happen after
I've gone to bed. Another problem I have is that the other two who live
here love to take long showers and allow the water to run a lot to get it
super hot before they get in. As you can imagine, these things don't work
well when the pilot light is out. They also don't tell me if the water is
only warm and not hot and then the next person in the shower will get barely
warm to cold water. *sigh*

I will see if they can somehow change the way it is vented to prevent the
problem. I think the last time the plumber did say something about
downdrafting but thought it had to do with the tank itself. He had ordered
a part for this but they sent him the wrong part and due to a weekend or
holiday or something (can't remember) it was going to take several days to
get here so... He just gave me a new tank.