Gas water heater help

[mrbreeze]

Although this is my second camper I am running into a few things that I did not experience my first time around. I fired up my hot water heater this past weekend for the first time. i never used it on my first camper. I got the pilot to light and fired up the burner no problem. Within no time I was experiencing the luxury of hot water coming out of my faucet. We had moderate winds and the burner went out. This happened repeatedly until I placed a table next to the camper with a plastic tote on it to block some of the wind. This solved the problem. My question is ...what kind of safety measure is built in to the system should the burner and/or pilot go out due to winds? Does the unit continue to pump gas into the chamber? I expect that I should be able to light the heater and not have to worry if it is remaining lit or what will happen if it is blown out from the wind. Any input? thanks

[LadyWindrider]

Every one I have ever seen has what is called a 'thermocouple" that the flame from the pilot must keep hot in order for gas to flow. If the pilot goes out, the thermocouple is supposed to turn off the gas supply. Since you have a pilot light, you have an older heater, and one end of the thermocouple is the metal bulb thing that the pilot light flame should be touching. Your control may also have a pilot adjustment that you may tweak and help your situation. Look for a shiny plug on the control box with the word pilot" next to it. Pop the plug out with a small screwdriver, and you should find a screw head that can be turned to adjust the pilot flame. DON"T ADJUST IT MUCH!!!! Hope this helps.

[mrbreeze]

Thanks for the info.

[Herk7769]

I did not see a model number for your water heater. It would really help us help you; armed with that info.

[bikendan]

yes, knowing the year and model RV would also help.

[jimh]

The thermocouple would b my guess as well; that's the way they behave when gg bad. That is what shuts it all down when the flame goes out.
I was reading abt another type tt sensed the flame by completing a circuit thru the ionized gas produced by a flame. Thought it may be something like tt instead of a thermocouple. I don't know anything abt them.

[mrbreeze]

Now I understand how it works. Thanks for the info.