6 Gal Pilot type Atwood water heater

lowfuss wrote:
Thx for your reply but there is no problem initially lighting the pilot ... Looks good, covers thermocouple ... Ignites burner ... Then works for about 5 minutes then goes out ... At which point I can turn dial to pilot light it ... Looks good but as soon as I turn it to 'on' it goes outs ... I wait an hour the it works for only 5 min again ...

I think fishermans point was a small dead spider body can possibly cause enough blockage in the pilot tube to reduce the flame to the point that it is not hot enough to keep the valve open..

One of the reasons I mentioned using a lighter to add heat to the thermocouple.. The lighter adds extra heat and if the extra heat makes a difference then you can investigate if the flame is too weak, too far away or need to sub a generic thermocouple.

Changing the valve would be a last resort, do the least costly and easy to check items first to rule them out before plunking down more for a valve and finding out something simple like a spider body or weak thermocouple is the fault.

A generic "T"couple should work as long as the electrical connector is the correct one..

Here is what Lowes offers.. Thermocouples

Here is what Home Depot offers..

Thermocouple

Buy one that has similar lead length to yours, if needed you can shorten the lead by gently rolling the extra length into a coil.