Pilot will not stay lit and heater will not light

Check the pilot thermocouple. You may be able to find one at a home center.

The flame sensor seems to be bad.

When I light my pilot light, it stays on till I release the button ...

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Mar 18, 2008 - Similar Questions: light pilot stays till release button suggestions ... If you have held it for a long time and it still won't stay lit, then your thermocouple is bad.... the gas valve doesn't think a flame is burning the gas coming out of the pilot ... less likely but somewhat common is the gasvalve... if the knob you are ...

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the thermal couple is likely bad .
when you release does pilot stay lit or only as long as you hold the button .

if it stays lit then the thermal couple is good
if it only blows out as you turn on the heat then its draft issue.

Classic symptom of a malfunctioning thermocouple. When you press the knob, you force the gas valve open so gas will flow. The function of the thermocouple is to confirm that the pilot is lit and allow gas to continue to flow when you release the valve. A new thermocouple is not that expensive. Good luck!

If your pilot light will not stay lit when you release pilot light button then chances are that your thermocouple is bad. Make sure that the tip of thermocouple is directly in line with pilot light. Tip of thermocouple should be cherry red if it is properly placed. If pilot will not stay lit then replace it. If you aren't sure about placement of thermocouple you can heat thermocouple with a seperate heat source. If you do this and pilot light stays lit then reposition thermocouple in pilot flame. If it still won't keep pilot burning then replace thermocouple. Hope this helps. Thanks.

the heater makes use of a millivolt generator which generates a small dc voltage (500-750mv) that is applied to the pilot valve of your main gas valve. when you light your pilot, the flame bathes the generator with a flame. after a delay you release the pilot button. if the generator is working, the pilot valve will stay lit. if the generator is not working the flame will go out as soon as you release the pilot button. change the generator.

The power pile (pilot generator) is defective. It produces a milivolt signal to ensure to keep the gas valve open. If it goes bad, the valve thinks the pilot is out, even when you are holding the button down, so when you release the button, it shuts the gas off to prevent excess gas buildup and a possible explosion.

It sounds like a thermocouple has gone bad. this is a very common problem with gas powered things ie; water heaters, furnaces, hot tubs. The telltale sign is when you release the pilot light button it won't stay lit. This is a safety feature and is relatively inexpensive and easy to repair.

most likely you have a thermopile that has low output. it takes about 100mv to maintain pilot light

I have a Williams top vent gravity wall furnace (model 5009622) and I had the same problem. I had to take the cover off the furnace -- screw on top and two at the bottom (open the access door and there is one screw on each side) to get to the reset button for the vent safety shutoff system. On my furnace it's on the left side toward the top of the unit. I pressed the little red reset button and it's been working ever since. If your furnace is properly installed and doesn't have bird's nest in the chimney, it should work fine. Good luck!