I called sears about my water heater and they told me that i needed to contact a chimney professional because there was a blockage that was causing my water heater to shut off. I did that he charged me 1100 dollars i had hot water for 9 hours and the piolt light went out again. I'm in total distress

It is possible that the gas exhaust fan is unable to clear or remove spent gas from the unit due to some blockage in the exhaust flue or chimney. Check for evidence of condensation in the venting pipe (stack, chimney) usually water dripping. This can cause a buildup of sulfur-like ash that you might be able to clean out of exhaust pipe with a small vacuum cleaner if you temporarily dismantle the vent piping.

Soot is from bad combustion yellow flame lack of air blocked burner . Needs a service .

When natural gas or propane burns, water vapor is given off within the flu gasses so a bit of condensation in, off and around the flu discharge is quite normal. If it is a high efficiency furnace with the pvc flu pipe, they must be pitched properly BACK TO the furnace so the moisture will drain backwards and out a drain tap at the bottom of the riser. That style of furnace will have TWO drains...one up high for the air conditioner coil and one about 16" up from the bottom of the furnace off of the 'condensing coil' that the flue gasses pass through to extract a much greater amount of heat from the burned gas.

Many flu pipes are installed incorrectly which causes water to drip outside instead of back to the furnace and this usually results in huge icicles hanging off of them in the winter and eventually the partial blockage causes the flu's pressure switch to open.

If you have regular galvanized flu pipe, you have less than a 90% high efficiency furnace and the resultant flu gas temperature is much higher with a much greater quantity of water vapor in it. A little condensation is somewhat normal on the top of the flu cap as the hot moisture laden vapor comes in contact with the cold and dry outside air. If the moisture is all over the galvanized flu pipe in the basement, you are possibly venting into an oversized and unlined masonry chimney. IF that's the case, the chimney should really be lined with a flexible liner and properly connected to the furnace and water heater (if gas fired) with the proper connections and configuration.

You should have a professional Chimney technician inspect your chimney. If there is a venting/draft problem, you could be pumping Carbon Monoxide into your house and could be asphyxiated.

3.

Spillage at A.Cold chimney A.Allow heater to operate 5 minutes to create draft action.

draft hood B. Vent pipe pitches down to chimney B. Reinstall vent pipe to pitch up from heater to chimney.

C. Blocked chimney C. Remove blockage.

D. Draft hood altered D. Install factory-provided draft hood.
E. Prefabricated chimney with incorrect cap E. Install a Nationally Recognized Testing Lab (NRTL) listed vent


http://www.jandy-downloads.com/pdfs/Lite2_LJ_IO_H0248900F.pdf

I tried to copy the FL3 write up from the chart but it screwed it up a little. Look at Page 35 of the manual for a clear copy

Id try raising the chimney until you can get the smoke from a piece of paper to get sucked up under the draft hood. I believe theres a different problem then a cold pipe.raising the chim.might not be the answer.

If I understand correctly, your Bock gas water heater vent is causing water to leak down into chimney.
This is a very serious concern

Water leaking from water heater flue indicates improper venting.
The hot air gasses from water heater combustion contain water vapor, but the gas should vent out of house before condensate forms on pipes.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Water-at-bottom-of-water-heater.html#flue

The problem might be caused by a power vented furnace that pushes vent air from furnace down into flue pipe for water heater. As a result, the water heater doesn't vent properly.
There could also be a clog.
Light a match under water heater draft hood and see if smoke from match travels instantly upward.

There are two major concerns.
1) If vent is not working, it means that odorless CO gas is entering home instead of venting outdoors.
CO carbon monoxide is deadly poison.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CO_poisoning
This is a very serious concern
You can buy CO detector after vent is repaired.

2) Water condensate will eventually rust away vent pipes because of acidic content of the combustion vapor. It can be expensive to replace pipes, and pipes with holes pose risk of CO poisoning.

My suggestion is call a qualified plumber ASAP and explain what you observe.
Plumber will want to inspect the vent pipes, and may want to extend water heater vent pipe up further inside chimney so furnace is not pushing air back into water heater vent.
Plumber may also find blockage somewhere in the vent stack or chimney.
Also post on a professional water heater forum like the Tank to double check anything the plumber says to you. These are the pros.
http://www.thetankatwaterheaterrescue.com/forums/forum3/

A draft inducer blower is used to create a proper draft in a chimney or exaust pipe from your water heater or furnace. In a high efficiency furnace or water heater, there is not enough heat expelled from the unit to the chimney to create a proper draft. The toxic carbon monoxide gas which is expelled through the chimney from your appliance is normally carried upward due to the rising hot air in the chimney. When appliances got more efficient (putting more heat into the water tank and less going out the chimney), manufacturers had to add this blower to help get the gases out the chimney since there wasn't enough hot air to create a draft.
Hope this helps.

This indicator normally means that your water temperature in the pool heater exceeds the internal limit. The corrosion should not be causing this problem. Since the high temperatures can be dangerous, you will probably have to contact a pool professional to service the machine.

You may be smelling other products of combustion but CO2 is a color-less/smell-less gas. A water heater should be vented thru 4" vent pipe to either a chimney or a wye which joins it with another appliance and a larger(size must be calculated) connector which connects to the chimney. There can be no reductions in size as you travel toward the chimney, and all pipe must slope at least 1/4"/foot up toward the chimney. Single wall vent pipe can be used unless it is less than 6" from anything flammable in which case type "B" vent may be used with a clearance of down to 1". If all this is correct your chimney may be over-sized or obstructed. Proper venting can be very complicated and technical and takes up most of most installation manuals for any fossil fuel appliance.

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