When I turn the gas valve up to light my heater the pilot light goes out Why?

First locate where to light pilot. You can do this by following thin aluminum colored tubing from control valve to inside heater.In general on top of your gas control valve is a knob. Turn indicator of this knob to pilot and depress knob. This will start gas flow to pilot at end of thin tube. Hold this knob in the depressed position and light pilot. DO NOT release knob for 30 -45 seconds. Then release knob and pilot will remain lit. Then turn knob to on position. If pilot will not stay lit you may need a new thermo coupler, which senses heat from flame to keep pilot gas flow open.
Good luck

Is the thermocouple secure, routed properly, no kinks, no sharp bends? Is the end of the unit properly aligned so the hottest part of the pilot flame is hitting the unit. Did you hold pilot switch in the light position for at least 30 seconds, before you set the gas valve to on? If all above OK, try this. Light the pilot using barbeque lighter once it lights keep the lighter on the t-couple for 30 seconds, then set the valve to ON and keep the lighter where it is. Once the main burner lights, remove the lighter. If the burner and pilot go off, your gas valve is bad.

When you light the pilot, hold the button in about 1 minute to satisfy the thermocouple. Once the thermocouple is hot and satisfied, turn the gas to "ON". You may have to extend the time a bit, but 1 minute is usually enough.

Best regards, --W/D--

Have you replaced the thermocouple? Have you cleaned the Pilot? Do you have a strong pilot flame and is it touching the thermocouple? Sometimes if you don't have a good strong pilot is that when you turn the main gas on it pulls the pilot flame away from the thermocouple and cools it off so it drops the signal. Check the gas pressure should have 10 to 11 "WC of manifold pressure.
And you could have a bad gas valve. Hope this helps.

Remove front cover,or just lower section if you can. they usually just need to be lifted up about an inch or so and pulled out. However some have covers that snap in place. After you remove cover locate gas valve. It should have a control knob on top with markings for on, off, and pilot. Set control to pilot. Follow lines from gas valve to burner compartment, one goes to main burner one ,small copper colored line is the thermocouple, other line is the pilot. Turn thermostat down as far as it will go. Make sure gas supply valve in line to heater is on and then depress pilot control , when you have pilot control depressed have a match or other small flame source close to pilot assembly. If it lights then hold down on pilot control for a couple of mins. Slowly release pilot control and if it stays lit turn gas control to on. Turn thermostat up to call for heat and burner should light. If pilot doesn't stay lit when you release pilot control then try again holding pilot down longer. If it still won't stay lit then thermocouple will need replace. Good luck. Thanks

Many times the thermocouple will build up so corrosion where it seats into the gas valve. This will cause the heater to just go out at random time. When the pilot goes out it will turn the gas valve off so no gas will escape from the valve.

Try cleaning the end of the thermocouple and see it that takes care of your problem.

call aservice tech your pilot light might be blocked therefore the pilot flame might not be strong enough to handle the puff of gas when the gas valve opens ps. if the unit is off in the summer spiders are usually the problem. Hope this helps

gas valve bad or its getting too hot and shutting the gas off. must have air movement

The yhernocoupler would snuff the pilot if bad. What ignites the overhead burners? and what regulates the overhead gas supply? Look into this. Too much gas will not light as easily as proper balance gas and air. Even more so in a tower type heater.. Turn the gas on low and the pilot should grab it. Good luck

I would change the thermocouple and here is why:

The thermocouple is the pilot's, well, co-pilot! It is the electronic device that senses if the pilot flame is hot enough to sustain burning the gas fuel from the burner. If the thermocouple thinks it's safe, then it keeps open the main gas valve located in the pilot assembly. If the thermocouple does not sense enough heat from the pilot flame (such as when the pilot is out), then the thermocouple shuts off the gas valve to the burners.
How the Thermocouple Works
So what is this thing and how does it work? Well the thermocouple (technically called a thermocouple junction) is a device that contains two metal wires welded at the ends and placed inside a protective metal case. The thermocouple sensor is found at the business end of the pilot flame and is designed to be placed in the hottest part of the flame. The other end is connected to the pilot valve body. As the thermocouple heats up, it produces a small amount of electricity and when it gets hot enough from the pilot, send a signal to open the gas valve by using a solenoid operated by a 24 volt transformer. The thermocouple calls the shots, and by converting heat to an electrical signal, it allows the gas valve to open or close. Once the gas valve is open, gas is then constantly supplied to the pilot and as required for the gas burners (as called for by the thermostat). If the pilot goes out, then the thermocouple gets cold and produces no electric signal to open the gas valve's solenoid and the gas valve shuts off the gas supply to the pilot and burners