Why won't my water heater pilot light stay lit or spark?
A lack of consistent spark forces people to hold the pilot button down until their fingers hurt while trying to light the unit. Because the pilot light ultimately won't stay lit, the system fails to ignite or operate.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1jiggling the wire through the rubber grommet
- 2waiting to find replacement parts locally to change out the igniter tip and pilot assembly
- 3Calling out a professional plumber or HVAC technician
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“when we went to light the pilot light on my water heater there was no spark to light the pilot.”source ↗
“I followed all instructions and no spark. Well there was maybe 2 sparks in 200 attempts.”source ↗
“Nothing consistent and my fingers hurt holding the pilot button down.”source ↗
“I’m alone working reception at a hotel right now and our hot water heater stopped firing.”source ↗
“I hear no clicking or ignition spark at all”source ↗
“Is there anything basic I can safely try, like a reset, power cycle, switch, loose connector, etc.?”source ↗
“Pilot light won't stay lit.”source ↗