The pilot stays lit. TH106 – Honeywell Aube TH106 – 7 Day Programmable Line …Amazon. I nervously turned the controller dial to the 9 o’clock position, the burner burst to life, and today I have hot water again. And you also carry repair parts for other models that are now obsolete, right?” and then refuse to buy if the answers are not “yes” and “yes.”. Some of us had moved the controller dial through it’s full range and subsequently the controller failed with the “4” code. I re-lit the pilot light and it came on with 4 flashing lights. Smith, State, American, Whirlpool, and Craftmaster Brand Water Heaters 4.5 out of 5 stars 205 $129.00 $ 129 . 2. My unit is a Kenmore, bought at OSH New Year’s day 2012. • Heat on the thermopile generates 750 to 900 millivolts (open circuit). How to un-fault a controller – About 5-10 minutes the 7 flashes reverted back to a single flash, maybe got lucky. Many, many thanks for the previous posters comments that led to this fairly simple fix. I called Whirlpool customer service, got the replacement valve for $30 cost of the shipment. Executive summary: Once it has detected a “water too hot” event, the gas valve will never work again — unless you know how to reset it. Holy Shite….I’m at the end of my gas heater nightmare with one thing left to do…replace the whole valve and i’m back and running…was researching whether to do it myself, then ran into this article about the dreaded four flashes…already had the valve, and presto, in 10 minutes I had a working water heater…I love the Internet…and Tyler, you are my new hero. I checked the voltage from the thermopile: 750 millivolts with pilot light lit while holding in the button. I ignited the pilot and set the temperature but then got the 4 Flash code. So the fault condition DID (initially) reset itself. On Thursday plubmer came over to install the worthless Whirlpool 40 gallon piece of junk water heater. The Temperature probe is a different design. NEVER AGAIN! Sediment in the bottom of a tank reduces efficient heat transfer from the heat source (gas or electric) to the water by putting a layer of less conductive minerals between the two. The thermostat makes a call for heat, the inducer fan motor comes on and up to speed but no ignitor. Called phone number on the tank and they overnighted a new valve. Thanks again to all…. I tried this simple solution you provided and it worked awesome. Turn the temp knob down to VAC (lowest setting for vacation) I will now start flushing sediment every quarter instead of annually. This time I left the knob in the pilot position for 10 minutes. Thanks again to everyone’s input… you all are a life saver! First, do NOT buy any water heater with this type of controller (you can zoom in on the ad pic. Awesome! Two plastic clips at the top are holding the cover on. If the reset procedure needs to be repeated, I figure it can easily be done in less than 10 minutes. ( P.S. The valve in my heater is a revision C and has a blue status LED for normal. This does require one special tool, pictured at left. It is obvious that they are making a killing on money selling this to just about every water heater brand out there. The water heater is a Kenmore and I called Sears but they only wanted to send out a service worker for $79 to diagnosis the water heater – although I explained numberous times that the water heater is OK… It is the controller that failed. When the pilot won’t light and there are no flashes, the problem is generally that the heating chamber got too hot and tripped the safety interlock. Great writeup! > Why doesn’t Lowes carry repair parts for the water heaters they sell? Taking out the circuit board and shorting across the pins (on back side of board) of what I believe is a capacitor**, worked to get the 7 flashes and then unit would light. free! I have advised my friends to call and tell them they have four flashes and get the gas valve now whether or not it has died. If it finds a fault, it will shutdown. I have drained the tank twice and in both cases I got virtually NO SEDIMENT out of my water heater. Any ideas? I did flush the system and I lowered the thermostat to between a and b. and it has been running fine for 2 days. correction on part where my friend bets me $100 its the thermo pile should have read Valve. Hogwash!! This happened again a day or 2 later and again, after a short while, the status led reverted back from the 5-flash red to the 1-flash blue. You can open up both the old and replacement valve, and just swap the fronts of the valves, containing the recalcitrant circuit board, leaving the back part that connects to the gas pipes in place. While most of it looks similar, I think the subtle differences incorporate a long(er) term fix. If one uses a slow supply of hot water (like rinsing a lot of dishes), then the heater stays on making VERY hot water until it triggers a non-resetable error. Thanks a lot guys for these posts. I don’t know if I ever got the red lights flashing. • The Honeywell valve uses a thermopile instead of a thermocouple as did previous designs. I have the 50 gallon model of the Whirlpool water heater from Lowe’s that has the Honeywell controller on a Bradford White valve. Rebooted the pilot and set to just below HOT. Remove cover, put wraps on the two posts and replace cover. I, too, experienced the dreaded 4-flash-of-death failure after about 8 months of use, was given the replacement valve, did the complete flush of the tank only to discover no sediment issues and, as with most of the rest of you, received a valve with a different color indicator light. Test all joints after install for leaks! The Whirlpool helpline says I have to replace the gas valve. When the first unit failed, I drained out most of the water, sediment appeared minimal. The sediment can build up and surround the stock probe and retains heat insulating the probe and causing the 4 flash situation. It does have all of the same issues and the dreaded “4 flashes of death”. This Honeywell gas control has been intermittent every few months, but i was always able to restart until this week. Second water heater we’ve put into this location in 3 years, due to bad Honeywell controllers. If this problem happens again I plan on wiring a small push-button to the two top terminals and mount it the plastic cover for an easy reset switch! Well, a couple of hours ago, (New Years Eve), my wife ended up in a cold bath again, so I went down and checked and this time it was the 4 flash code. Lennox furnaces are quality units; however, similar to other furnaces, after some time, they can encounter their share of issues due to normal wear and tear or a lack of regular care and maintenance.When this occurs, you may notice that your furnace just doesn’t perform how it used to. I pay $30 for overnight shipping for a replacement unit. The input with gas valve troubleshooting … Also, is the setpoint continuously variable as the dial is turned, or are the labeled settings “stepped” and all there are? Nothing on the shelf that looked like the Honeywell. ; 4. The Water heater will appear to be working now, but in a several seconds it will figure out that something is wrong, and it will shutdown the pilot valve and the fire will shut off. YOU are a SUPER GENIUS! The Thermopile already supplies the current necessary to open the gas valve! Asked the associate, he said they are all interchangeable. Appreciate the guidance. Is the designer still alive? Tried taking the cover off, unplugging connectors, pushing the pilot button with the connector plugged in, not plugged in, still got nothing. Did you call Honeywell directly? This last time, that did not work which led me to this posting and Raul’s simple fix. Designed to withstand harsh conditions, these are ideal for users in oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, steel and other manufacturing sectors. This was when I discovered this thread and prepared to contact Rheem since the heater is brand new. Although, the first time I did it, I only let it sit for about a half hour like he did, and I still got the 4 blinks and it wouldn’t light. Pull cover straight out to remove it. They said they couldn’t do anything about that. Genius. I replaced my gas valve and only had to pay the shipping and smell bad for two days. So since my controller is under warranty I will get a new one, may pay $10 for shipping or try and find one in town where they charge Honeywell directly, they gave me a special number to give to the store. I did however, use the no battery option submitted by Cranky Tenants which is a little easier. It is a V pattern. Water heaters covered by this handbook are equipped with Honeywell gas control valve/thermostats. water heater $500-$800, pro lic installer $400 $30-$$60 shipping cost for Valve. I just frankenvalved my unit last night and it is working like a charm! Troubleshoot: HW SV9541 (M2094) Smart Valve (Nat Gas) versus HW ST9160 (B1084) Furnace Control Board The battery trick worked for me. Plus the cost of the above repairs. Fortunately, many issues can be pinpointed and, in some cases, even repaired yourself. smith), the gas valve went bad so I had to replace it. Thank you! Setting this one at hot results in about 120ºF as noted elsewhere, which is hotter than one can stand for continuous exposure. I suggest, like anything else you want to buy online, among those sellers with good reviews, choose the one with the best price. To begin, address the old gas valve. The final straw while talking to Rheem tech support the main burner lit for 1 second, went out, and relit 2 seconds later. Can’t see internally if it is different. Looking for a new appliance retailer who values its’ customers. I said BS, send me a new module. Went in perfectly and no problems for over a month now. I have always had it at one above on “A”. The thermal switch on the hot water heater was broken. The thing is still under warranty for parts, but I have to pay shipping, and wait for it to come, and pay a plumber hundreds of dollars to install the f—ing thing. No, I don’t know that you can buy just the circuit board. Checked voltage coming out of the smart valve and there is 24 volts but no ignitor glow. Two days ago, the replacement unit also died. Take the front cover off. I tried the other methods to discharge the caps etc… Those Methods did not work. Going to researching flushing and cleaning the tank for good maintenance. I dis-assembled the cover and the circuit board, then tested the actual gas valve by itself using a AA battery and jumper wires (mentioned elsewhere above earlier) ( negative (-) to the bottom of V and positive to left upper pin of V. So I got no click (but supposed to get a click). The gas valve is a Honeywell WV8840C1406, red led which changes to blue, 1 flash, when everything is working right. Something a major of an appliance like this can’t barely go a year without working. Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019. I have gone through several failures with this type of water heater (with the Hon. Takes one screw driver to unscrew the one screw on the bottom of the controller. The result: Make sure all the wires are connected, turn on the gas and follow the steps in your water heater owner’s manual to relight the pilot light. My hat is off to you David, I followed you instruction and it clear the fault and is now heating my water. I did put a piece of electrical tape near the end of the ground wire given my tendency to reverse things. I also had a aluminum shield over the thermostat that is inserted into the tank. Switched back to the old board and still couldn’t get it to work. i did just what you described and my water heater is finally on. You will need two clip leads about 2 feet long each(like from Radio Shack – I used a black lead for negative (-) and red lead for positive(+)) and be able to clip onto a 1.5 volt battery (I used a weak rechargeable battery with tabs ( you only need about .5 volt DC actually). Draining your tank yearly may have prevented this but who the hell does that. Lastly, be VERY careful when ordering your replacement unit, in that one has a square COM plug with four pin slots. I tried to jump the posts a few times (Using twist tie wire, no battery) but kept getting the 4 blinks. I have a white LED and my code of 4 flashing lights won’t reset. Bought my Whirlpool at Lowes. I got the dreaded 4 blink on a 3 year old water heater that had to have the control module replaced after the first year. It will not attempt to clear its own fault after it faults. What number did you call? Will most likely do the control board swap. The pilot (the flame is definitely more than a pilot) does stay on and slowly heats and with the therm set pretty low it will eventually satisfy demand and shut off, and repeat next time it needs heat. I keep flushing the tank through a short piece of hose every week or so and the water out looks pretty clean now so I’ll only do it once every six months or so to keep it clean. Turns out painting and cleaning the basement tripped a code “7 flashes”. As ColdShowerMan noted, there are differences in the new design they sent me. This is huge – the most important post. Oh, I see. My 83 year old dads water heater went out. And I’m paying $30 for a part I shouldn’t be replacing? as the faint click was heard and the flashing light reappeared, it was now only blinking once! That happened (I think) because I turned the heat dial all the way up. As I mention in the article, in bold red text, you have to make sure whatever caused the overheat is also fixed. Called Whirlpool, got the run-around everyone else is getting, called a few plumbers who were all in the $150+/hour. 4. While still contemplating my options, this morning the heater quit altogether. (Manual indicates this is the call for heat) 3) 120 V from the Fan Controller Board to the valve on pins 2 and 4 of plug C3. I set the temperature control to just below hot and the burner came on. Was sent a new one with a bad (stuck) push button sparker. I got my first shower in after 2 days. Apparently the probe was too sensitive to heat caused by sediment build up. I didn’t mind to pay for the shipping cost, but, what I minded was the device was poorly made. Honeywell Smart Valve Sv9501m2528 About The Author Ron Walker entered the HVAC field. He gave me the $30 overnight speech but I opted for the $10 and some change shipping…Got it 2 days later! It is interesting to note that 106ºF is normally just about as hot as you can stand in the shower. So a few notes to help those that are experiencing the same thing: 1. Troubleshoot the honeywell gas valve and the thermostat. TOUGH! Well it died for good. You don’t have to drain the tank or disconnect any gas lines. I didn’t use a battery and just jumped upper left and upper right pegs. Top left is a small dot and top right is a post. Emptied tank and there wasn’t much sediment. Thanks, wife thinks I am a genious. Got the ominous 4 flash a couple days ago after turning heat up too high. Only the technically adept or handy should do attempt this. Either solution is unacceptable. Probably not, but it was worth a try. The cover is still attached to the back of the unit by a colorful ribbon of wires, with a plug at the end that connects to the circuit board. Perhaps others with faulty valves may have begun their collapse in a similar fashion, but were not noticed until the hot water turned cold… people don’t usually babysit a water heater. My installation uses a tempering valve to keep water to the home closer to 110F no matter what the solar temperature is (which can be up to ~140F in summers). Also had flushed out the tank. Fixed? I have a state water heater (which are made by A.O. Even though there are 4 higher settings! You need to drain the tank completely because the valve “sensor” is about one inch diameter probe that screws into the side of the tank from the back of the valve. i called whirlpool(1877-817-6750), they are sending me the valve free of charge, but its gonna take a couple days to get here. As a side note, the light on the new valve is white. Check closely to see if you have a spark. So far it’s been working fine. Operating Range: 0 to 150 °F (-18 to 66 °C)*, *Valve will operate at 0°F (-18°C) but valve, characteristics can not be guaranteed until, Storage Range: -40 to 150 °F (-40 to 66 °C), Humidity: 95% non-condensing at 104 °F (40 °C), This device is certified by Canadian Standards. The light started the “all is good” single blink and the furnace fired up. As pulling the connector off the pilot light died and the water remained lukewarm just. And closes one and did a minor mod flashes ” to unscrew the one i ’ d have. 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