Hot Water:

So, Rescue Rooter man shows up ~9:30, as he said he would, and scurries under the house. Ends up being able to get the cover of the water heater off with minimal fuss. I, apparently, was totally incompetant at that particular task. It had looked like the gas line ran in such a way that would totally obstruct the removal of the cover. It did somewhat, but the real problem was that actually the cover was on *wrong*, which made it much easier to get on and off once it was put on *right*. *sigh*. But he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the heater, though he did find, that the pilot was actually sparking every time, it was the burners that weren’t lighting properly, not the pilot.

So, he gave up. Charged me $45, which was less than the “mandatory” full hour’s fee to come out. So that was ok, I suppose. At least he got the cover off.

So, I said “screw it” and just called the manufacturer. Which is really what I should have done in the first place. They pointed me to the “flame sensor” and described that it would see when the pilot was on, then it also checks to see whether the burners are on. If it’s covered in soot, or other gunk, then it will read all wrong, and things won’t work right. Recommended sanding it a touch to clean it up. So, I went and sanded it a little bit, and it seems to work ok, first shot all the time now. I’m gonna keep trying it throughout the day to make sure that that was the problem that was fixed, but the second part, which is the really great news, is that even if it’s the ignition box that’s gone south, it’s *still under warranty*, which means we’d get the replacement for nothing.

Awesome.

So, $45 stupider, it looks like we have consistent hot water again.