Water heater troubleshooting

[dirtrich]

I installed a new Bradford-White 75 gallon water heater at a rental I manage two months ago.
Got a call last night, no hot water. Tenant tells me the gas valves are on, pilot would light and stay lit when he turned heater control to 'heat', but shuts off after a few seconds.
Upon further questioning, turns out one of the supply lines (hot water side I believe) is leaking, which soaked the insulation and is dripping down under the tank. Couldn't get down there (out of town) last night, so heading out shortly.
Supply lines were replaced with new tank, and I suppose will be replaced again this morning.
Question is: will sopping wet insulation prevent the tank from firing/staying lit?
And if so, will fixing the leak and letting it dry out remedy the situation?
Bonus question: He said the leak is coming out from under the nut on supply line....I've always just used three/four wraps of teflon tape on threads w. no problems.......want to step up to a paste.....what's the best one?

 

[acmikee]

its warranty
no wet insulation wont stop it from firing
is it leaking from the brass ****** or the compression nut or is it a flare nut

 

[SALIV8]

I installed a new Bradford-White 75 gallon water heater at a rental I manage two months ago.
Got a call last night, no hot water. Tenant tells me the gas valves are on, pilot would light and stay lit when he turned heater control to 'heat', but shuts off after a few seconds.
Upon further questioning, turns out one of the supply lines (hot water side I believe) is leaking, which soaked the insulation and is dripping down under the tank. Couldn't get down there (out of town) last night, so heading out shortly.
Supply lines were replaced with new tank, and I suppose will be replaced again this morning.
Question is: will sopping wet insulation prevent the tank from firing/staying lit?
And if so, will fixing the leak and letting it dry out remedy the situation?
Bonus question: He said the leak is coming out from under the nut on supply line....I've always just used three/four wraps of teflon tape on threads w. no problems.......want to step up to a paste.....what's the best one?

Sounds like bad thermocouple or gas valve.

My favorite is Slic-tite or the monster brand blue paste.

 

[dirtrich]

Thanks for the responses guys.
Problem solved.
Went down there and sure enough the supply line on the hot side is leaking pretty good from under the nut. The nut was a little loose, which I don't understand as I had snugged it up pretty good when I installed it.
Replaced the supply line, lit the pilot, turned it on and it lit off....only to die after a few seconds.
Pulled the inspection cover and it didn't take too long to figure out.
The bottom of the water heater will hold about an inch and a half of water before it overflows and spills out.......juuuuussst deep enough to interfere with the air intake vents for the burner.
I mopped the water out with a rag, which took forever as I forgot to pack my suction devices lol.
Once the water was out, it fired right up and stayed lit as it was no longer starved for air.
And I picked up a container of "Blue Magic" pipe dope. Worked great, think I'll be using that from now on.