Can a thermocouple burn out?
The most common failure mode for thermocouples is for them to fail open, this is known as thermocouple burnout. Burnout can result from a variety of reasons including the thermocouple experiencing a temperature in excess of that for which it was designed, metal fatigue, and oxidation.
Why does my gas thermocouple keep burning out?
Tried different brands, the pilot will only stay lit for 3 minutes then automatically shuts down. This is not necessarily a thermocouple or a gas valve problem, but possibly just a matter of cleaning or adjustment.
How long does it take for a new thermocouple to burn out?
The contact between these two needs to be very clean to work reliably. To burn out a new thermocouple in 1-2 weeks, the gas to your pilot would have to be set much too high and/or the position of the thermocouple would need to be very wrong, and even then I doubt it would fail so quickly.
What kind of thermocouples are used in gas fireplaces?
Thermocouples are also used on gas logs and in gas fireplaces or similar devices. Thermocouples are produced in a wide range of forms and configurations, in eight or more calibration groups (B,E, J, K, R, S & T) with different temperature ranges including up to very high temperatures such as 3000 o F.
Can a bad thermocouple stop a gas boiler from working?
A bad thermocouple itself can prevent a gas furnace or boiler from working – if you can light the flame at the pilot manually but then the flame goes out when you release the manual gas feed valve, the thermocouple is probably bad.
Tried different brands, the pilot will only stay lit for 3 minutes then automatically shuts down. This is not necessarily a thermocouple or a gas valve problem, but possibly just a matter of cleaning or adjustment.
The contact between these two needs to be very clean to work reliably. To burn out a new thermocouple in 1-2 weeks, the gas to your pilot would have to be set much too high and/or the position of the thermocouple would need to be very wrong, and even then I doubt it would fail so quickly.
A bad thermocouple itself can prevent a gas furnace or boiler from working – if you can light the flame at the pilot manually but then the flame goes out when you release the manual gas feed valve, the thermocouple is probably bad.
How can you tell if a thermocouple is working?
If the thermocouple is working, you should be able to measure 30 to 40 millivolts of voltage at the connection end of the tube when the pilot flame is on. You can test this yourself using a multimeter, but you may need a helper to keep the pilot flame burning while you do it.
