that soot happened to my hot water tank as well. the orifice disappeared, no idea what or how it happened. On mine I couldn't find the orifice part and had to buy an entire burner tube assembly. (was not too bad$) put new one in and it stopped the soot and burns proper again. Im not saying that is it exactly, you could have a blockage causing inefficient burn as well. Id look at those two things. It most likely will come off, try soap and rubbing alcohol 91% edit to add, I was camping and that happened on the last day, which really boggled me initially as well as not seeing anything blocking it and a clean burn chamber. Looked at the tube and externally it looked fine, than I noticed the orifice was gone. That still boggles me because I don't understand where it went or exactly why. My best guess for mine is, its pressed in and time and pressure ejected it. although it was never seen in that compartment so maybe vaporized?
Well, we're on our 1st official camping trip. Used the DeWalt Inflator to put correct air in tires... Then installed the tire sensors that Eggshooterist recommended And they work great... Got truck and camper washed off, packed and ready to go Set up on the campsite Time to chill and enjoy the view... Just being goofy This water is clear, beautiful lake... Time to cook the bacon and eggs this morning... Going exploring in a bit...
I wonder if I should start another thread or just post our adventures here...... We explored the town of Juliette today, that's where the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes " was filmed. And the restaurant the movie made famous...The Whistle Stop Cafe... It's small and had a big crowd outside, took us about 2 hrs to get in... Movie poster... And the food was great. We shared the sampler platter and got 3 side veggies... And peach cobbler Old mill was on the river banks... A couple of the Iron Horses that Scotty Overkill blacksmith SBK1980 work on rolled down the tracks while we were waiting... Pulling a few cars... Built our first fire And grilled a few burgers, yep added a stick of cherry on the charcoal A good day, indeed.
Had time this afternoon to check into the water heater problem. Pulled the burner tube assembly and found the culprit... seems a mud dauber made a home.in there before we got it. Got the tube cleaned, then used a wire and some shop towels to swab the main tube several times. Pulled out a little pile.of soot... It has a pretty blue flame now...
Given the amount of soot, it had been like that for awhile. The previous owner must have been able to clean the soot from the outside siding. I hope you are able to remove it.
My buddy's water heater started acting up last week and I looked it over for him. Have it narrowed down to a bad gas valve I think. Could be a leak in the line maybe but gas valve is way easier to get to haha. His will only randomly light and I wasn't hearing the valve click. Then it will click and light but with a weak flame and then the gas valve closes. Checked burner and orifice and that's all good so has to be a gas supply issue further upstream. Could be his regulator I guess but stove and furnace both run fine so kinda ruled that out.
