Problem with Kenmore Hydrosense gas water heater

Barely 5 years old and under warranty contract. Sears replaced the Thermopile. This is not to be confused with a standard Thermocouple.

Hydrosense's control valve ($220),is digitally controlled and this Thermopile senses the pilot light is on but at the same time generates power in millivolts when it is heated by the pilots flame. This power runs the Hydrosense control valve and this controller flashes the red light at intervals telling its status. I am currently without hot water. Been without for 4 days.

Honeywell makes the control valve and for some reason, it must be drop-shipped from Honeywell as Sears will NOT stock this. Researched more and I can see that these series of Hydrosense equipped water heaters are lemons. As seen here on this site. Sears Parts direct.com shows that in the past year 240 Control valves have been replaced, compared to only 104 Thermopiles. So the main controller issue is very prevalent. The failure rate is very high. Yet Sears won't stock it. These Hydrosense WH's are simply Lemons.

I want Sears to replace my water heater with a current model because they cannot service this and apparently won't stock parts on them. In the meantime people having issues will be without water for several weeks at times, Sears hoping customers will be off warranty and pull the plug and buy a new water heater. It's not rocket science to figure this out.

Arizona, you must have a defect thermocouple. Since you bought the pilot/thermocouple assembly new, ask for a replacement.

I have a Sears water heater with the Hydrosense controller. The hot water failed and the controller was flashing a red light 7 times. Manual said replace the electronic module. I replaced the entire controller, $212.00. Pilot light would start, red light would flash once every three seconds. Manual says that means pilot is lit and all is well. The burner would start but, in a few minutes it would stop and the pilot would not stay lit. I then replaced the entire thermocouple, pilot light, etc. assembly, $102.00
but I still have the same problem. Pilot will light allowing burner to come on but the pilot will not stay lit and the water heater will not operate. What gives?

I have a Kemore Hydrosensee water heater that's 3yrs old; it's model #153334430. I've replaced the whole burner system unit, & is still won't light??? The red sensor light keeps blinking 7 times even AFTER it's tunred off!!!!This is very very aggravating. Any suggestions??

This sounds familiar; My family has been out of hot water for several days;I have cleaned out the air vents to the max but still the pilot lite won't stay on; I do have a technician coming out in the next few days, but I am afraid that he will do the same. Charge over $200, for a ten minute job!! I am a single mother & desperate.Is it difficult to change out the cuplings? I am willing to take it apart if it's not too hard to do...

Sears technician came to look at my water Kenmore Hydrosense heaters and quickly came to the same conclusion - the thermocouples are bad. He did not have the parts resulting in no hot water for my family for several days already. He ordered the parts and was going to charge $210 for labor for the expected installation of about 20 minutes each. I refused to pay that much and asked him to send parts to me for my own installation. In the end I was charged $89 for the 10 minute diagnosis.

I bought two 40-gal Kenmore Hydrosense water heaters 4 years ago. Recently both started failing: burner and pilot would go out after tsaying on for some variable amount of time (e.g., from minutes to hours). I cleaned and sanded the thermocouple. It did not help much. It looks the pilot assembly needs to be replaced. Although the warranty says parts are free, Sears would charge $89 plus taxes for diagnosis alone on one water heater. Installation would have to be done by Sears with potentially additional charge. The thermocouple is not a typical one you see in Home Depot or Lowes. It is a two wired one that is not available for sale as a separate item. Buying the pilot assembly would cost $80. I will not buy this water heater again due to cost of repairs for such a simple problem!

I depressed pilot light and pressed ignition light till it lit. waited 30 seconds till i turned the knob to desired temp. it stay on for about 5 mins then turns off.

There are many reasons why your Kenmore Hydrosense water heater doesn't want to light the pilot flame. I will try to cover few of them, but first check is the water heater getting gas at all, the manual shut off valve might be closed or the water heater is getting a low gas pressure.

1. Your Kenmore gas water heater has the pilot light that is ignited by an electric spark generated by the electrode when the igniter button is pressed. One of the reasons for the problem you are having with the pilot light might be the igniter, which is not functioning properly. If that is the case, than you have to replace it. To test your igniter system look at the electrode while activating the igniter. There should be a visible spark released by the electrode. If electrode is rusty or dirty, it might prevent the spark from generating. Use the fine grit sandpaper to clean the electrode.

2. If you suspect a flammable vapor incident occur, do not use the unit. Since your Kenmore HydroSense is equipped with a thermal switch, it is designed to shut off the gas supply if there are flammable vapors.

3. If the pilot light orifice or pilot line is clogged, clean it.

4. Your gas valve might not be working properly, I would call the technician.

I hope this will help your Kenmore water heater to work again.