Fortunately the OP heeded the advise on this forum and replaced the thermocouple which repaired his WH.

I have never heard of a thermal fuse on a gas WH. Neither has Google.

GAS WH not ELECTRIC

Originally Posted by village dreamer View Post
sounds like your thermocouple has a thermal fuse. its made to burn out and stop main burner from coming on. sometimes water heaters,the inside vent line [shaped like a donut] will crush and wont vent the hot gass out and the main burner will come on and burn the thermal fuse. need new water heater.
Fortunately the OP heeded the advise on this forum and replaced the thermocouple which repaired his WH.

I have never heard of a thermal fuse on a gas WH. Neither has Google.

GAS WH not ELECTRIC

The part that showed damage on the thermocouple is shown on the following picture of the replacement Pilot assembly. The thermocouple is the copper colored line. That line has a round black item near bottom of picture connecting two parts of the thermocouple. One of the connector wires was unattached. I assumed it might be a resistor. Could have been damaged during removal but don't think so.

Amazon.com


So, if it is a thermal fuse, I guess it will fail again since the new part has the same item. We had no issue of excessively hot water prior to failure.

Here is a page with a discussion of the fuse. It looks like the part used in the example is the part you purchased.

From an A.O. Smith page (may not be the same device since this mentions replacing the thermostat and not the thermocouple):

Energy Cutoff Switch (ECO)
Gas water heater safety device that shuts off the gas supply to the unit if water temperature exceeds 190°F. The ECO is a single-use switch and requires complete replacement of the entire thermostat if activated.

Summary of my opening this thread and knowledge gained

1/ Not all of us are knowledgeable or capable of diagnosing problems and repair.

2/ Even with knowledge ie Need Thermocouple replaced, some contractors in The Villages quoted high repair cost, or suggested buy new. Prices for repair excessive $500 to $900. New $1250 to $2500.

3/For the most part, water heaters are simple. A big tank holding water. The working parts are a control and a burner and a connecting device.

4/ A call to one of the respected plumbers may not yield a good answer. And their show up fee exceeds the cost of many repairs. I paid $97 to a contractor, got an improper diagnosis and a sales pitch. Using advise from TOTV I knew I was being scammed and chose to explore . With help from a neighbor made repair at a cost of $32.

5/ Be cautious.

6/ Sometimes you get horrible advice on TOTV i.e. thermal fuses do not exist on GAS water heaters.

Well, if the item on the thermalcouple measures water temperature over 190 Degrees F, it sure seems like it is in the wrong place since it is in the combustion chamber.

Yeah, it might not be the same as the ECO.