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To light my water heater's pilot light, the instructions on the side say to put the On/Pilot/Off knob into the Pilot position and then hold it down for one minute after lighting the pilot light with a match. They also say the knob should "pop up" when I release it.

After a minute of holding the knob down, I released it (the pilot stayed lit on the first try) but it did not do any kind of pop.

It did immediately start coming up, but it was slow (it made it about halfway up in 1-2 seconds), and then I, without thinking that maybe I shouldn't, gently pulled it the rest of the way up. I felt a little smooth resistance as I pulled.

Is this ok, or is this something dangerous?

The last time the pilot was relit was 10+ years ago when I turned it off before going on a vacation. I guess it popped up that time because I don't recall thinking I might have a problem due to it not popping up.

We've never had any problems with the water heater.

Rohit Gupta
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ChrisC70
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  • It is just the spring, you can try. to replace (complicated) or ignore and pull out manually but I reco to have it replaced since it is gas – Ruskes Apr 11 '23 at 19:41
  • That could well be *what they meant* by the words "pop up". Then again, it could not be. – user253751 Apr 11 '23 at 19:58

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