: Help! The pilot light on my hot water heater : keeps going out. Until several months ago it had : never gone out. Then it went out twice in one month. : Now, its going out 3 or 4 times a week. : It shares a flue with the central heating unit, which : has never had a problem. if the pilot is dirty it will be lazy and not play on the thermocouple. you can tell if it appears yellow and floats straight up instead of touching the thermocouple. if its dirty clean it that may be your only problem. if its not dirty and is playing good on the thermocoule then I would suggest changing the thermocouple.