Reliance Water Heater 9007876 Gas Thermopile Assembly

After a basement flood the water heater burner assembly needed to be removed and cleaned. I rounded off the ferrel nut when removing it and also accidentally crimped the aluminum pilot gas line. This "Reliance Water Heater 9007876 Gas Thermopile Assembly" was used to replace a Kenmore water heater Model #153331651 "9007876 Pilot Assembly w/Tubing and Fittings". Bending the pilot light tubing to match the old one you are replacing it with before installing it is a helpful tip I got from YouTube. The hardest part of the job was having to get my old self down on the floor and back up again several times to complete the job. We are very happy to have hot water again!!! Saved a ton of money going the Do Ir Yourself route. Notes to self: Remember to turn off the gas to the water heater before beginning. Be sure to use proper sized open end wrenches so you don't strip the bolts AND MOST IMPORTANTLY after everything is put back together turn the gas valve back on and check both gas lines for leaks by brushing kids bubble solution (liquid dish soap and water) onto the gas lines threaded connections, if it blows a bubble or if you smell gas, that indicates a leak and you must immediately turn off the gas valve until it is properly repaired.

As for ease of installation, it was at first difficult for me since I had never messed with a water heater. I spent lots of time carefully studying the situation and taking pictures for reassembly. Objectively, though, it's just a few screws and wire connections for the Thermopile Assembly. I had to take it back apart the following day since I had made a mistake. The second installation was a breeze and took less than 45 minutes. So, if you are a decent handyman, then go ahead and do it yourself. I saved myself at least $150. I also replaced the gas valve since I did not know what the actual problem was. It costed $126. I spent a total of about $160 on my 7-1/2 year old heater and have good reason to think it will last another 7-1/2 years, especially since no rust was present in the water that I had drained from the tank. Total time invested is about 5 hours including internet research and purchase time plus labor. This would have been at least a $400 job if performed by a trained professional. I wish I had better pictures to offer, but hopefully these will help some.

Our pilot light would continuously go out. After looking for the part locally with no success, I jumped on Amazon and there she was. I will say the part number did not match my Whirlpool mfg by AO Smith tank but the picture from the previous review helped me - thank you!!The packaging was great, instructions great. All great and easy to replace. One piece of advice. Once you get it all in place and the pilot light lit, don’t expect the gas to kick on immediately. I freaked out, took the burner back out and then realized, I probably had a tank full of hot water. All I had to do was turn on some hot water in the house.I felt like Clark W Griswold not flipping on the light switch!!

Water heater was shutting off on a regular basis about once a week to ten days. The pilot worked but wouldn’t stay lit long term. The thermopile was the real issue. The info I read on Amazon said this pilot/thermopile combo was an exact fit for my 50 gallon gas water heater model N50T61-403 and indeed it was. If you have mechanical skills this is not difficult to replace/install.

Bought this for my mom's gas water heater because the thermopile went bad, I was thinking I will have to make it fit (cut and solder wires,etc) but I was thankfully wrong, it's identical to the old one (HONEYWELL), the only problem I had was the pilot light flexible gas line, I used the old one as a template and when I tightened the new one it into the control box it would Not seal(gas leak) for nothing, I probably didn't have the end of the tube inserted far enough so I had to take it apart and reuse the old one, maybe someone can learn from my misfortune and just use your old, but I would definitely purchase again, Thx James

Nice set up but the Thermopile did not work. I even checked it with my Multimeter and it did not register at all. Too bad as it was exactly what I needed. Maybe just a dud and yours will work just fine. I picked up another individual thermopile and it worked fine with my old assembly.

Original unit repeatedly, at worst times, pilot going out. This unit functions reliably all the time, except during a flood. Dried the entire system, relit, and it worked as well as ever. ;]

We have hot water again! Thought we were going to have to replace the whole water heater but turned out we just had a bad thermopile. Much cheaper to replace that than the whole heater. Arrived on time, packaging was great and was easy to install. Hubby had a little bit of trouble getting the little metal clips back on to attach the wiring but he was able to after a bit..hooked everything back up, pushed the lighter several times and wa la! We were back in business after a week of cold showers!