Reliance Water Heater 9007876 Gas Thermopile Assembly, Pack of 1

Worked as expected

Installation easy

I have a 40T9-40NG 400 Whirlpool water heater that I bought from Lowes. The indicator light was not blinking at all and the pilot light would not stay lit. The picture on this product looked like what I needed. Thankfully it was accurate.I switched it out in 20 minutes and the water heater started right up.

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

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.