Water Heater Thermostat Issues

[HaRuMaN]

I have a gas hot water heater.  Every morning, before getting a shower, I have to go to the hot water heater and turn the temperature selection knob higher to get the gas to kick on, and then I can turn the knob back to its original setting (fire stays on and heats the water back to the correct temperature).

Any ideas on what is causing this and what I can do to fix it?

[DaOld Man]

Need a new gas valve (thermostat), and if it's very old, probably a new heater.

[HaRuMaN]

Need a new gas valve (thermostat), and if it's very old, probably a new heater.

The heater is as old as the house (about 10 years).  Also, we do have pretty hard water.

[DaOld Man]

You can try cleaning it out. You might have sediment around the temp probe, insulating it.

[Ed_McCarron]

New heater.  It'll work, it's cheap, and your gas bill will go down.

Oh, and that whole Mythbusters 'heater going through the roof' thing won't happen.

[abispac]

New heater, but if you thinks its expensive to buy a new one, then you only need to replace the thermostat. You can also try to drain your heater so you can get all of the rust thats inside, youll be amazed on how much rust its inside the heater.