Rheem Failed Ignition Lockout

The Short Answer: “Failed ignition” on a Rheem is the control giving up after spark or glow with no proven flame. On a tank that is a Honeywell / Resideo LED lockout — often a failed-trial count, not a red ECO. On tankless it is code 11. Photograph it. One reset after the cause. Do not match-light the chamber. If you smell gas, leave.

Search Intent & The Real Problem

The tank is cold. The valve LED is counting, or the remote says failed ignition / 11, and forums sold you a match and a $12 thermocouple. Rheem, Ruud, and Richmond share guts. You have to split the machine first. Standing-pilot tanks that light then die are not this page — Rheem pilot. Tankless two-digit 11 already has its own chart — flashing 11, code 11. This page is the gas tank that tried to spark or glow, never proved flame, and locked. Sister no-spark: Honeywell igniter. Generic dark burner: burner not lighting.

What other guides get wrong

They treat every Rheem lockout as tankless 11 and walk you through a Paloma remote on a 40-gallon in the garage. They treat every lockout as a 7-flash FVIR wipe with gasoline still in the closet. They tell you to hold the knob in. They paste electric 5 flashes onto a gas LED. And they still describe cracking the union “to help it light.” Do not purge it.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

Step 1: Split tank vs tankless vs the wrong machine

• What to look for: Rating plate, lighting card, a phone photo of the valve sticker before you kill power. Ruud and Richmond twins use the same controls.
• Required tools: Flashlight, phone camera. No matches until that card describes them.

Do not match-light an electronic chamber.

Step 2: Count the LED — failed trial is not 7-flash FVIR

Typical Honeywell / Resideo water-heater stickers (the label on your valve wins):

• What to look for: A full cycle twice. Six flashes after a closed cock is not a “reset ritual.” Seven after you painted the garage is vapors, not a ceramic. Electronic-fault language: electronic fault.
• Required tools: The sticker. A watch.

Reset path after you name it: Honeywell reset. After a storm start at dead after a power outage, not a tenth trial.

Step 3: One look through the port — spark, glow, or dark

• What to look for: Cover on. One heat call. Spark: snap at the ceramic, then gas, then blue. No snap = electrode, boot, or module. Snap, dark burner = cock, empty LP, valve, or air after a relight — not a second igniter. HSI: orange for several seconds, then gas. No glow = open bar or no 120 V. Brief flame, then lockout = flame sense, not the igniter. A bang is delayed ignition — loud bang — shut down.
• Required tools: Ears and eyes. One trial. Do not pull an FVIR door you cannot reseal.

Spark-test with the appliance cock off if you only need to see whether the electrode jumps. Then leave the cock off until a licensed tech is there if it never lit. Smell after a click: leave.

Step 4: Power, blower, and gas — without opening the pipe

• What to look for: Electronic and power-vent Rheems need house power. Outlet live, emergency switch on, GFCI not tripped. Inducer must spin and the pressure switch must prove before spark; a silent blower is CO if anything burns. Appliance shutoff parallel to the pipe. Other gas appliances lighting. LP bottle not empty; a frosted first-stage regulator starves the trial. 1/2” kinked flex on a high-BTU power-vent looks like a “bad igniter” all afternoon. No gas at other appliances is not getting gas.
• Required tools: Eyes. No fittings wrenches.

Manifold pressure is licensed: NG about 3.5–7 in. w.c. / LP about 10–11 in. w.c. at the appliance — confirm the rating plate. Standing-pilot thermocouples are ~20–30 mV and do not belong on this valve. Thermopile electronics live in the hundreds of millivolts — a weak pile browns the board so it never sparks.

Step 5: One reset after the cause — then stop

• What to look for: Cause addressed (cock open, LP in the bottle, fan spinning, vapors gone). Knob to OFF, wait the time on that card, then one trial. Unit fires in the window, stable blue, LED back to idle or heartbeat. Same failed-ignition count on the next call is the end of DIY. Water in the burner tray or a rust ring: shut the gas — dripping on the burner. Do not hold a tripped breaker ON.
• Required tools: The lighting sticker. Patience. No paperclip in the control.

A reset schedule cooks the valve. Holding the knob in bypasses drop-out and is how unburned gas collects.

When DIY Ends: Calling a Licensed Pro

You may photograph the LED, confirm the shutoff, look for one spark or glow through the port, and follow one OFF-wait cycle after the cause. Stop at odor, FVIR vapor lockout, a bang, a silent power-vent, water in the tray, and any gas-valve or igniter swap inside the chamber. A licensed plumber will measure manifold pressure, prove spark, leak-test a matched Resideo control, and condemn a rusted FVIR chamber the same day. That is the job. The knob is not a thermostat you click every morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does failed ignition lockout mean on a Rheem water heater? A: The control tried to spark or glow, never proved flame, and locked. On a gas tank that is usually a Honeywell/Resideo failed-trial LED. On tankless it is code 11. Count the sticker on that machine.

Q: How do I reset a Rheem failed ignition lockout? A: Photograph the LED or code, fix the obvious cause (gas cock, LP, power, fan), turn the control OFF, wait the jacket time, then one trial. Same lockout on the next call is a licensed diagnosis, not a reset schedule.

Q: Can I light a Rheem in failed-ignition lockout with a match? A: No, not if the jacket says do not light with a match. Electronic FVIR tanks are not match-light appliances. Hire a licensed tech. If you smell gas, leave.