Upon some investigation with the problem with my water heater, at this point it sounds like a bad thermocouple. But the one characteristic of the problem I haven't found an answer to is I can get the pilot light on(if I wait several hours, I get a good strong blue flame. If I wait only a few minutes, it's a much weaker, but still blue flame), but as soon as the gas flows from the burner, the pilot goes out and everything shuts down.

Does water heater have a sealed combustion chamber?
Post make and model.

I don't believe it has a sealed combustion chamber, I have easy access to that. Rheemglas Fury