So we had a gas fireplace installed 2 years ago to supplement out heating and have a source of heat in case we lose electric out here in the sticks of Boone County. Wife ran it last night to make the house toasty when I came home. Went to turn it on this morning and the pilot light is out. Got out and flip to the reserve tank (we run it off of 100lb tanks) even though the tank it was on was still ~half full.
Cannot get the pilot to light. I've tried turning the valve off and on here inside and the one outside as well. Can't seem to get any flow.
Suggestions? Yesterday the temps were in the mid 40's, today teens with 15mph winds bringing the windchills down to single digits. I'd kinda like to have my heat again.
Ours is currently non-functional because the pilot jet is rusted closed-- once I saw that I could light flames below the pilot, but not at it I decided that was enough of that!
Unfortunately, I can't get the pilot jet loose, as it's all rusted together like a salt belt car, but the structure is less substantial to wrench on. I'm going to let the pros deal with this one.
Now, if there's flow, and it just won't stay lit, that's another problem. I've addressed that under certain circumstances by scotch-brighting the thermocouple, and that seems to make it all better again for a while. I don't know if you can get something in a batch of propane that leaves deposits on those thermocouple probes, but I've had problems with that in my furnace, hot water heater and the fire place.
I tried vacuuming out the pilot light area (even though we did that this fall.). No juice. IT's next to impossible to get someone out to look at it because they didn't install it.
Won't light at all or won't stay lit? Is there a button you hold while lighting pilot?
won't light at all. Hold button to start pilot, appears to be no flow. I'm even using a long aim-n-flame at the port thingy and nothing. Checked the tanks, checked all the valves. The thermocouple thingy could be clogged I hear...
NExt to impossible to get someone out to look at it because they didn't install it.
If it's anything like mine, if you push the valve in to light the pilot, gas will flow to the pilot orifice. The thermocouple, unless I'm mistaken, only serves to "prove" the pilot is burning. I need to continue holding the valve in for about thirty seconds for the pilot to stay lit.
If you've got no gas coming from the pilot orifice when you push the valve in, I would surmise that there is an obstruction in either the orifice or somewhere in the plumbing to it.
What brand is this fireplace?
Disconnect the aluminum tube that the gas for the pilot light flows thru and blow into it. If its clogged or not will be obvious. If its not clogged, then the issue is with the gas valve or the gas is shut off somewhere. Don't rule out the regulator in the propane tank. To track down your issue, you can crack open the supply hose or any unions to see if there is gas pressure at that point and then retighten. Find out the point where the gas stops and you found your problem. To light the pilot, make sure you switch the gas valve to pilot and push the knob in. Listen for the gas. The pilot flame gas will only flow as long as you have the pilot button manually held down, until the thermocouple heats up enough to create a millivolt of electricity. Its that small amount of electricity created by the heating of the thermocouple that holds the magnets in the gas valve open. No pilot. No heat to the thermocouple. No electricity to hold open gas valve. No gas to flood the house and cause a big boom.
tr8todd wrote:
Disconnect the aluminum tube that the gas for the pilot light flows thru and blow into it. If its clogged or not will be obvious. If its not clogged, then the issue is with the gas valve or the gas is shut off somewhere. Don't rule out the regulator in the propane tank. To track down your issue, you can crack open the supply hose or any unions to see if there is gas pressure at that point and then retighten. Find out the point where the gas stops and you found your problem. To light the pilot, make sure you switch the gas valve to pilot and push the knob in. Listen for the gas. The pilot flame gas will only flow as long as you have the pilot button manually held down, until the thermocouple heats up enough to create a millivolt of electricity. Its that small amount of electricity created by the heating of the thermocouple that holds the magnets in the gas valve open. No pilot. No heat to the thermocouple. No electricity to hold open gas valve. No gas to flood the house and cause a big boom.
It's so nice when real knowledge is shared. This board really is the best.
I had an issue with my propane stove a couple winters ago. When we got a delivery the guy moved the line so that the regulator was upside down. Water got in and it froze. Even thawed out and moved to the correct position it wouldn't work right again and needed to be replaced.
The regulator is bolted to the side of the house and I "installed" the tanks. Didn't move much there.
JamesMcD wrote:
What brand is this fireplace?
IIRC Monessen? yeah, here they are: fireplaces.
Ours is hte 30" SC-30R with stony creek logs. remote control blah blah blah.
How hard are you pushing the bypass button? Some of them take enough force you'll have a sore thumb by the time it's lit and the thermocouple is hot.
Do your tanks feed anything else?
trust me... I have sore thumbs, palms, fingers..... The only thing the tanks feed are the fireplace.
You keep saying that no one wants to come check it because they did not install it ... but dont you call the people that installed it?
so, after checking the lines, cleaning and reinstalling, finding no gas, pulled the feed line, no gas. Grabbed the hair dryer and went out in the below zero wind chills for 5 minutes and unfroze the regulator. working like a charm.
Slippery: the guy that did the install was terrible and is no longer an installer for Direct Buy (where we puirchased the fireplace).
yep... we went from 40 and rain/mist/fog to 15 and ice the next morning. ALmost like that one movie where people froze midstep and stuff
If the tubing is flexible give it a little bend so the vent is pointed down a bit more so any water that gets in there can
Drain out.
Wall-e wrote:
If the tubing is flexible give it a little bend so the vent is pointed down a bit more so any water that gets in there can
Drain out.
IT's not. This is the first issue in 2 years, so I doubt this is a real issue. We justwent from deluge to ice storm in a few hours.
