Local gas fireplace repair with a free inspection in Airport North

Finding the right manual for your model

Makers such as Heat & Glo publish manuals by model and keep them in an online library. The right one depends on the exact model on the rating plate, and a single fireplace often has more than one document.

That maker's owner manual itself sends the technician to the installation manual for the air shutter setting and to the parts list for orifice sizing. A setting borrowed from a similar model can be wrong for yours.

Work is done from the documents for your exact unit, and the estimate cites the parts and settings they call for. If none can be found for the model, the estimate says so. These are the three we look for.

• The owner manual, for operation, safety notes and owner upkeep
• The installation manual, for air shutter, restrictor, log and ember settings
• The service parts list, for part numbers and orifice sizes

The pilot assembly and its parts

The pilot is a small burner with several parts built around it. The troubleshooting charts in two manuals we have read call for the whole pilot assembly to be replaced when certain parts fail a test, such as a thermocouple with low output or an electrode that will not spark.

The direct vent parts list from that maker also lists a thermocouple, thermopile and igniter on their own. Which route fits depends on the model and on what the test showed.

Each pilot part is tested on its own first, and the estimate then quotes either the single part or the full assembly, with the reason written beside it. These are the parts in question, depending on the ignition family.

• The pilot hood
• An orifice, or spud, that meters its gas
• A thermocouple and thermopile on a millivolt pilot
• A spark electrode and flame sensing rod on an electronic pilot

Plugged or corroded burner ports

The burner is a hollow pan or tube with rows of small ports, and the flame is only as good as those openings. Dust, lint, stray ember material and corrosion can block them one by one. Two vent manuals ask for the burner porting and air openings to be kept free of obstructions at all times.

A yearly technician checklist we work from puts it in three steps. Clean off the burner top, inspect it for plugged ports, corrosion or deterioration, and replace the burner if necessary. Corrosion or deterioration that has changed the ports cannot be cleaned away, which is why the checklist allows for replacement.

Ports are cleaned where the manual allows, and the flame is then watched across the whole burner. When replacement is the answer, the estimate names the burner from the maker's parts list for your model, priced separately from the service work.

The gasket that seals the glass to the firebox

On a direct vent fireplace the glass front is part of a sealed system. Manufacturer instructions for one direct vent line warn that combustion leakage can occur if the glass door is not properly seated and sealed, which makes the seal a safety part rather than trim.

The gasket is the soft seal between the glass frame and the firebox. A gasket that is torn, flattened or pulled away from the frame cannot close that gap. An insert owner's manual lists a gasket seal and glass assembly inspection among the yearly tasks for a qualified service technician, including a check that the glass is properly retained and its frame is undamaged.

We follow the gasket around its full length and look at how the frame sits against the firebox when the latches close. A gasket or glass assembly that needs replacing becomes a glass replacement job and shows on your estimate as its own line, apart from any repair to the burner or controls.