Propane and natural gas fireplace repair in Bal Bay

The flame safeguard shuts the gas off on purpose

The fuel gas code requires vented gas fireplaces, fireplace heaters and log sets other than the manually lighted kind to carry a flame safeguard device. Its job is narrow. When the means of lighting the main burner stops working, it shuts off the gas to that burner automatically.

So a fireplace that shuts down after its pilot fails may be doing exactly what it was built to do. On a standing pilot, the thermocouple and the pilot safety in the valve do this job, while on an electronic pilot the flame sensing rod and the module do it. Another maker's wiring page warns that incorrect wiring can override the safety lockout on its electronic pilot and may cause an explosion.

The repair is to find why the pilot or its sensing failed, and that cause is what goes on the estimate. We do not jump or bypass a safeguard to get a flame going in your Bal Bay home. The code asks for repairs that keep the listing, and one maker counts modification of the appliance among the actions that void its warranty.

Leak checks on the appliance connections

A yearly service list we follow includes a leak check of every accessible gas-carrying tube, connection and fitting. The fuel gas code allows leaks to be located with an approved gas detector, a noncorrosive leak detection fluid or another approved method, and the fireplace manuals add that an open flame is never used.

One natural vent manual also warns against spraying solution onto the control body, and notes that excess pipe compound can set off an electronic detector. A leak on the appliance's own valve, pilot or burner joints is part of the fireplace repair, while one on the connector or the supply piping is referred to the plumber or gas installer who works on house piping.

Any fitting disturbed during a repair is checked before the fireplace is lit again, as the installation manuals direct. On repair and service visits in Bal Bay, our technician uses that manual's list of points as a guide.

• The pipe from the supply connection to the gas valve
• Every joint on the valve and control body
• The burner and pilot connections
• Field-made and factory-made joints alike

Flames that lift off the burner

A healthy flame sits on the burner ports. A lifting flame floats above them, burning blue, and may seem to drift. One direct vent manual calls this ghosting and links it to the flame not getting enough oxygen.

The causes that manual lists are mostly outside the burner. The vent cap may be installed wrong or blocked with debris, a vent joint may be loose or leaking, debris may be blocking the air intake at the back of the combustion chamber, or the glass may not be properly secured and latched. On a sealed direct vent unit, each of those upsets the air the flame depends on.

An insert maker's yearly checklist also names lifting flames as something the technician looks for. We check the glass, the intake and the pressures at the fireplace, and anything found in the vent run becomes a separate venting item on the estimate.

Controls with no power at all

An electronic ignition fireplace that shows no sign of life, no click, no beep and no spark, points to power before gas. The troubleshooting table for one electronic system starts with AC power at the junction box, the adapter that feeds the module and the position of the module's selector switch. Its installation manual also calls for a reset switch on the surround that must be installed and on for the appliance to operate.

The same manual sets two wiring rules. The power cord of that ignition system must not be wired to a switched circuit, because that overrides the safety lockout, and where the fireplace sits in a bathroom or near a sink, the circuit needs ground-fault protection under the electrical codes. Our technician works along the path below and prices the part that failed.

• The breaker and the outlet the cord plugs into
• The reset switch on the surround
• The adapter between the cord and the module
• Backup batteries, where the system uses them