Propane and natural gas fireplace repair in College Park

Direct vent, B-vent or a log set

Three quite different gas appliances can sit behind a fireplace opening, and each is serviced to its own instructions. A sealed front, a draft hood and an open firebox fail in different ways, so a check that fits one can mislead on another.

One direct vent manual puts the difference plainly. Its units draw all of their combustion air from outside through the vent pipe, while the natural vent units in a companion manual must be installed with the draft hood in the same air pressure zone as their combustion air inlet.

At the start of a visit in College Park, the appliance type is the first thing named on the estimate. Vent-free units are routed to our ventless gas fireplace service, and the three types this repair service covers are these.

• A direct vent unit with a sealed glass front
• A natural vent, or B-vent, unit with a draft hood
• A decorative gas log set in a fireplace built for wood

Reading the pilot flame

A pilot has a shape the maker expects, and the manuals print it. On a millivolt pilot the drawing shows which part each flame must reach, and one insert owner's manual prints its electronic pilot patterns in a figure and puts pattern and strength on the technician's yearly list.

The pattern shows a problem before it becomes a failed start. A pilot that falls short of the thermopile, or an electronic pilot that does not cover its flame rod with a steady blue flame, is already telling the story. One direct vent manual adds that the pilot flame must always be present while the fireplace is running.

At your College Park home, the flame is compared with the figure for that model. Cleaning or adjustment follows the manual, and a pattern that cannot be corrected is quoted as a pilot repair.

A burner that has shifted out of line

The pilot lights the main burner across a small gap, so the two have to sit where the maker put them. The burner section of one yearly checklist opens by asking the technician to verify that the burner is secured and aligned with the pilot or igniter.

A burner can be disturbed whenever the logs and base pan above it are lifted out for service or cleaning, and it has to go back exactly as it came out. Next on that checklist come smooth lighting, carryover to all ports and no ignition delay, so alignment is confirmed before a slow or patchy start is blamed on another part.

Our technician checks the burner's mounting and its line to the pilot, then watches several starts of the fireplace in your College Park home. Where alignment was the cause, correcting it is part of the repair, and missing fixings or a damaged burner are listed on the estimate.

Clicking without a flame on an electronic system

On an electronic ignition fireplace, the clicking is the igniter sparking at the pilot. If the pilot does not light, the module does not spark forever. The electronic controls in the manuals we have read spark for a set time, then lock out and signal the fault, and one system also locks out after repeated failed attempts to relight a pilot lost during operation.

Resetting again and again is not the answer. Heat & Glo warns not to cycle its module's selector switch more than once within five minutes, because gas may accumulate in the firebox, and to call a qualified service technician instead.

Our technician follows the maker's lockout table in order. The checks run through gas reaching the pilot, the spark landing in the path of the gas, the ground to the chassis and the valve itself, and the part that fails its check is the one named on your estimate.