Propane and natural gas fireplace repair in North Orange

When the manuals are long gone

Manuals go missing over the life of a house. The rating plate stays with the fireplace, though, and it carries the model and serial number. An owner's manual we work from even has a page for owners to write down the model, serial number, installation date and dealer.

With those numbers, the maker's library can often supply the owner and installation manuals again. The settings and parts they list can then be checked against the unit itself.

Some things cannot be confirmed without paperwork, such as when the unit went in or which parts were changed before, and we say so plainly. Your estimate lists the model and serial read from the plate and marks anything that could not be verified. These details help if you have them.

• The model and serial number from the rating plate
• The dealer who sold or last serviced the fireplace
• Any invoice from an earlier repair

Why the fireplace is isolated during a line pressure test

When house gas piping is pressure tested, the fuel gas code sets a minimum test pressure, and any appliance designed for less than that pressure has to be disconnected and its outlet capped first. One insert maker's installation manual gives the same step, warning that pressure above its stated limit damages the gas valve control, and that limit sits well below the code's minimum test pressure.

This matters after other gas work, such as a new range or water heater or a change to the piping. A fireplace valve that worked before the job and fails right after it may have seen test pressure it was never meant to handle.

Pressure testing house piping is work for the plumber or gas installer, not for our crew. What we do is check the fireplace valve and its regulator after such work and note on the estimate whether damage to the valve control is the likely cause. If piping work is planned, pass this warning to whoever will do it.

A broken log means the fireplace stays off

Two vent manuals from one maker put it bluntly. Do not operate the fireplace if any log is broken. A broken log no longer sits the way the diagram shows, and until it is replaced the fireplace stays off.

Logs are fragile, as one set of installation instructions warns, and they can crack when they are handled. A yearly checklist we work from has the technician inspect for damaged or missing logs, replace them as necessary and then confirm the set is placed so that no flame strikes a log and leaves soot.

Replacement logs come from the maker's parts list for your model, identified by part number. The estimate lists each log that needs replacing by that number, so the set goes back complete and in the positions the diagram shows.

Odor on the first burns after service or install

New fireplaces, and units that have just had parts replaced, often give off a smell the first times they run. Heat & Glo's manual explains that the paint is curing and oils left from manufacturing are burning off, and that the odor can last for the first several hours. It asks owners to open windows during that break-in and warns that smoke alarms may go off.

A break-in smell fades as the hours add up. One that stays strong afterward, or seems musty, is another matter, since another maker warns that mold or rust may cause odors and asks for the appliance to be kept dry. A smell of gas is not break-in odor at all, and the answer then is to leave the home and phone the gas company or 911 once you are outside.

For homes in North Orange, our technician starts an odor question with how new the unit or part is, how long it has run and whether the smell changes with the fan. The answer goes on your written estimate before anything is changed.