The first year or two in our house, our fireplace worked properly. Without changing anything besides the usual turning off the pilot light over the summer and turning it back on in the fall, last year the pilot started having a hard time staying lit. If I could get the pilot to stay lit, the main fireplace had a hard time starting up. I just turned it off and forgot about it.
So this year, I got back to looking at it again, taking out the logs that were preventing me from seeing what was actually going on.
What's happening is there is a hole, which you can see in this picture. When the pilot lights, the flame comes out of that hole down below instead of the pilot hood, which means the thermopile and thermocouple don't get a direct flame, which is why the pilot won't stay lit and/or the rest of the fireplace won't light.
That obviously isn't an accidental hole, but what is it? Is it supposed to provide aeration or something? Is there some type of valve or plug that's supposed to be there?
So this year, I got back to looking at it again, taking out the logs that were preventing me from seeing what was actually going on.
What's happening is there is a hole, which you can see in this picture. When the pilot lights, the flame comes out of that hole down below instead of the pilot hood, which means the thermopile and thermocouple don't get a direct flame, which is why the pilot won't stay lit and/or the rest of the fireplace won't light.
That obviously isn't an accidental hole, but what is it? Is it supposed to provide aeration or something? Is there some type of valve or plug that's supposed to be there?