Sealed Front Gas Fireplace Problem...

[CPrinzivalli]

Hello All...

I have just moved into a new home which has a gas fireplace in the livng room...It is vented directly out of the wall behind the unit and has a sealed front. When I first attempted to use it, it would only stay on for 10-15 mnutes or so, and then go out - pilot and all...It would also NOT relight untill entirely cool...The plumber changed the "Overheat" sensor on top of the fireplace, but that did not help...A neighbor in the community suggested that I chech the glass seal, as hers was peeling off...She also stated that the repairman wanted to replace her glass with a new piece - a repair that would cost around $900...She never fixed it...I re-sealed the glass with a high heat fireplace caulking, and that worked great, but after about two hours of the fire being on , the glass SHATTERED...I ordered a new piece of "heat tempered" glass from the local glassmaker, and installed it...Again, it shattered My question is this: Before I take the plunge for an expensive piece of ceramic glass, what else can I check?..Please help, none of the local installers or repair shops seem to want to fix it...

P.S.
There is no information on the unit anywhere about manufacturer, model number or serial number...

Thanks...CP

 

[elkimmeg]

If you local building DEpt keeps good records they should have the model and maunfacturer in their files

 

[joshuaviktor]

Also take a picture and post it. We have some very experienced people here who might be able to help ID with some pics.

Joshua

P.S. If accessible, get pics of under the logs (the guts) of the unit.

 

[skypager]

Hello All...

I have just moved into a new home which has a gas fireplace in the livng room...It is vented directly out of the wall behind the unit and has a sealed front. When I first attempted to use it, it would only stay on for 10-15 mnutes or so, and then go out - pilot and all...It would also NOT relight untill entirely cool...The plumber changed the "Overheat" sensor on top of the fireplace, but that did not help...A neighbor in the community suggested that I chech the glass seal, as hers was peeling off...She also stated that the repairman wanted to replace her glass with a new piece - a repair that would cost around $900...She never fixed it...I re-sealed the glass with a high heat fireplace caulking, and that worked great, but after about two hours of the fire being on , the glass SHATTERED...I ordered a new piece of "heat tempered" glass from the local glassmaker, and installed it...Again, it shattered My question is this: Before I take the plunge for an expensive piece of ceramic glass, what else can I check?..Please help, none of the local installers or repair shops seem to want to fix it...

P.S.
There is no information on the unit anywhere about manufacturer, model number or serial number...

Thanks...CP

1st... The original glass probably shattered because the furnace caulk changed how the glass responds. I'm guessing it changed the manner in which it would expand or was a product that may have etched or caused a hairline crack by some chemical reaction. (onee again, guessing) I could ask what product was used but it doesn't matter now, the glass is gone.

2nd... With a direct vent fireplace always use glass and gasket provided by the manufacture. It is made to exact size, temp handling and seal of the fireplace.

Direct vent fireplaces, although typically easy to service and can almost always be fixed, are very touchy in the fact that if one component is not right, it can throw off the whole unit.

Unfortanetly, in order to diagnose the problem, the glass would need to be present.

A few possibilities:

If the flames are turning blue and doing what is called "ghosting" before it shuts down, then you have a lack of air issue. Could be a clog anywhere in the exhaust / intake cap on the outside of your house, the vent run, or in the fireplace itself.

If the flames are overly orange (hard to determine by an untrained eye) then you are lacking for draft and need a higer vent run. Typically a taller (called a snorkel) cap can fix this. I would not worry to much about this scenario though. Assuming the fireplace worked properly at one time, this is not something that is likely to happen.

I would guess the most likely scenario is the pilot lifting off the thermocouple (the skinnier of the two rods in the pilot light). I do see a lot of instances that after the fireplace has been burning for a while the natural draft will get going so well that it will actually lift the pilot light off the sensors. In some cases the effect can be reduced, but a new thermocouple will often solve this problem. A lot of technicians miss this scenario for a good reason. With the pilot light on and the fireplace only operating for a few moments the pilot flame will stay in a good position and create a good millivolt charge. It doesn't lose the charge until draft kicks up and pulls the flame off the sensor. Thermocouples do lose their millivolt generating ability over time, as they do wear out. If this is the problem, a new thermocouple may solve the problem as it does not need as much direct heat to generate needed millivolts and you may have to replace it every few years. A thermocouple usually goes for $10 - $60 plus labor.

Before doing anything though, work on finding the manufacturer and model #. That way you can get a service tech that is experienced with that brand. If you are able to post a few photos I may be able to at least determine the make. Picture of the unit with any decorative face on, picture of the glass clips or securing brackets, picture of the inside of the firebox (burner, fake brick, log set) may be enough for me to pinpoint the brand.

I highly reccommend using someone with a good amount of fireplace experience to service it. I'm not knocking plumbers and furnace techs w/o fireplace experience, but even though many direct vent fireplaces have simular components, they are different animals and do react differently. I can service just about any gas fireplace but would never claim I can service a gas furnace, as I know they react differently and may not be able to properly trouble shoot.

 

[skypager]

I see another Josh beat me to the Photo suggestion. Great Josh's think alike?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

great post josh, one thing i didnt see is was the replacement the same as the factory glass? i.e. ceramic from the factory, vs tempered from the glass shop?