SL-550TR-IPI-E - Blue Flame?

It's important to set the primary air shutter as directed by the manufacturer.

Bunsen burners have primary air shutters, which inject some air into the gas stream before it is burned.

With noi primary air, you have a yellow flame burner, like a candle flame, which will produce soot and carbon monoxide if the flame impinges on an object and interferes with the complete combustion of the gas.

With a bunsen burner, you can have a flame like a range burner flame right against a pot with no danger of producing soot and carbon monoxide, if the primary air is properly adjusted.

So I recommend against adjusting the primary air unless you have a good idea of what you are doing. It can create a hazard.


If you'll post the make and model of your fireplace, I'll see if I can find the manual on your equipment and see what it says about properly installing the logs and embers, and properly adjusting the primary air.

Or you can read you manual yourself, if you have it. Read it carefully, it's not as simple as you might think at first, as the above explantion might make clear.

Most manufacturers avoid having pure blue flames in gas fireplaces,m because it's not what people like to see. That suggests to me that you can probably impriove upon what you have.


You will find the make and model on the fireplace rating plate.

https://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/2118_900.pdf

try page 63

Heatsource provided a nice assist by finding the manual for the fireplace on line.

I don't find it surprising that the advice given on installing and adjusting the stove leaves adjustment of primary air rather vague and ambiguous. They are really discouraging stove owners from making those adjustments which really require some experience and expertise to do them correctly and safely.

Do them wrong and you can create a sooty mess in the fireplace and create a carbon monoxide hazard. I see from the manual that the factory leaves the primary air adjust at it's maximum open position, which is the safest position possible, but also the most likely to create a solid blue bunsen burner type flame.

They warn about letting ember material or other debris from clogging the air shutter, and suggest that it's up to the installer to adjust the air shutter when the fireplace is installed to get the best flame appearance and to do so while avoiding sooting and carbon monoxide hazards. That's a neat way to place the burden of adjusting the air shutter on someone other than the manufacturer, but it's also a reasonable thing to do.

Unfortunately, I'm left doing the same thing. You can read over the manual, but I'd have to recommend against adjusting the air shutter yourself.

That DOES suggest that the flame appearance can be improved from a solid blue flame though.

When was the stove installed? As specified by the manufacturer, it was really part of the job of installing the stove to properly adjust the primary air shutter to obtain a safe but also attractive flame appearance. It sounds as though the installer didn't do that task. If the installation was done recently, you should be able to get the installer to complete that installation work at no cost to you.

Worth a try, perhaps.

The air shutter on the 550 is directly under the burner. Remove the glass and shine a light through the crack at the front of the burner and you should be able to see it. My question is are the embers on the burner?