Delayed Ignition In A DV-400S Gas Fireplace

[mslisaj]

I have a very nice Dovre gas fireplace that has served me well for the last 12 years. The other night it was going and went out with the ominous click of the safety valve. The next day I attempted to relight it and while the pilot would stay lit with the button pressed it went out when released. So I know I have a thermocouple problem. This stove also has a Thermopile next to the pilot so I get my volt meter and test it while holding the pilot button in to keep it burning. After about four minutes I get a nice steady .740 volt reading. So I was happy with that. I replaced the thermocouple which was a very straight forward job, resealed the hole through the body of the stove with high temp silicone. I removed the burner to do this job and to also make it easier to clean the inside of the heater. After I get every thing cleaned I put it all back together and this time I read the manual on how to place the logs exactly as the factory wanted them. The stove came preassembled from the store and I never rechecked or redid anything. But apparently the logs were just thrown in to the stove and now they were were they belonged. When I went to light it after all this work it didn't take off right away and when it did, and I happened to be looking at the stove it exploded and for the very first time I saw the spring loaded vents jump open and it's a wonder the glass didn't break. This totally shocked me as it has never, ever did this before. In fact I have NEVER seen this before with any gas appliance I have ever worked on. I hit the off button after this and checked everything and all looked well so I tried it again. But I have not had that explosion since but it definitely doesn't lite quickly.

This stove has a pilot light ignition system and it's blowing right over the top of the burner, flame touching it in fact. I can hear a good gas flow when the stove turns on but it takes a good 6 - 10 seconds to ignite and there is a flow of gas running into that box the entire time. So while there is no BANG of explosion there is a good whoosh that is just not right. When I reinstalled the burner it was a little difficult to get the burner end over the orifice again so I am going to start there looking, but any other idea's?

One other thing I read was that if the logs aren't place correctly this could be a problem or the glowing wool is not place correctly that could cause this too. But for the last 12 years the logs were NOT in there correctly and the fire was actually not very pretty to look at. Now I have the logs in there exactly as they are pictured in the directions and it's really a very pretty fire to look at once it's burning but this cold delayed ignition has me worried. By the way it lights better hot now then it ever did and it lights quickly too when hot.

Any thoughts, ideas or corrections would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help,

Lisa

 

[mslisaj]

Well as the old saying goes, read or re-read the directions. So here is what I did to fix this and it's oh so nice now. Gas appliances aren't rocket science and just take basic simple knowledge of principles and keep you eyes open and think.

With all that said here is what I did and I write this for anyone that reads this forum with the same problem. Taking the burner out originally had nothing to do with the problem. Although I took it out again this morning and blew it out with air but it was clear and all the orifices were visibly open and clear. The placement of the logs and the "restriction of the gas ports" has everything to do with the delayed ignition and bang or whoosh sound. Originally when I purchased the stove the 'logs' were laying on their sides on top of their intended stands. This gave a very muted appearance to the fire but it was this way for years; lit fine, heated well and was just okay to look at. Well yesterday I read the directions and it said the logs were supposed to be standing on their edges. I still didn't quite get it right and with the way I placed the logs I was covering about a third of the orifices. Then I put the wool directly over the top of the front orifices and then is when I first lit it off yesterday I got the explosion. I rearranged the logs, pulled the wool off the burner some and now it would light but slowly in about 6-10 seconds and I would get the whoosh sound. So NOW I carefully reread the directions and this was the key. NONE of the logs sit or touch the burners. NOW I get it! What was going on was the air vent for the burner is right along side the incoming orifice for the gas from the regulator valve, It was easier for the gas to flood the firebox bottom and eventually get to the burning pilot and ignite then it was for it to flow upward through the burner and light at the burner orifices. So now there is absolutely no impedance to the gas flowing INTO the burner and igniting where it was intended to ignite. This fireplace lights so gently now that I am not afraid to stand in front of it again.

I hope my explanation here was clear and it certainly makes sense when you realize the problem I created on my own. Now I have a lovely, working and safe fireplace that is a joy to watch and look at, plus it heats the house.

Lisa