Fireplace newbie needs help

[sasebastian]

I just purchased a home that was built in the late 70's. It has a nice looking wood burning fireplace upstairs that I'd love to use this Winter. I had it inspected and swept and have burned in it once. However, there are 4 grills, one in each corner that I assume are some kind of heatilator system. The bottom two house some black blowers that look similar to hair dryers which are connected to some aluminum hoses. The hoses run only about 1 foot alongside the firebox which is steel (no rust). When I flip the switch on, the blowers do run and push air through the hoses but no air is coming out the top vents. I guess my question is how can I make this work? And, do the hoses need to be running all the way to the top vents? Any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated.[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[claydogg84]

It sounds like the blower motors are set up to pull the air from the top vents and discharge out of the tubes. This sounds backwards to me, but I'm not certain of that. Is there anyway to change the way the blowers mount?

 

[begreen]

I would start out by assuming that the unit and blowers are installed correctly. The reason for the blowers not working could be electrical. Verify that there is power at the fan motor. If not, maybe a breaker or wall switch is not on? If there is power at the blower motor then the motor(s) is probably bad and will need to be replaced. The other variable would be if there is a heat sensing thermostatic switch that is supposed to turn on the fans when it senses the fireplace is hot. I haven't seen a heatilator setup like that, but it could be possible.

 

[claydogg84]

I would start out by assuming that the unit and blowers are installed correctly. The reason for the blowers not working could be electrical. Verify that there is power at the fan motor. If not, maybe a breaker or wall switch is not on? If there is power at the blower motor then the motor(s) is probably bad and will need to be replaced. The other variable would be if there is a heat sensing thermostatic switch that is supposed to turn on the fans when it senses the fireplace is hot. I haven't seen a heatilator setup like that, but it could be possible.

The blowers are working. He states the air is coming out of the hoses.

 

[begreen]

Thanks claydog. I read it too quickly. The blowers should intake at the lower ports and output at the uppers. Try using a punk to see if smoke is sucked in below and out the top.

 

[claydogg84]

I thought it was supposed to exit the top, but wasn't certain.

 

[sasebastian]

Thanks for the help so far. The blowers are installed correctly and do suck air from lower and blow into a hose. I think the hose is supposed to run from blower, alongside the firebox (to grab hot air) and up to top vents to push hot air out. The hose on each blower is only about 1 foot long which obviously isn't enough to run all the way to the top vents for the air to exit. The blowers put out a good bit of air but not enough to make it to the top. I'm taking the day off to investigate further and maybe run a new hose from top to bottom vents. I'll provide more pics as the day goes on. Thanks again and keep the comments/ideas coming.

 

[claydogg84]

Could you take a picture of the blowers as well as the hoses?

 

[jatoxico]

Thanks for the help so far. The blowers are installed correctly and do suck air from lower and blow into a hose. I think the hose is supposed to run from blower, alongside the firebox (to grab hot air) and up to top vents to push hot air out. The hose on each blower is only about 1 foot long which obviously isn't enough to run all the way to the top vents for the air to exit. The blowers put out a good bit of air but not enough to make it to the top. I'm taking the day off to investigate further and maybe run a new hose from top to bottom vents. I'll provide more pics as the day goes on. Thanks again and keep the comments/ideas coming.

I have a heatilator in my upper fireplace that I don't really use. A lot of cold air was coming in through the vents so I stuffed them with insulation. Pull off the covers and look for something similar.