Please bear with me, I'm new here.
About 4 weeks ago, we had a Hearthstone DVI-38 installed. it's set up for Natural Gas, vented up an existing chimney with a 3" flex tubing. I think the installation and everything was fine. But right after installation, the HVAC guys were called off somewhere else and the unit wasn't even really hot before they left (but at least it lit, right?)
So since then, we've found that the remote didn't really control the flame height that well. The flame was just way too high and it was making more soot than i expected. On max, the whole length of the log had flame up to and touching the top of the unit. So we had only been running it on low which still licked the top of the stone baffle in the center but didn't freak me out nearly as much. The air shutter controls didn't have any impact.
We called the HVAC guys and they came back twice but they are not really fireplace pros and told me to get back in touch with the dealer. Called the dealer 4 times and 4 times they told us they were sending someone over but they never show up. Every time I call they pretend it's the first they are hearing of this issue. I think they just got paid so they don't care and that's that.
So at first, I thought it was a pressure issue just because there was just yellow flame EVERYWHERE (please understand I don't know anything about gas work but do like coming up with a theory). The hvac guys came back again yesterday. I wanted them to find the pressure adjusting screw that the manual mentions and play with that. The manual shows where the pressure adjusting screw should be but it doesn't match our unit. Our unit has some solenoid in that place. So I'm ASSUMING that because it has a remote, the remote controls the pressure (and that's what happens when you set the flame level on the remote) and that if it were a manual unit there would be a dial or something there. He tinkered with this solenoid a bit and disconnected it from the gas valve and put it back. Since then, the remote actually does control the flame height a lot better. But now, on max, the flames are still too high (licking the top) but on low, there is actually not even enough gas coming in to maintain a flame. We are running it at 4 or 5 out of 6 (with 6 being the max). and the flame looks OK but there is this one wisp of flame coming up the BACK of the back log, right along the stone baffle. Looking at pictures and things on the web, it just doesn't look like there should be a flame there.
So now my new theory is that maybe the bottom burner is out of place or the logs are out of place (and maybe there is/was something wrong with that solenoid too)? There seems to be a gap on the right between the burner piece that sits on the bottom and the stone panel on the right. You can see the back metal of the insert through this gap (maybe that is just where it vents?) I don't know if having the burner out of place would cause flame to come up the back where it shouldn't? And I sure don't know how to fix it or even if I should try to do this myself or have someone more qualified come. I'm hesitant to bring in a new dealer/HVAC crew because we PAID THESE GUYS to do the job and they didn't. i think they should fix it!!
Oh, also, when it's lighting we do kind of get a "whoosh" sound like the gas builds up a little too much before lighting. it's not a huge glass-rattling whoosh but it is a little bigger than I expected.
So... any advice? Thanks so much
Teresa
Attached picture is the flame on high, taken today. You can see the flame coming up behind the log in the back right.
About 4 weeks ago, we had a Hearthstone DVI-38 installed. it's set up for Natural Gas, vented up an existing chimney with a 3" flex tubing. I think the installation and everything was fine. But right after installation, the HVAC guys were called off somewhere else and the unit wasn't even really hot before they left (but at least it lit, right?)
So since then, we've found that the remote didn't really control the flame height that well. The flame was just way too high and it was making more soot than i expected. On max, the whole length of the log had flame up to and touching the top of the unit. So we had only been running it on low which still licked the top of the stone baffle in the center but didn't freak me out nearly as much. The air shutter controls didn't have any impact.
We called the HVAC guys and they came back twice but they are not really fireplace pros and told me to get back in touch with the dealer. Called the dealer 4 times and 4 times they told us they were sending someone over but they never show up. Every time I call they pretend it's the first they are hearing of this issue. I think they just got paid so they don't care and that's that.
So at first, I thought it was a pressure issue just because there was just yellow flame EVERYWHERE (please understand I don't know anything about gas work but do like coming up with a theory). The hvac guys came back again yesterday. I wanted them to find the pressure adjusting screw that the manual mentions and play with that. The manual shows where the pressure adjusting screw should be but it doesn't match our unit. Our unit has some solenoid in that place. So I'm ASSUMING that because it has a remote, the remote controls the pressure (and that's what happens when you set the flame level on the remote) and that if it were a manual unit there would be a dial or something there. He tinkered with this solenoid a bit and disconnected it from the gas valve and put it back. Since then, the remote actually does control the flame height a lot better. But now, on max, the flames are still too high (licking the top) but on low, there is actually not even enough gas coming in to maintain a flame. We are running it at 4 or 5 out of 6 (with 6 being the max). and the flame looks OK but there is this one wisp of flame coming up the BACK of the back log, right along the stone baffle. Looking at pictures and things on the web, it just doesn't look like there should be a flame there.
So now my new theory is that maybe the bottom burner is out of place or the logs are out of place (and maybe there is/was something wrong with that solenoid too)? There seems to be a gap on the right between the burner piece that sits on the bottom and the stone panel on the right. You can see the back metal of the insert through this gap (maybe that is just where it vents?) I don't know if having the burner out of place would cause flame to come up the back where it shouldn't? And I sure don't know how to fix it or even if I should try to do this myself or have someone more qualified come. I'm hesitant to bring in a new dealer/HVAC crew because we PAID THESE GUYS to do the job and they didn't. i think they should fix it!!
Oh, also, when it's lighting we do kind of get a "whoosh" sound like the gas builds up a little too much before lighting. it's not a huge glass-rattling whoosh but it is a little bigger than I expected.
So... any advice? Thanks so much
Teresa
Attached picture is the flame on high, taken today. You can see the flame coming up behind the log in the back right.
![[Hearth.com] Hearthstone Insert Flame Issues](/talk/data/attachments/148/148205-11b5c25a55de4de84eaa0b36fd860d9a.jpg?hash=IcmjANc_N4)
