new to gas fireplace - having issues

[DQ]

we moved to a home with gas heaters and a gas fireplace. I have zero experience with gas appliances so please forgive any ignorance or seemingly obvious things. now that it is getting chilly we have attempted to fire up the fireplace. the previous owners supposedly used the gas heaters and fireplace as their sole source of heat. the home was being heated with the in-wall heaters and fireplace when we looked at it several times, so it all worked as of january.

we can, after some choice words, and after finding some corroded metal instructions attached to the inside, eventually get the pilot and main burner lit. if however we turn it off it appears that we have to let it "rest" for a few minutes before re-igniting it. we simply cannot get the pilot to light again immediatly after it is turned off! is this normal

there is a thermostat hooked up. it reads the air temperature wrong but I suppose it is just calibrated incorrectly . but I don't really know if it is working or not. the previous owners demonstrated that the flame went up the moment she raised the temp on the thermostat. doesn't to that for us.....

minor problems with the thermostat or maybe related.....don't know....

what really bothers me is that twice now the flame has simply went out. pilot light also. the second time we tried to simply re ignite the pilot flame and got nothing. turned it off and left it alone for a few minutes and we were able to re-ignite both the pilot and of course then the main burner.

I can't imagine that it is normal for it to simply "go out". I don't feel comfortable leaving it unattended/unsupervised. is there some kind of safety feature that would cause it to do this?

I'm a bit paranoid with the gas anyway and have carbon monoxide detectors in every room..... this isn't helping.

thanks.

[Darren]

Sometimes when that happens all you need to do is clean the orifice for the pilot light before lighting it. You might get by with a cotton swab or in some cases a welder's tip cleaner. Sometimes the thermostat is bad. Those you can find at most hardware stores. Just make sure you get one long enough. To long isn't a problem. too short is.

[goatlady]

Once you light the pilot light you do NOT turn the pilot light off. In fact you do NOT manually turn the main burner off and on either. The pilot light is set up to automatically light the main burner when the inside temps reaches within 5 degrees or so of what you have your wall thermostat set on - at least that is how it is supposed to work. You MAY need to replace the wall thermostat, you say it is reading the inside temp wrong - how are you checking that? The pilot light does have a safety feature in that if and when the pilot light goes out the gas shut off valve closes so no gas can be escaping into the air which is probably why you have to let it "rest" before trying to relight it. You can ALWAYS call your gas company and they will do a safety/working check of the unit for you at no charge and show you how to work it. Once that pilot light is lit, you do nothing else, just let the unit do what it is designed to do.

[Bearfootfarm]

There's a device called a "thermocouple" that wont let the pilot light stay lit unless it's hot.
If your pilot light wont stay on, it probably needs replacing. They are simple to fix and only cost a few dollars.

The thermostats arent too precise, so make small adjustments and give it plenty of time to stabilize, and then leave it alone

[Harry Chickpea]

Good advice above, but it would make sense for you to call the company you buy your gas from and have a technician come out and walk you through everything and check fro problems. It would be money well spent.

[texican]

Like others mentioned... never turn your pilot lights off... they know what they're doing. If things are so bad you're having to turn pilot lights off to save money, well, it's time to get out winter jackets and sleeping bags.

Once the pilot light Is turned off, you have to wait a few minutes. My pilot lights go off all the time... but it's because my gas line has lost pressure. I own and operate my own gas pipeline to a gas well a half mile away... things are always happening (cow stepping in a chuck hole, breaking the line, flood coming through washing away bridges and pipelines, etc.).

Good part is, once you have it all figured out, you can set it and forget it. If you're in OK and in a gas producing area, and have acreage and/or mineral rights, you could have access to legal free gas. I have free legal gas... my woodburning stove has been plumbed for gas... it's burning gas right now like there's no tomorrow...

[tamsam]

Sounds like it needs cleaning. Best to have someone check it and show you how to clean and lite it and the heaters. good luck. Sam

[mnn2501]

Have a pro check it out and explain it to you, it'll be money well spent. (call your local gas utility company)

[mr.breeze]

As others have said you should have this checked out but it does sound like it might be the thermocoupling an easy fix,now for the thermostat they do get old and give false readings also they get dirty,if you take the cover off and very lightly blow out any dust build up,it might start to work right.

[uncle Will in In.]

That thermocoupler is a small tube that comes to your pilot light. The end of it looks about like a cap on a ballpoint pen. The pilot light has to be burning hot enough to heat that end enough to open the safty valve controling the gas flow. I had one that after time would get a little grey corrosion on the end of the coupler, and the slot where the fire came out for the pilot. I would take a paring knife and scrape the corrosion off the tube and the slit. It would work OK for a few months before it would shut the stove down again. <>UNK

[DQ]

ok so that explains some. if i am understanding (correct me if I am wrong) then basically, if the pilot is corroded/clogged and it goes out then the it shuts off the gas to both the pilot and the main burner? that would explain it all.

and also if I am understanding correctly it is normally set up so that the main burner isn't always lit...right? and it will automatically open the valve to the main burner and the pilot will light it when the thermostat indicates a need.......for some reason I just thought it controlled the flame up or down and couldn't actually turn the gas on to the main burner.

I think that we will have someone come and check it out and give us a 101 and do any "tune ups" as several have suggested. I did have somebody from the gas co. check it out once but I didn't know what questions to ask especially concerning the thermostat. I didn't know what I didn't know. I couldn't even get it to turn on before then!

gee. it would have been nice for them to leave the book to the thing.

I know the thermostat is off because it said it was 85 degrees in here and well....it had to be more like 50-60.

texican- we might end up with free gas if we can play our cards right. as it is we are the only house we know of in the immediate vicinity plumbed for gas. there are some weirdities in that our meter is several houses down and there is no official easment. the gas company is supposed to come through here and put down another big pipleline right through our property which is somehow what we are hooked into now......also were told something about the pressure and this being a bit of a weird situation. supposedly the previous owners of this house were the only people to protest the next pipline. maybe, just maybe we can get free gas out of the deal. the previous owners were told that if the gas company had known they were about to put a house here they would have given them free gas. maybe we can buy ourselves free gas in a few year by withholding any protest to the pipeline.........? someone told us that we would just have to pay for it to be put in to get free gas right now but I don't know if that is accurate.

thanks everyone!

[Darren]

If a gas transmission company is building a new line or replacing an old line across your property, there is typically an arrangement made with the owner. Sometimes it's a lump sum payment plus restoration, etc. Do your homework before hand to get the best deal.