ReplyI hate working on them.
You said it was vent free, then said it was a sealed unit. Which is it?
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I went out on a no heat for a vent free fireplace today. Unit was 10yrs old. Sealed unit. I had 243mv at thermopile. Gas valve not opening.
So I start tearing it apart to replace the thermopile. The pilot assembly is under the logs. And the logs are screwed to the base. I disconnected the gas line and removed the entire assembly out. Gas valve, burner, logs, pilot and base all in one piece. The pilot is still not accessible. I did get the pilot out and thermopile changed but this was ridiculous.
The pilot was not accessible from under the unit. Nor could I just remove the logs.
In hindsight I think I should have vacuumed up the gravel to see and access the screws easily. If I had done that I may have found that the logs and the base it was attached to would have slid forward enough to access the pilot assembly.
This is the first fireplace I have worked on where the logs didn't just rest over the burners.
All in all it was a good learning experience.
Professional Member*
I hate working on them.
You said it was vent free, then said it was a sealed unit. Which is it?
Professional Member*
Well I don't work on them much. I guess it does vent. I did see a 4" vent hole inside the burner box.
Professional Member*
Most if them that I've seen are sealed combustion and direct vented out the wall. They get their combustion air from outside too.Originally Posted by chaard
Part of the reason I hate them is I seldom work on them, so I never get real familiar with them.
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
If it was a ventfree, the Oxygen Depletion Sensor pilot can only be replaced as an assembly--never try to replace the TP or TC alone. Hate to say it but these units are best left to those familiar with them.
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
Professional Member*
Well the only way to get familiar with them is to tear em apart.
A book or a class wouldn't hurt either.
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
http://www.nficertified.org/pages_in...industry-1.cfm
You can get the manuals here to get more familiar with hearth appliances then take the certification exam either at a class or on LaserGrade at any airport. Also contact your Hearth, Patio, and BBQ Assn local Affiliate for meetings, training, events, etc. If you really want to get a kick, attend the HPBA convention. Always plenty of good classes plus you get to meet with mfrs, engineers, UL, etc. and eat free BBQ for lunch out at the live burn area every day.
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
Professional Member
This ^ the HPBA convention is a great place to start
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Thanks
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
Professional Member
I am still neon green with 5-6 months in the field but I would always ask myself that "theres got to be a better way?" queston quite a bit the first couple months and still do sometimes.
Was trained through a trade college on A/Cs and their accessibility is pretty efficient and quick couple sheet metal screws and your looking at all the major electrical components. These gas inserts
have all the electronics sometimes crammed in the bottom or the surrounding area in the home makes it pretty difficult to turn a screw driver let alone get a hand in there. Its a puzzle and guess
they made some of these systems with small children with tiny hands in mind as the technicians to work on them. As far as speed it probably takes at least 2-3 seasons to get some good speed on
taking these systems apart, putting the components in, and diagnosing properly. I go out with the attitude of making the customer feel like were on the same team all the while telling them what
I'm doing and why I am doing it justifying my existence educating them while working for them or towards the common goal of preventative maintenance or repair and its coming across well. Have
gotten stuck on a unit heck yeah, a thermocouple wire caused the autoclean door to hang up, it took me quite a while to figure it out the other day simple stupid mistakes but have to learn'em and
trying to fix other peoples attempts at fixing their systems is kinda tough because you have to know a unit intimately to figure out how someone else damaged it before you got their. I know you
got a large amount of posts up but if you keep running into problems post it up and we will try and help, as far as getting manuals like HM suggested. I have binders of manuals, repair stuff from
manufacuers, stuff off the component manufacuers, and anything I can get my hands on that relates to DSI, IPI, standing pilot, gas valves, schematics and make it a point to take picutres of every
schematic I get my hands on in the field. Good luck, it gets better and have fun.
AOP Committee/Professional Member*
Sorry to bust on you ashtree but: Do you talk like you type, with each line and a quarter being made into a paragraph? In case you haven't noticed, no one else types this way because it is very hard
to read. It would help if you followed a more conventional format of complete sentences with ordinary grammar and paragraphs. Many of your sentences get broken up with these awkward spacings
in mid sentence. Thanks
Keep the fire inside the fireplace.
Professional Member*
You think?
Professional Member
As I was reading ashmans post I was thinking its easier to read a post like that when its that darn long, I sometimes lose my place when reading long posts like that, especially when ur sitting your couch reading a tiny screen on your phone.
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