Propane Fireplace won't start in PILOT position

[coldandpeeved]

Help... My wife and I just moved to another house 6 weeks ago. On moving day pilot light in Fireplace was ON, and a friend suggested we turn it OFF until we really need it (to save Propane) and I assumed the device was working. I have now tried to turn it on, but will not light. I tried several times to turn the control knob on PILOT and have it pushed in from 1 to 3 minutes, while I am pushing in the red igniter. Spark is visible every time it fires, and I can also hear the gas a little. However, when I let go of the control knob, it slowly pushes back out and gas noise stops. What is wrong with this thing? When previous owners moved out, Propane was topped up in external tank - so there definitely IS fuel. The fireplace is a WGP model (Waterloo Gas Products) Propane Insert. (used to be woodburning fireplace). Unfortunately previous owner left me no manual for it. Any help appreciated, as it is starting to get cold here....thanx

[creeker66]

Hi coldandpeeved, Is the pilot actually lighting as you are pressing the ignitor in?
If so and then it goes out it is not proving flame..if it is not lighting and you are sure that there is plenty of propane, you might have a valve issue . But without a little more info it is tough to tell.. more info would help..cheers creeker66

[heating_seattle]

Prolly no issue, many of those fireplaces can be a pain in the a$$. Make sure the knob pushes all the way in and if you cant get it with the peizo I would take a BBQ lighter to it.

[coldandpeeved]

Hi Creeker and Seattle... I will try the BBQ lighter. Pushing in the igniter, I CAN see a spark, so shouldn't it light then if I can hear the gas? The outside tank was just filled with propane before we moved here, so it'd be a shame if I can't use it up over this winter - I was going to convert it back again to wood-burning anyways (Big lot - many trees in back). So if there IS a valve issue, then I guess it makes sense that the previous owners never turned it completely off... starting to see the big (dark) picture now. - Thanx for suggestions.

[coldandpeeved]

Thanx Seattle and Creeker - I now have Heat! Using the BBQ lighter worked & got the Pilot lit. I guess the igniter is either too weak or is not aligned properly with the gas input...So after a couple minutes I turned Control to ON and poof - the pilot lit up the whole gas line. I turned all valves off now and vacuumed and wiped the whole insert and gas lines - a few cobwebs, dust and soot. Does the CLeaning job help the efficiency of the fireplace?