You should contact whoever sells you propane. They may be able to offer help or advice without needing to send a technician. Here\'s a little background info I\'ve picked up since owning some Empire Direct Vent propane wall heaters. According to me, try these steps first.
Gas appliances have a valve in them with three positions. Off, On, and Pilot. Now, gas is a relatively dangerous substance, so you wouldn\'t want it to come flowing freely in your house if it wasn\'t being burned off. So, any appliance like a furnace or a water heater that runs automatically (as opposed to, say, your oven) has a safety device. It\'s an electrical system within the heater that works to ensure gas is only flowing if the heater is on and burning off the gas.
There is a device, called a Thermopile or Millivolt Generator, that looks like a cylinder about 1/4 in diameter, and probably about 2" long, though you may only see the top of it. It is located in the heater such that it is in direct contact with the flame of the Pilot light. When the gas is flowing, and the pilot light is on, metals in the Thermopile actually generate electricity from the heat. The gas valve in the heater stays open as long as there is electricity coming from the Thermopile. Make sense? So, in order for gas to flow into the heater while the valve is set to ON, that whole feedback system has to be operational.
Now, there wouldn\'t be heat when you first start a cold heater. So, when you light the pilot light, you turn the valve to PILOT. Notice that you have to push it in to get gas to flow, and you have to keep pushing it for 15-30 seconds or it\'ll go off. That\'s because in PILOT mode, you are manually overriding the gas valve and forcing it open, and if you let up before the thermopile has time to heat up, the gas will go out.
A pilot light, once lit, can go out for several reasons. These direct vent wall heaters are especially vulnerable to drafts of air from outside affecting burning conditions in the heater. They can literally "suck" the flame out. What happens is that the heater will be burning fine, but then when the thermostat sends the signal to turn off the heater (room is warm enough), the suction caused when the main gas burner goes out sucks out the pilot flame also. Without the pilot flame heating the Thermopile to keep the valve open, the heater won\'t start next time the room gets cold.
That\'s one reason. Another is that the pilot flame itself can be too weak because gunk can build up in the hole. It\'s a really tiny hole, so the tool to open it won\'t be found at your local hardware store. But your propane company should have a few. It\'s a tiny, tiny drill bit and you work it around in the hole of the pilot jet. Google pictures of the heater if you don\'t know where some of these parts fit on it. You may have to use a wrench and remove the pilot jet in order to clean it.
Now, remember you\'re dealing with gas, so you only want to be taking parts out if you know how to put them back in! You can do diagnostics on the electrical part of this system without taking any parts off. Find a friend who has a multimeter, and remove the leads on the thermopile. It should be making a certain amount of electricity when it\'s in the heat stream. You can contact Empire to get the voltages.
*You may have a faulty thermopile; check with meter. this would also apply if it seems the thermostat is acting funny (Thermopile provides current for thermostats in these systems)
*You may have a clogged pilot orifice; call propane company
*you may have to continually light your pilot light if there are windy
conditions
Hope this helps! Remember again, be safe around gas! If you don\'t feel confident putting it back together safely, don\'t take it apart!!!
If it is direct vent chances are it has electronic pilot.. it does not have a standing pilo and match size upt. if in fact it did have a buning pilot there is a part called thermocoupling. it will look like a 1/8 in. copper wire coming out of the bottom of the gas valve and goes right to the pilot. anywhere from 10 in. to 20in.. unscreew nut at gas valve pull out from pilot area [ it just clips in at pilot] take it to any home center
SOURCE: magic chef propane oven. recreation vehicle application
you need to check the amp draw on the ignitor.. if it is between 3.5 -5.2 amps your gas valve is bad..if not the ignitor is bad..YES theignitor can glow and still be bad due to lack of amp draw to open the valve..check that and let me know
SOURCE: hot water heater won't stay lit
Brad Z - you are absolutely correct!
Mine is a sealed burner type and was flooded with 4 inches of
water and after I pumped the water out of the basement, the pilot wouldn't stay
on for a long time and also when I turned the thermostat on burner went out
after few seconds.
The problem was that the air intake screen under the burner had
water on it and air canot make it through. I used a paper towel and wiped as
much as I could and it started right up, I could feel the air sucked in when I
turned the thermostat up.
Hope someone finds this helpful, I had 3 plumbers that
wanted to replace the unit and couldn't figure out why it was not starting.
SOURCE: we have a rheem 30
Hello,
This covers the basics on no burner flame or pilot outage issues on
standard tank gas water heaters. As always, safety first; if you do not understand
what you are doing, do not attempt to make repairs on your own. This is
just a guide to help you figure out what may be wrong.
1) Let's
take care of the obvious things first. If you have a propane gas water
heater, make sure you are not out of gas! Go to the tank, lift the lid,
look at the % gauge. If it's pointing at 5% or less, you may be empty
or about to run out of gas. If it says you have plenty of gas, make sure
the gauge is not sticking and bang the lid down. If the gauge drops
down to 5% or less, order a gas delivery.
2) Remove the panel on
the water heater to view the burner. Is the pilot still lit? Yes, then
make sure the control knob is in the "ON" position. Also make sure the
temp dial is not on "Vacation" setting or set at a very low temp
setting. Typical dial settings are at medium "arrow" selection or "A"
selection.
3) Is the pilot flame out? If you smell gas, do not
attempt to light. Turn gas off at shut off valve on gasline to water
heater and call your gas co. Otherwise, follow the manufacturer's
lighting instructions on the water heater to relight. Pilot still won't
light? Then you may have a dirty pilot orifice that needs cleaned. Or
if you were out of gas and just got filled, you may have air in the
lines and lighting the pilot will take longer than normal to light. It's
best to have the gasman light this when he is there to fill your tank.
It's also possible you have a control that is locked out or defective,
which will require a serviceman to repair or replace the control.
Let's
say you get the pilot flame lit. When you release the button, does it
stay lit? No, then you might not have held the button down long enough,
Try again. Still goes out? Is the pilot flame a strong blue color and
actually making the thermocouple red hot? If so, and it won't stay lit,
replace the thermocouple. Or is it a lazy yellow flame? If so, it may
have burn't the tip off the thermocouple and it will need to be
replaced. This condition is caused by a dirty pilot orifice, which will
need to be cleaned with a broach to prevent it from ruining the new
thermocouple you install.
4) Ok, let's say you relight the pilot
and get the main burner to light as well, but later they both go out
again. This only happens, of course, after the service tech has left.
With it still off, get a flashlight and look inside the access panel in
the area above the main burner? Do you see a lot of black soot build-up?
If so, this make be causing your problem. Have your water heater
serviced. If no soot, then check for blockage in your vent. Look for a
bird nest or even a dead bird. Your vent cap is either going through
your roof or through a wall to the outside. You'll need a ladder to
check either. If it has bends and elbows, check those out for blockage
too.
5) No blockage? Sometimes a vent is installed wrong (like
under an eave) or you are getting a strong down draft. Make sure your
vent cap is still attached on top of your vent too. Strong winds can
blow out the pilot flame.
6) Here's another test you can do, if
the pilot and burner shut down. Relight it as you did before and with
the burner lit, reinstall the access panel. Now light a match at the
draft diverter (standard water heaters have these on top which connect
the water heater to the venting) Blow out the match near the edge of the
draft diverter and watch where the smoke goes. (Shining a flashlight
there also helps you see the smoke better) If it gets pulled into the
draft diverter, it's working properly, pulling outside air in. If the
smoke gets pushed out, you have a drafting problem. To make matters
worse, you are also allowing carbon monoxide into the home. Have your
water heater serviced immediately. I also recommend having a carbon
monoxide detector located on every level in houses that have gas or oil
appliances.
These are just a few ideas to help you figure out
your common lighting issues. There are other issues that I did not
cover, which may require a repairman. I hope you find these useful. If
you still have concerns, please ask away! That's why we are here! Douglas
SOURCE: Vulcan A1990 Model 60XL;
You need to replace the thermocouple for both sides of the oven. That is the most common issue with pilot lights and gas burners. The safety shut off will engage when it does not sense any heat, ie: thermocouples.
SOURCE: My gas water heater pilot
Probably it's the thermocouple. You need a gas technician. Best off to call a certified repair company such as Sears.
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