We have had our propane gas fireplace for 4 years now, and it has always worked beautifully until now. We still have flames, but the fan (which we usually leave turned off and only use once in a while) isn't working. We turned the fan on tonight and nothing. Of course, we can't lay our hands on the manual that came with the fireplace. Anybody have any ideas of things we can check?

Thank you!

Is the fan hard wired or pluged in type? Is there power to the fireplace for the fan? It could be that the fan is defective. You need to have knowledge of electric and the circuits in the fireplace to be able to repair it. Might be best and safest to call a repair person to look into it.

Don't have a whole lot to go on. Do you know if other things on the same circuit are on? Do you have power to the switch? Does it have a fuse?

I came across the niftiest gadget for trouble shooting, a voltage detector. They work through the insulation of wires. There are several brands. I have a GB Instruments GVD-505A, less than $15 at Home Depot. Touch it to a hot wire, and the end glows red. Find the doodad that lights it on one side, and not the other, and you have the culprit.

With one of them, all you need is access to the wires, no touching probes to bare metal. They even can work on a wall switch or outlet.

It is hard wired in. That is the extent of my knowledge other than the little box on the wall says "LUX." I am forwarding your comments to my husband, who, although a retired Seattle firefighter lamentably knows very little about electrical stuff (though he rocks with carpentry and other stuff like that). I do know that he changed a light switch right next to the fireplace and put a dimmer switch there for me so I could dim the canned lights above the fireplace, and come to think of it, the fireplace fan was working prior to that. I know he cut the power to that wall when he was working on that switch. Hm... now you have me thinking (scary, huh?). Yep. I'm thinking time to call a REAL repairman. Thanks!

Will the fan work with the lights on and turned all the way up? The fan could be wired up to the lights. I turn the light off in the bathroom when nobody is in there, and my wife comes back and finds her curling iron still cold. It is possible it could be fixed by moving some wires around at the switch. Pull the switch out and let me know what wires are in the box and what they are connected to. Shut the power off first. Turn the lights on. Then throw the breaker. If the lights don't go off, try a different breaker.

Labman, you are a pure GENIUS! I did as you suggested and turned the lights all the way up and BINGO! The fan DOES work! You just saved me a housecall from a professional! (Well, I did just get advice from a professional!) You may claim your homemade apple pie at any time! Thank you so much!

Wow as a electrical inspector in Ohio I would never approve that type of wiring of a fireplace. If you read your instruction manual that came with the unit it will tell you that A. the fireplace is to be on its own separate circuit OR B. That if a NON dedicated circuit is used it cannot be on a switch leg. You should really consider fixing it correctly. Lab man really healped you on this one but please fix correctly and to code.

As I said, my husband is a retired Seattle firefighter, and if you believe this to be unsafe, I can assure you he will not hesitate to have someone look into this for us. Thanks for the heads up!

Depending just what wires are in the box, it may be possible to make the fan work without the lights without running a new wire. There would need to be more than 2 black/white/ground cables.

I once charged a pecan pie for solving a much harder problem in person.

If you would rather have pecan pie, that is very doable too! :p