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circuitboardz · Nov 17, 2007, 07:17 AM

We have a Heaterlator propane gas fireplace that has been giving us problems of cutting off and then back on for 2-3 years now. We have had 2 different technicians out and neither have found the real problem. The last technician found a loose ground wire on the transformer and he made the connection tight and thought that was the reason but on our first cold morning, the heater ran for about 40 minutes before it started turning off and on.

The solenoid and flame lighter is controlled from the wall about 25 ft. from the fireplace. It also has a switch to turn the blower on although my wife doesn't like the whinning sound of the fan and we rarely run it. I believe I remember there being a safety thermostat in the circuit. Could this be what keeps causing the unit to shut off. It will shut off for just 2-3 seconds and then you will hear the lighter come on and ignite the gas again. It will run for 15 seconds or so then shut off again. This is repeated for as long as we leave the switch on the wall on. Of couse, this scares me and I couldn't trust it to work when we are not in the room. Has anyone had a similar problem? Thank you..

e419 · Nov 17, 2007, 09:12 AM

I don't know if this will help but. My gas log fireplace would run fine as long as just the pilot light was on but when I tride to turn the burner on it would run for about 45 seconds then cut off (mine wouldn't come back on though) turned out what was happening was the pilot light had gotten clogged up. So with just the pilot light running the flame was just barely able to reach the thermalcuple to give a reading when I turned the gas on the pilot light would fall just short of the thermalcuple (not sure if that's spelled right) making it think that the fire had gone out witch caused the gas to shut completely off. This might have something to do with it but I'm not sure, hope this helps in some way

circuitboardz · Nov 17, 2007, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by e419

I don't know if this will help but. my gas log fireplace would run fine as long as just the pilot light was on but when I tride to turn the burner on it would run for about 45 seconds then cut off (mine wouldn't come back on though) turned out what was happening was the pilot light had gotten clogged up. So with just the pilot light running the flame was just barely able to reach the thermalcuple to give a reading when I turned the gas on the pilot light would fall just short of the thermalcuple (not sure if thats spelled right) making it think that the fire had gone out witch caused the gas to shut completely off. this might have something to do with it but I'm not sure, hope this helps in some way

Our fireplace doesn't have a pilot light that I'm aware of. I just turn on the switch on the wall and the solenoid valve opens and lets the gas in while the automatic lighter clicks a few times to get it started. The flame is set constantly as I have no control over more or less gas. Am I making sense of this? Thanks for your remarks and if you can think of anything else, just let me know as I'm on the verge of a complete replacement although I know it will be pretty expensive.

T-Top · Nov 17, 2007, 06:35 PM

You will have a high limit on the vent pipe that will cycle the burners off and on. It's a safety to make sure its venting.

circuitboardz · Nov 20, 2007, 03:55 PM

Thanks to both of you guys for trying to help me. I located the high temperature thermostat and by-passed it just to test and see if it was the culprit. It wasn't. The fireplace came right on a burned for 40 minutes and then it cut the gas off for 10-15 seconds and then the flame would come back on. I'm trying to think if I heard the automatic ignitor come back on to light the gas but I don't think I heard it. I wonder how the unit started up again without the ignitor coming on to light the flame again. I know when I first turn the unit on you can hear the clicking sound of the ignitor lighting the gas.

Hey, unless you guys have anymore ideas that I could try, I'm just about whipped. My next step would be to replace the burner, lighter, gas valve, transformer, etc. In other words change out everything inside with new except for the shell of the fireplace. Thanks again for your efforts.

e419 · Nov 20, 2007, 04:29 PM

I've been racking my brain and I'm not sure. Sounds like it's a safety fault but don't quote me on that. Sorry I couldn't do more for you man.

T-Top · Nov 20, 2007, 06:14 PM

If it burns on LP it will have a pilot safety valve. It proves you have a pilot flame before it turns the gas valve on.

carlewing · Jan 7, 2010, 09:06 AM

The first thing to check is the pilot light to make certain there is no dust clogging or interupting the gas flow.Secondly check the thermocouple sensor by bypassing it to verify if it is working properly and allowing the gas to flow. If neither of these solve the problem the culprit would be that you A) do not have enough gas flowing to keep the pilot lit or B) have too much air mixing with the gas that it is putting out your flame or C) if when the pilot is burning and you see soot than you have too little air flow and once the built in sensor detects too much carbine dioxide building up it is shutting off the gas supply too the pilot light.