I didn't want to muck up the other thread going with the furnace so this thread is on it's own.
My gas fireplace isn't working and hasn't worked for years.
Last year I saw a furnace guy at one of the neighbors (condo).
I asked him to come look at my fireplace before he took off.
At that time, he "fixed" it. I don't know what he did but no parts were needed.
The switch on the wall is to ignite the gas and fire it up.
One month later, no workie. I didn't need to use it, so I didn't care. A year and half later... I know, bad prepping.
The pilot flame is still on but no matter what I do with the switch, no happens.
I'll get some pictures in a few minutes.
Assuming the pilot flame is on, that tells me the gas is flowing so I'm thinking the igniter where the pilot flame is, is kaput?

I had a fireplace that acted up like this. Mine had two issues: the light switch which turns the fireplace on and off was bad and the thermal pile (I think is what it’s called) was bad.

The thermal pile takes the heat from the pilot light and converts it to enough electricity to open the gas valve to light the fire. It’s a dark grey/black stick that sits right next to the pilot light fire. It has a power wire going to the gas valve. When they go bad, they just go kaput. Replacing one is like replacing a BBQ igniter.

When I had mine serviced (again one of those appliances that’s completely out of my wheelhouse), it was really straightforward.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You need a left-handed light switch.

I can tell you who NOT to call....

/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=89367

Every winter, the one I had needed the spade terminal connectors around the igniter and gas adjustment area pulled off, cleaned & crimped.
The heat over a period of months caused them to expand.

If the pilot light is still on, your thermopile is OK.
I would suspect the wall switch --- I had the same problem and it turned out being a cracked switch housing --- would work sometimes, but would go out for no reason.

Just to test - pop the wires off the switch and connect them together (real low voltage - don't be afraid) -- if it fires up, its the switch.

I didn't figure mine out until one day when it flamed out, I went to flip the switch off and ended up just pushing it sideways and it suddenly flamed on again. A failed switch was not something I would have guessed or considered.

I just did this.
FLAME ON!
I owe you a beer or three.

Since we’re on the subject, does anyone have any advice on how to keep the fan/blower running if power is lost?

Beyond the obvious advice of installing a switch for a backup generator for power. We have a generator, but we’re not wired for backfeeding our house’s main power breaker.

Apologies if this is a thread hijack.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

There's some kind of thermal power generator available... You can generate power from the heat of your coffee cup or a cook fire/stove, so I would think you'd be able to get some kind of feedback loop going off a fireplace. Don't know that you could run the regular fan. ...

Glad it was that easy --- the hard part is finding stupid shit like that.... but once you've seen stupid shit, its the first thing to check. My switch was cracked, so it would work 'most' of the time, but it would flame out right as the room started to get warm.... just enough heat to spread the crack and open the circuit. It was really just dumb luck that I inadvertently wiggled the switch when I went to turn it off and noticed it coming back on.

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Complete-HC ... 4040&psc=1

My parents use one of these for their wood burning fireplace and the stove downstairs. I have always figured I could would use one if we lost power on our gas fireplace. Set it on the hearth and crank the heat up.

Very interesting! I didn't know about these . . . looks like there are a lot of different models out there with a similar design.

I'm also interested in having a fan for when the power is out; I can run the gas fireplace, but without the blower its effectiveness is limited.

I broke out my brand-new infrared thermometer tonight. Without the blower running, the top of my gas fireplace is at right about 250 degrees F . . . and it appears that's enough to get some of those fans moving, maybe not at high speed but they'd at least run. It seems that they're more ideally suited for wood stoves that get a lot hotter.

I think I'm going to hold off for now, but I thought I'd share that data point.

We had an ecofan for our gas stove in WA. worked great. now that we have a gas fireplace, we don't have a place to put it. Blower is electric and no good when power goes out.

Car battery... Inverter... Done.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Using- ... er-Outage/

Awesome info, thank you for the viable solutions.