Gas Fireplace Shuts Off On Its Own

With the pilot lit and the fireplace off observe the pilot.

Gas fireplace shuts off on its own. Under the fireplace there is a mains gas valve a pilot and an on off button. It is about the size of an aa battery and is wired to the switch and gas valve. You need to remember to turn it counterclockwise. I have a gas fireplace natural gas that shuts itself off the pilot too after it operates for about an hour.

However starting by itself is not a good thing. So if the fireplace was on already and you disconnect the main power i would expect the fire to stay on. Often a gas fireplace has a millivolt generator which is in the path of the pilot flame. Gas fireplace shuts off and pilot goes out.

There is an electrical switch on the wall. Some gas fireplaces with electric start have a thermopile that generates enough electricity to keep the valve open even if you disconnect the mains electricity. The fire produced by the pilot should be sky blue in the middle and dark blue in the outer flame rather than a flame tinged with yellow. Its around 18 years old.

This action will start the gas flow into the fireplace logs. When i remove the logs it operates longer for about two hours before it shuts down. It stayed up for 30 minutes and then died on its own. If the millivolt generator is old and weak or if the pilot flame is weak and wavering the main burner will go on and off.

Quite often the issue will be with the pilot light flame if your heater has one. I found a faded set of instructions and was able to light the fireplace. Wasn t sure what to make of it so i shut it off. To make sure the key is in the right position you can jingle it a little until the lock slid into its place in the keyhole.

The thermocouple is a small device that generates electricity from heat they are used in gas furnaces and such to shut off the gas in case the pilot goes out so gas doesn t continue to flow and fill the room. Answered in 46 minutes by. This in turn makes the gas valve shut off. After that you should turn the key a half turn.

In most cases this problem may be solved by the heater being cleaned and serviced adjusted by an appropriate gas technician. It should be a very blue flame with possibly a small yellow tip on the end and burning in mostly a horizontal manner. The flame lifts away from the thermocouple and causes the temperature on the tip of the thermocouple to drop.