Local Gas Fireplace Repair in Jacksonville

If you smell gas, leave first

A gas smell is not a repair call. Leave the house, and from outside call your gas utility, or 911 if you cannot reach them. On the way out, do not switch lights or appliances on or off and do not use a phone indoors, which is the same instruction printed in gas fireplace manuals. Once the utility has cleared the house, we can find out why it happened. A carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms covers the risk you cannot smell.

Three complaints, three systems

A gas fireplace not working can mean one that will not light, one that will not stay lit or one that burns wrong. Not lighting is an ignition or supply problem. Not staying lit is a flame-proving problem in the pilot flame or the thermocouple, thermopile or flame rod. Burning wrong lives in the ports, the log placement, the air setting or the venting. The checks a homeowner can safely make first are in our guide for when a gas fireplace won't turn on.

• Gas fireplace pilot light repair, after a meter test of the flame sensor
• Gas fireplace thermocouple replacement when its output reads below the maker's figure
• Gas fireplace ignitor replacement and ignition module faults
• Gas fireplace valve replacement, followed by pressure readings and a leak check
• Gas fireplace blower repair, from a noisy fan to a dead switch
• Fireplace blower replacement with the maker's own part
• Gas fireplace remote repair for handsets, receivers and wall switches
• Gas fireplace insert repair, including the vent connection
• Gas log repair, with cracked logs replaced and the set put back on its diagram
• Propane fireplace repair, with the tank and supply left to the propane supplier

Standing pilot and electronic ignition

On a standing-pilot unit, a thermocouple in the pilot flame makes a small voltage that holds the valve's safety magnet open, and a thermopile makes enough to open the main valve through the switch. That is the flame safeguard section 602.2 of the Florida Building Code, Fuel Gas requires, applied to vented gas fireplaces by sections 604 and 605. We read the output with a meter and compare it with the maker's chart.

Electronic ignition sends a spark to light the pilot and proves the flame through a flame rod before opening the main valve. The checks follow the maker's flow chart, from power to spark, gas at the pilot and a steady blue flame on the rod.

Pressure, leak and spillage checks

Inlet and manifold pressures are read at the valve's test ports and compared with the rating plate, and low inlet pressure is a supply problem for the utility, the propane supplier or a gas contractor. Every connection opened is checked with a leak-detection solution, the method the manuals specify. On a B-vent unit we check that exhaust goes up the vent, and a spill switch that trips is reporting a venting fault and is never bypassed.

Yearly gas fireplace maintenance

Gas fireplace manuals call for the burner system and venting to be inspected once a year by a qualified service person, and our annual gas fireplace service is built around that. The burner ports and pilot are cleaned, the logs go back on the maker's diagram, the glass gasket and barrier are checked, the blower is cleaned and the vent is walked to its termination.

Between them, the gas fireplace cleaning and the inspection of burner and vent take one visit. Some people call it a gas fireplace tune-up, and on a working unit it finds slow faults before they put the fire out. An insert gets the same gas insert service, plus a look at the liner connection at the top of the chimney.

Listed parts and where other trades begin

A vented gas fireplace is listed to ANSI Z21.88 as a heater or Z21.50 as a decorative appliance, so valves, pilots, igniters and logs come from the maker's parts list, and a change of gas is made only with the maker's conversion kit. Cracked glass is fireplace glass replacement. Vent-free units get ventless gas fireplace repair.

The gas piping that feeds the shutoff valve belongs to a gas contractor, the utility or the propane supplier, and wiring to an electrician. Whoever you hire should name the failed part and the reading behind it, and as a gas fireplace repair company we put both in writing. Call (904) 920-5495 or book a free inspection online.