Hello all. I would appreciate any help the experts here may be able to provide.
I have a Heatilator Novus GNDC36L propane fireplace. Last year it started to have the main flames go out while the pilot stayed lit. After a few seconds the burner would re-ignite. It would do this several times.
I had a company look into it and the tech said it needed a new thermocouple/thermopile assembly, so I paid him to replace it. It still did the same thing afterward, so I hired a different company to fix it. The new technician said the new thermocouple/thermopile wasn’t installed correctly and it needed another new one. Fine. I paid for another one to be installed. This one has a bigger pilot light flame than either the original or the first one replaced.
It still did the same thing, so this winter I had the same company #2 return to see why. A different tech from the 2nd company spent over an hour here, called Heatilator for advice, and said he “thinks” I need a new burner assembly. This will cost over $1000 and they can’t even tell me what the new burner assembly is – if it is just the physical burner or if it also contains valves, etc. Also, one reason he thinks it needs a new burner is because it “feels hot” under the burner where the valves are and there are two “knockouts” on the top of the burner and he thinks only the one “knockout” should have been removed when it was installed. He thinks the second opening is letting too much heat under the burner. However, a neighbor has this same Heatilator unit and both knockouts are removed on his burner.
I’m not confident in spending this money on a new burner as I’m not confident in the diagnosis.
Any ideas?
I have a Heatilator Novus GNDC36L propane fireplace. Last year it started to have the main flames go out while the pilot stayed lit. After a few seconds the burner would re-ignite. It would do this several times.
I had a company look into it and the tech said it needed a new thermocouple/thermopile assembly, so I paid him to replace it. It still did the same thing afterward, so I hired a different company to fix it. The new technician said the new thermocouple/thermopile wasn’t installed correctly and it needed another new one. Fine. I paid for another one to be installed. This one has a bigger pilot light flame than either the original or the first one replaced.
It still did the same thing, so this winter I had the same company #2 return to see why. A different tech from the 2nd company spent over an hour here, called Heatilator for advice, and said he “thinks” I need a new burner assembly. This will cost over $1000 and they can’t even tell me what the new burner assembly is – if it is just the physical burner or if it also contains valves, etc. Also, one reason he thinks it needs a new burner is because it “feels hot” under the burner where the valves are and there are two “knockouts” on the top of the burner and he thinks only the one “knockout” should have been removed when it was installed. He thinks the second opening is letting too much heat under the burner. However, a neighbor has this same Heatilator unit and both knockouts are removed on his burner.
I’m not confident in spending this money on a new burner as I’m not confident in the diagnosis.
Any ideas?
