I have a family member who's husband passed away. She has a fireplace that operates on gas, and she asked me to check it out, light it for her and show her how. It has a full flue system with closure like any fireplace would, and folding glass doors like a real fireplace.
There is a gas line in the basement that turns gas off, as well as inside the firebox there is a gas line that runs into this from the side with a valve there inside the firebox just as it exits the wall and enters the firebox (and a plastic handle). From the valve runs a pipe that apparently has holes in it too small to see to allow gas to escape, and then at the end of the run there is a cap. This runs on the bottom of the fireplace floor, which is covered in some sort of fake ash stuff, and on each side of the pipe there is a metal shield Id imagine to keep the fake ash from getting onto the gas pipe. Sitting above the pipe is a real log holder and ceramic logs.
Im really dubious of this but maybe this is ok and Im just paranoid. If you turn the basement gas on, no gas escapes from the valve in the fireplace, but when you turn on the valve inside the fireplace you can only open the valve a little bit else you will hear gas seriously whooshing in, and there is a whining noise for a bit like when you first barely open a water line sometimes.
It is then lit with a match and allowed to run. They've had this running like this for years, but only use it a few times a year at most. She is afraid with the weather conditions that power will go out and she will need to evacuate to somewhere and the roads are covered so, yea that wouldnt work either. We live nearby but if their power goes out so does ours. The flu looks clear/clean, and there are ample carbon monoxide detectors so Im not so worried about that.
My concern is, why is there a valve inside the firebox. Why is there no regulator like what you would find under other gas fireplaces or on a hot water tank.
I actually got it to light, although I had to clear some debris off of the tube and it still didnt light all the way. I would need to clear more off but at that point I felt like we should dig into this more. Just because someone worked before doesnt mean that a catastrophic failure isnt around the corner.
I know this is a really stupid question from someone rather terrified of gas, (I do alot of electrical work to code, plumbing, but wont touch gas)... what is to stop the flames from going into the pipe and exploding all of the pipes like a pipebomb. I guess it is the same concept of a propane grill, but I think even propane grills have some sort of protection. Although I have an acquittance who had a propane tank explode under his grill and blew off half the skin on his leg. So even then, maybe not enough protection.
There is a gas line in the basement that turns gas off, as well as inside the firebox there is a gas line that runs into this from the side with a valve there inside the firebox just as it exits the wall and enters the firebox (and a plastic handle). From the valve runs a pipe that apparently has holes in it too small to see to allow gas to escape, and then at the end of the run there is a cap. This runs on the bottom of the fireplace floor, which is covered in some sort of fake ash stuff, and on each side of the pipe there is a metal shield Id imagine to keep the fake ash from getting onto the gas pipe. Sitting above the pipe is a real log holder and ceramic logs.
Im really dubious of this but maybe this is ok and Im just paranoid. If you turn the basement gas on, no gas escapes from the valve in the fireplace, but when you turn on the valve inside the fireplace you can only open the valve a little bit else you will hear gas seriously whooshing in, and there is a whining noise for a bit like when you first barely open a water line sometimes.
It is then lit with a match and allowed to run. They've had this running like this for years, but only use it a few times a year at most. She is afraid with the weather conditions that power will go out and she will need to evacuate to somewhere and the roads are covered so, yea that wouldnt work either. We live nearby but if their power goes out so does ours. The flu looks clear/clean, and there are ample carbon monoxide detectors so Im not so worried about that.
My concern is, why is there a valve inside the firebox. Why is there no regulator like what you would find under other gas fireplaces or on a hot water tank.
I actually got it to light, although I had to clear some debris off of the tube and it still didnt light all the way. I would need to clear more off but at that point I felt like we should dig into this more. Just because someone worked before doesnt mean that a catastrophic failure isnt around the corner.
I know this is a really stupid question from someone rather terrified of gas, (I do alot of electrical work to code, plumbing, but wont touch gas)... what is to stop the flames from going into the pipe and exploding all of the pipes like a pipebomb. I guess it is the same concept of a propane grill, but I think even propane grills have some sort of protection. Although I have an acquittance who had a propane tank explode under his grill and blew off half the skin on his leg. So even then, maybe not enough protection.
