Need help, Gas fireplace pilot light won't stay on.

[aypi]

Got home today and the wife told me that our fireplace stop working. I tried to turn it on but noticed that the pilot light will light up for a minute and shuts off after 2-3 minutes. Tried to google some ways to fix it but not really sure on what to do since I've never done it before and I'm scared that I will burn the house down. LOL

Need help ASAP because it's in the lower level of the house where my kids play. Willing to buy you beer or pay $.

Pm me if you can help me out. I'm free anytime of the day and live in the country hills area.

TIA beyond!

[jonsey737]

If fireplaces are anything like furnaces (which I assume they are) you likely have a bad/dirty thermocouple. It's a little metal probe that sits where the pilot flame is an 'detects' the flame. If you can get in there you can try to clean it up with some fine grit sandpaper/steel wool and if that fails you can just buy a new one for $10 or so. Google 'cleaning fireplace thermocouple' and you should find some guides/pictures that will help you find where your thermocouple is.

[ExtraSlow]

Probably thermocouple as mentioned. Hopefully just cleaning it will do the trick.

[mr2mike]

You won't burn the house down cleaning the thermocouple.
Depending where it is, you won't even need to remove it, just rub it down with the steel wool or fine grit sandpaper that jonsey mentioned.

Turn off the fireplace gas valve underneath before starting. Do your work and then do the relighting procedure.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by mr2mike
You won't burn the house down cleaning the thermocouple.
Depending where it is, you won't even need to remove it, just rub it down with the steel wool or fine grit sandpaper that jonsey mentioned.

Turn off the fireplace gas valve underneath before starting. Do your work and then do the relighting procedure.

+1. I just did this on my furnace. Took about 30 seconds.

[aypi]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Tried to clean it like you guys suggested but that didn't work. I might have to replace the thermocouple. Went to Canadian tire and they didn't have one. Will try home depot tomorrow.

Still looking for help if you live close by.

[Zero102]

If cleaning the thermocouple doesn't work then replace it. If that doesn't fix it then the next part to replace is the gas valve which is not good news

Have you watched the flame - is the thermocouple sitting properly in the hot part of the flame? Perhaps things have shifted over time and it is not being kept hot enough? Is there a breeze in the fireplace blowing the flame away from the thermocouple?

[RX_EVOLV]

Bump! Pretty sure I need to replace mine in my gas fireplace. Where can I find the thermocoupler local? Looking at home depot online they only have ones for gas furnace ?

[dj_rice]

Try AMRE

https://www.amresupply.com/search?q=thermocouple

[phreezee]

Does anyone know what is needed to convert the fireplace to pilotless?

[ExtraSlow]

Hey, not sure if my issue is thermocouple or what. I have one fireplace that lights up fine, pilot is good. Once it's been running ten minutes or so it goes out, then lights back up with a "whump" which tells me the gas is still flowing. It's acting how I would expect it to act if it was blowing out from wind, but that's not it as it has done it multiple times on wind less days.

Thoughts on where to start?

[J-hop]

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Hey, not sure if my issue is thermocouple or what. I have one fireplace that lights up fine, pilot is good. Once it's been running ten minutes or so it goes out, then lights back up with a "whump" which tells me the gas is still flowing. It's acting how I would expect it to act if it was blowing out from wind, but that's not it as it has done it multiple times on wind less days.

Thoughts on where to start?

The fireplace in our house when we bought it had a very similar problem. We had the sellers pay to have it fixed so I didn’t know first hand what the problem was.

I will take a look through our purchase docs though I’m fairly certain we were given a copy of the repair bill.

[ExtraSlow]

Anyone have further thoughts on this?

[TRD_YOTA]

I am assuming its controlled by a wall switch? If so next time is goes out, try tapping on the wall plate and see if it lights right away. Report back with what you find.

[ExtraSlow]

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I am assuming its controlled by a wall switch? If so next time is goes out, try tapping on the wall plate and see if it lights right away. Report back with what you find.

Hey, since this is an intermittent problem, it took a while, but yeah, wiggling the switch did make it light back up again. So, replacing the wall switch should help? I know the fireplace guy told me decora switches were unreliable, so I have an old school toggle switch in there. Is there a better quality switch I should seek out?

[speedog]

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Hey, since this is an intermittent problem, it took a while, but yeah, wiggling the switch did make it light back up again. So, replacing the wall switch should help? I know the fireplace guy told me decora switches were unreliable, so I have an old school toggle switch in there. Is there a better quality switch I should seek out?

Are the wires all secured tightly to their respective terminals on said switch?

[ExtraSlow]

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I am assuming its controlled by a wall switch? If so next time is goes out, try tapping on the wall plate and see if it lights right away. Report back with what you find.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Are the wires all secured tightly to their respective terminals on said switch?

It did seem to be a switch issue, so I replaced my $3 15A toggle switch with a $9 20A toggle switch. That thing seem to have a more positive engagement, so hopefully that does it. The wires were all tight to the old switch.

Anyone know why gas fireplaces seem to be so picky about switches? This seems to be kind of common, but any old junk switch works fine for everything else in a house. Doesn't make any sense to me.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Huh, your fireplace's pilot light is controlled by a wall switch? Our fireplace wall switch only controls the fan, the pilot light is just run off the gas valve, like a water heater.

[ExtraSlow]

Not the pilot, the main gas valve. No fan on this model.

[Darell_n]

A cheap switch is detrimental to low voltage whereas the same switch on 120v will keep connecting until it tries to burn the house down.