New house, gas stove and fireplace. During walkthrough we flip the switch and the fireplace turned on. Now I flip the switch, no fire. I opened the panel beneath and pushed the the ignition button, still no fire. I know there’s gas in the house because the stove still works. I doubt it’s on a separate system.
Also, the top section of the oven won’t ignite either. I’m sure this is a pilot light issue, but I’ve never had gas appliances and I don’t have the first fucking clue what I’m doing here.
If your gas fireplace is anything like my free-standing direct vent stove, there’s a bit of an art to getting the pilot lit. I have a knob that you have to push in to turn to ‘light the pilot’ mode - you have to keep that knob pushed in while you hit the ignitor until it fires up, and then continue to hold that knob down for ~30 sec before releasing or the pilot goes back out. As for the stove, could be an ignitor issue - if so, a pretty EZ fix.
Check the gas line, and see if the previous owners shut off the gas since it’s the summer. If you aren’t using the fireplace a lot, no reason to waste the gas to keep the pilot lit.
Other than that. Most pilot light problems are a problem with the thermocouple, when they go bad, the pilot won’t stay lit when you let go of the button, since it doesn’t think the pilot is lit.
Check the gas line, and see if the previous owners shut off the gas since it’s the summer. If you aren’t using the fireplace a lot, no reason to waste the gas to keep the pilot lit.
This, and go buy an induction cooktop and move into the modern era… gas is dead.
If your gas fireplace is anything like my free-standing direct vent stove, there’s a bit of an art to getting the pilot lit. I have a knob that you have to push in to turn to ‘light the pilot’ mode - you have to keep that knob pushed in while you hit the ignitor until it fires up, and then continue to hold that knob down for ~30 sec before releasing or the pilot goes back out. As for the stove, could be an ignitor issue - if so, a pretty EZ fix.
+1
The pilot has a thermocouple circuit in it that’s supposed to shut off the gas if the pilot goes out. You have light the pilot (via match, lighter, or igniter) then hold the button long enough for the thermocouple to come up to temperature and hold the gas valve open.
There should be a lighting instruction tag located next to the button.
If your gas fireplace is anything like my free-standing direct vent stove, there’s a bit of an art to getting the pilot lit. I have a knob that you have to push in to turn to ‘light the pilot’ mode - you have to keep that knob pushed in while you hit the ignitor until it fires up, and then continue to hold that knob down for ~30 sec before releasing or the pilot goes back out. As for the stove, could be an ignitor issue - if so, a pretty EZ fix.
+1
The pilot has a thermocouple circuit in it that’s supposed to shut off the gas if the pilot goes out. You have light the pilot (via match, lighter, or igniter) then hold the button long enough for the thermocouple to come up to temperature and hold the gas valve open.
There should be a lighting instruction tag located next to the button.
I don’t think they sell anything with a standing pilot light anymore… do they?
If your gas fireplace is anything like my free-standing direct vent stove, there’s a bit of an art to getting the pilot lit. I have a knob that you have to push in to turn to ‘light the pilot’ mode - you have to keep that knob pushed in while you hit the ignitor until it fires up, and then continue to hold that knob down for ~30 sec before releasing or the pilot goes back out. As for the stove, could be an ignitor issue - if so, a pretty EZ fix.
+1
The pilot has a thermocouple circuit in it that’s supposed to shut off the gas if the pilot goes out. You have light the pilot (via match, lighter, or igniter) then hold the button long enough for the thermocouple to come up to temperature and hold the gas valve open.
There should be a lighting instruction tag located next to the button.
I don’t think they sell anything with a standing pilot light anymore… do they?
I dunno. OP mentioned a pilot light. Maybe it’s an older house.
If it’s new construction, there might be air in the gas lines that just needs to bleed off.
I’m guessing the pilot was lit for the walk through, as the prior owners were still wanting to show that everything works. Probably turned off/disconnected sometime during the transition.
Was the gas shut off at some point around when they moved out and you in? I imagine the utility insists that everything be turned off before they restore gas, and that may never have been turned back on. Our gas utility will come out and check all appliances, pilots, etc. at no extra charge (you’ll have to wait for an appointment), as the last thing they want is gas leaking out.
I followed the pipe down to the basement. There’s definitely gas in the tank and the supply line is turned on. In the area beneath the fireplace, where you remove the cover to access the pilot light, there’s a red valve (open) from the gas supply line, and another twist valve on some electrical mechanism that you can turn to an on or off position. Both valves are on. There’s no way to push and turn the latter valve; you just turn it to the on or off position. I’ve turned both on, turned off the wall switch that lights the fire just in case leaving it on bleeds the gas and doesn’t allow it to light properly, like it is with our gas grill, then pushed the red ignitor button probably a few hundred times. I tried that with the wall switch in both the on and off position. There’s a spark in the fireplace every time I push the button, but no flame. I know the pilot light is out and that seems to be the entire problem. I just don’t know how to get it lit. And of course there’s no manual.
I followed the pipe down to the basement. There’s definitely gas in the tank and the supply line is turned on. In the area beneath the fireplace, where you remove the cover to access the pilot light, there’s a red valve (open) from the gas supply line, and another twist valve on some electrical mechanism that you can turn to an on or off position. Both valves are on. There’s no way to push and turn the latter valve; you just turn it to the on or off position. I’ve turned both on, turned off the wall switch that lights the fire just in case leaving it on bleeds the gas and doesn’t allow it to light properly, like it is with our gas grill, then pushed the red ignitor button probably a few hundred times. I tried that with the wall switch in both the on and off position. There’s a spark in the fireplace every time I push the button, but no flame. I know the pilot light is out and that seems to be the entire problem. I just don’t know how to get it lit. And of course there’s no manual.
I’ve had to manually light a gas log fireplace before with a similar setup as you describe. For whatever reason, the igniter would not start the pilot light up even though I could see and hear it sparking. I used the old zippo firestick and the pilot light immediately fired up. I can only guess the igniter is weaker now that it is older or it is not aimed properly.