New Gas Fire ....

[Alwoods]

Just had a new gas fire fitted by a mate,Corgi Registered,and there is

bit of a problem.The mate is newly qualified and a bit lacking in th confidence dept, and so has taken ages to fit it. The chimney was swept three weeks ago,smoke tested -OK. When we turn the fire to the high setting, the flames lick th underside of the flue deflector plate.On the low setting it appears t work normally. Incidently the fire is an inset,openfire effect. with pebbles instea of coal. He has altered the aeration plate to both settings with hardly an difference noted. Any Ideas please. Ala

-- Alwoods

[Ed Sirett]

Measure the burner pressure. Measure the gas rate. Follow the manual for the correct procedure to check for spillage. If necessary consult the manufacturers.

E.g I installed a Vulcana room heater (11.5kW) and afterwards the innards seem to be glowing a bit more than cherry red and were bowed outwards. I checked the gas rate and burner pressure (nearly spot on for both) and so I phoned up. They said this is the normal operation and asked how much the plates bowed and they then confirmed all was in order.

I am presuming this is an inset fire with it's own integral back box. I'm not exactly sure which part of the fire you mean by the 'flue deflector plate'. If you mean the hole in the top back of the box then _provided_ the gas rate and pressure are within spec it's OK.

I presume the aeration plate is the flue restriction plate which is an option. IME having fitted about half a dozen of these sort of units. The plate will need to come out if the flue is only 1 storey high and probably not otherwise. Anyway the procedure is to try it 'with' then see if there is any spillage. If the spillage test fails then try it without the restriction.

[John]

You do have the right model for the gas you use (Not an NG model being used with LPG for example)?

[Alwoods]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your reply. The pressure is 21mb.and it passed the spill test with ease.Th deflector plate was an extra piece of plate that had to be fitted t the top of the box because the main chimney flue is unlined,accordin to the instructions.The aeration plate is a metal plate near the end o the burner which can be adjusted depending on whether `coals`or `pebble ` are used.You are right in that it is an inset with its own backbox. Hope this makes sense cos I`m baffled. Ala

-- Alwoods

[Ed Sirett]

Sorry about my misundertanding over the aeration plate it is not at all what I imagined. This is an adjuster for the burner to work differently for different types of 'coals'.

What did the gas rate come out as? Was it within 90-105% of the rating or whatever the manufacturers state?

This type of appliance tends to have its pressure test point as either the inlet to the appliances or the burner pressure after the control but not both. For the former the acceptable range would be 18-22. The latter would be as specified by the manufacturer and typically would be somewhere in the 17-20mb.

[Alwoods]

Hi Ed

The test pressure was 21mb.The instructions give it as 20 +/- 1 mb s it is within limits.I am getting to the stage where I will use it o low only cos it`s getting b****y cold round here now. Ala

-- Alwoods