I have an open gas fire with those "fake coal things" do you know the stuff... anyway, there's nothing wrong with the fire, but as we are replacing the surround the "fake coal things" don't look so good anymore, and we want to replace them with the "fake pebble things" that we keep seeing around...
only problem is we can't find anyway that sells the "fake pebble things" without the rest of the fire.
Can anyone suggest anywhere I can get them?
cheers
Th fire and it 'coals' are a single appliance, the coals are not just for the look. The 'coals' or pebbles are an integral part of the correct operation of the burner.
A pebble version is available from screwfix for under 300 and the swap is likely to be straight forward.
Now I'm confused, the coals are not a single appliance, i think i know what your talking about but i don't have that type of coal, mine feel like polystyrene (obviously they are not) they are loose and you can pick them out 1 by 1.
The gas flows under them and they glow, the pebbles I've seen around are the same, you can pick them out 1 by 1 and they are made of the same stuff, just in a different shape...
I think I've found some on the web, but there is no price, have a look at
cheers anyway...
OP - Have a look at
Sorry, I did not express myself explicitly enough. The loose "coals" (light ceramic refractory fibre IIRC) like the ones you have together with the burner they sit in i.e. all of the bit and pieces you have. All of it taken as a whole stands or falls together as a single gas appliance.
You can replace bits of it with the correct spare parts (including replacing coals), you may not replace bits of it (including the coals) with arbitary replacement parts of your choosing.
Yes, yes yes. The things is that you'll find that the instructions will state the exact arrangement of the coals. I.e 3 rows of 4 medium large,
2 rows of 3 small in between.... The whole appliance is safe enough to use when the correct coals are placed in the correct positions.You may find that the manufacturers can supply replacement coals.
You may find that you can reblacken the coals with matt black high temp exhaust paint.
"Ed Sirett" wrote > > >
Cor, that seems a bit hit and miss!
I'm not doubting what you're saying at all - it concurs with something I remember reading in our gas fire instructions.
Million and one thoughts and questions spring to mind, though, like I'm surprised that they're licensed for sale if a minor user tweak could take them out of the envelope of "safe to use". I'm sure that in a household with young kids they;d be a prime target for arbitrary rearrangement whilst mum's not looking.... Someone buying a house with such a fire in woudl also be very unlikely to appreciate this unless they had experience of such a fire before.
Any further information on this, and the magnitude of likely danger, Ed? (yup, I'm aware of the lethal effects of CO, but wondered how much the danger increased for a properly installed fire with a properly maintained chimney/flue.)
Ah, that is useful to know. They're very fragile and begin to look bad very quickly with any handling whatsoever. I take it that this can be used to retouch any flaking paintwork from the fire back (ie the back of the chimney, I forget all the terminology now!).
Richard
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
ahhh, understand now, oh well looks like the old coals are gonna stay...
cheers.
The principle line of defence of safety is that the fire is installed correctly to begin with and is checked from time to time. The absolute requirment is that the fire removes the products of combustion (whether CO laden or not) in an effective manner at all times and under all conditions of service. I.e All the doors and window shuts, adjacent extractors (and exterior venting dryers) on full.
Ideally the terminal (chimney pot) will be of a type that will prevent any wildlife intefering with the chimney.
In normal operation the products of combustion from display fires does contain a fair bit of CO. (As would a real coal fire). The coals have to be arranged so that the flames are forced to follow a route which causes them to find extra air before they cool to the point where combustion no longer takes place. Realistically I suspect that many arrangments would be safe enough. However the manufacturers say it works with arrangement X so there it is.
The situation is a bit like the wiring regs where the regs describe are a small subset of possible installations that would be safe to use.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.