Do you have Masport or Regency wood heater that looks like a log fire, but it actually runs on gas?
And it may not be working correctly, or it just keeps going out? There’s a few reasons why your Masport or Regency wood heater is acting up like that, and we’ll tell you about that below.
The Issue
If you’re trying to light the pilot light and the pilot doesn’t even light, then we’ve got a problem with the injector must be blocked. So it definitely needs a service.
Now, if the pilot lights okay, but then as soon as you take your finger off the button, it shuts down, well, that’s a different issue. That’s got something to do with the thermocouple.
The Thermocouple
In the video, we show you what the thermocouple looks like. Now, there are two dissimilar metals in there. So when they’re heated up, they create a slight little bit of electrical current. And that’s attached down to a magnet.
When this gas valve was pushed down and there’s heat present, it holds the gas valve open so the gas can flow through to the pilot light, so everything’s fine.
But if there’s no heat there, it’ll shut this gas valve off and make everything safe again.
How It Works
We’ll give you an example. This is how it works. You see in the video how it’s not locking on. We are pressing it against the magnet, but there’s no heat there. As soon as we put the thermocouple in a slightly, tiny little bit of heat, see how that lock opens, so that gas valve is locked open.
Just have a look at that and as it cools down, it’ll shut it off.
You hear that little click that went? That’s the gas valve shutting off saying, “No more gas on here. There’s no heat.”
If you have a hot plate at home with these thermocouples in it, when you turn them all off, you’ll hear them just clicking about 30 seconds later. That’s all the sound of the gas valve shutting down.
The Pilot Light
Just about all of the Masport and the Regency gas log fire heaters have this set up in them.
In the video, we show you what the pilot light looks like and where the flames come out. Sometimes this gets blocked up and then doesn’t collect enough heat and it fails. I
Then you’ve got the thermopiles on the outside. This is sort of the same as the thermocouple but it needs to create a lot more energy to open the main gas valve.
Then round the back you’ve got the sparker. All that needs to be serviced and cleaned so it all works well.
Recap
Just a quick recap. If you try to light the pilot and it doesn’t light, that’s something to do with the injector might be blocked or something like that.
If your pilot lights but it doesn’t stay on, then it’s something wrong with the thermocouple. Something’s going on there that needs to be replaced.
If it does light and it’s all fine but then the main burner doesn’t turn on, that means the thermopile’s got something going on. It’s not working. It’s given up the ghost. Because if that’s not working, it’s not going to let any gas through that main burner.
If you’re having any of those issues, then call your local gas fitter and try and get him to fix it.
But if you’re in Perth, then give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.
