Gas heater panel not getting hot and burning blue
Discussion
Just got back from Japan to find my heating not working at all and it seems my boiler may be totally kaput.
I have a couple of oil-filled radiators to keep me from turning into a block of ice, one for my bedroom and one for my office space. And for the kitchen area, I've pulled an old gas radiator from the garage which has been used on and off for probably 40 years. It uses the same 15kg butane gas bottle as the barbecue, so I always have gas for it. It's come in very handy over the years. Only now the centre panel isn't getting hot - it's a dull blue colour and makes a sputtering noise while the two side panels glow bright orange and are hot. Unfortunately the centre panel is the only one which is on at all power settings. This means the heater is using 3 panels worth of gas but only giving out the heat of two at full power. And at low power it gives off almost no heat.
Does anyone know why this might be happening? On occasion when first lighting, the middle panel does glow hot and orange, but only for a couple of minutes after which it goes cold and blue.
Googling gives an AI response which says that the flame SHOULD be burning blue. But I'm not talking about the flame - I'm talking about the ceramic panel which should not be blue.
Edited to fix broken PH video and replace with YT vid.
I have a couple of oil-filled radiators to keep me from turning into a block of ice, one for my bedroom and one for my office space. And for the kitchen area, I've pulled an old gas radiator from the garage which has been used on and off for probably 40 years. It uses the same 15kg butane gas bottle as the barbecue, so I always have gas for it. It's come in very handy over the years. Only now the centre panel isn't getting hot - it's a dull blue colour and makes a sputtering noise while the two side panels glow bright orange and are hot. Unfortunately the centre panel is the only one which is on at all power settings. This means the heater is using 3 panels worth of gas but only giving out the heat of two at full power. And at low power it gives off almost no heat.
Does anyone know why this might be happening? On occasion when first lighting, the middle panel does glow hot and orange, but only for a couple of minutes after which it goes cold and blue.
Googling gives an AI response which says that the flame SHOULD be burning blue. But I'm not talking about the flame - I'm talking about the ceramic panel which should not be blue.
Edited to fix broken PH video and replace with YT vid.
Edited by LunarOne on Thursday 5th December 00:06
I’d say the nozzle for the middle burner has a blockage.
Don’t know how easy it is to take out but if it was me I’d remove it and spray brake cleaner in it. Refit and try again if it’s the same I’d take it out and try gently poking a copper wire (from an electric cable) gently through it.
Don’t know how easy it is to take out but if it was me I’d remove it and spray brake cleaner in it. Refit and try again if it’s the same I’d take it out and try gently poking a copper wire (from an electric cable) gently through it.
New heaters seem to only be around £100 although I'm sure like most modern stuff, they are flimsy and not built to last. Anyway I turned on the heater again today and this time none of the blue nasty. It seems to be working correctly. I'm sure it won't stay like that so I'm pretty sure there must be a flake of rust or maybe some spidery stuff inside a nozzle somewhere. If the problem returns I will investigate further, possibly with the aid of compressed air and brake cleaner as suggested. At least I can be sure that the gas cylinder, regulator and feed hose are working correctly!
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