gas smell with sunflower heater

[Cicada]

I have a gas smell with my sunflower heater.  Does this mean I have a bad thermocouple?

[papadarv]

19 minutes ago, Cicada said:

I have a gas smell with my sunflower heater.  Does this mean I have a bad thermocouple?

No, thermocouple is the small pin protruding in the flame. It lets the gas valve know the fire is lit and hot enough to keep pumping fuel to the fire. If you attached to a 20# tank either the left hand threaded connection is not tight or the sealing ring is defective. Use a wrench to tighten the nut. If its a 1# tank make sure the tank is screwed in tight.

To find the leak, use some super soapy water (dish soap) works great or use your kinds bubble solution usually found in an Easter basket, and brush the solution on all gas connections. Turn the gas on,  bubbles will form where the leak is.

[Cicada]

thank you

 

[leech~~]

Sometimes they just are not burning very cleanly and your smelling the un-burnt gas. If your wire disk in the front is not fully glowing and you have a dark spot at the top more then likely you are not getting a full clean burn of all the gas. Sometimes you can clean the gas orifice out with a welding tip cleaner set. The other thing is that the gas tip in the tube is not set right to the air holes so your gas-air mix is off. One way you can test this is by blocking just a little bit of one of the air holes with your finger and see if your wire disk then starts to fully glow with no dead spots at the top. If it does then your tip is not set right in the tube. I have had about 5 of these over the years and some just never seen to be able to clean up or get set right. Sometimes it's just the flow valve that is shot slowing the gas flow and you have to just throw it.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

If you are using 1# tanks your gas may be to cold also. Try to keep the 1# tanks a little warmer then the outside temps if you can.

Cliff

[Hoey]

On 1/2/2016 at 7:45 PM, leech~~ said:

Sometimes you can clean the gas orifice out with a welding tip cleaner set.

I'd recommend compressed air.  The orifice is soft metal, typically brass, and can be easily damaged leading to a potentially dangerous situation if the size of the orifice is increased.  Note - this is from experience.  

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Hoey said:

I'd recommend compressed air.  The orifice is soft metal, typically brass, and can be easily damaged leading to a potentially dangerous situation if the size of the orifice is increased.  Note - this is from experience.

Welding tip cleaner sets have many very small cleaning wires and you should only use the size that will unclog the orifice you have. In a welding tip or heater!  Ever tried to find a small brass tip you blew across the garage with compressed air? Note-this is from experience.