Cleaning gas logs

[thatguy]

our builders recommended that we have our gas logs and burner cleaned so everything burns cleaner.. The said if i watched the guy I could do the cleaning in the following years..

Can anyone tell me how/what to clean? I was thinking of brushing the dust off the logs and vacuuming the burner (pilot light OFF) to make sure all the holes are clear.

Anything else?

Brian

 

[ragkar]

There are two types of gas logs - the vented and the non-vented. The difference is that for the vented, the flame licks the logs and you must have to have a chimney. They are also more realistic than the non-vented but I suppose that they get soot on the logs.

I have a non-vented that I use for ambience and a little heat. I use it winters and shut off the pilot in the summer. I don't have to bother cleaning it.

But there's one problem every year. The pilot nozzle accumulates soot and is impossible to keep lit the following season. The fix is easy. I bought two feet of plastic tubing and I use it to blow the soot out of the nozzle.

One rather nice enhancement to my gas logs is a crackling sound generator manufactured by 'flame tech' The crackling gets progressively louder and adds to the ambience.

 

[LOOPHOLE]

Vaccum cleaner sometimes works,ck pilot light to make sure burning blue-not yellow and moving around/should be blue and more distinct in flame pattern. IF you have a cutoff valve behind burner {you should} take burner outside to air compressor and blow thru burner holes and around pilot/don't blow too high of pressure thru pilot/may damage pilot assembly or valve. Dust is number 1 problem with most pilots.

 

[kenmac]

There are two types of gas logs - the vented and the non-vented. The difference is that for the vented, the flame licks the logs and you must have to have a chimney. They are also more realistic than the non-vented but I suppose that they get soot on the logs.

I have a non-vented that I use for ambience and a little heat. I use it winters and shut off the pilot in the summer. I don't have to bother cleaning it.

But there's one problem every year. The pilot nozzle accumulates soot and is impossible to keep lit the following season. The fix is easy. I bought two feet of plastic tubing and I use it to blow the soot out of the nozzle.

One rather nice enhancement to my gas logs is a crackling sound generator manufactured by 'flame tech' The crackling gets progressively louder and adds to the ambience.

Nat or propane vented gas logs need a chimney (or flue) because they burn incomplete ( they burn secondary air ) as in no primary air shudder ( like a match or candle)

If your logs are unvented & you are trying to clean dust from the ods pilot assy. , you have to take it apart to get the dust out of the pilot air shudder. In most cases, I have found that a vaccum will not remove the dust trapped within the pilot air shudder. Your burner tube(on nonvented logs) will also have a air shudder ,but it is large enough that dust shouldn't stop it up.However, the burner tube should be cleaned ( depending on your dust conditions ) every couple years.

hope this helps ya

 

[BTDT]

Maybe go online and contact the manufacturer of your particular brand of gas logs and see what they recommend. If that's not possible, maybe go to a HD or Lowes and look at what they have, and see if any paperwork with logs suggests cleaning tips. Good luck. Why would the "builders" suggest this? Are they remodeling for you and reinstalling the old logs, just curious.

 

[thatguy]

Why would the "builders" suggest this? Are they remodeling for you and reinstalling the old logs, just curious.

The builders know we have both a cat and dog and were concerned that the hair would disrupt the burner and cause sooting to take place.. In our last house we never cleaned the gas logs and when me moved there was quite a bit of soot on the mantle..

our logs were new with the house and they are now 1 yr old..


thanks for all the advise
brian