Morning,
I've got a propane-fired Empire direct vent wall heater in a commercial office space. It has a good pilot light (solid, blue flame extending 1/4" past the thermopile), a brand new thermoplie, pilot access door gasket, and fan sensor. The pilot tube orifice is clean.
I can light the pilot, and bump up the the t-stat to call for heat. The unit will light the burner, and produce a good blue flame for roughly 3-5 minutes. The unit then begins to make growling noises like it is starving for gas and/or air. Then both the flame and the pilot extinguish.
The manual says to clean/inspect the burner orifice. Would a dirty/plugged orifice be causing the symptoms I described above?
When I described these symptoms to the service tech over the phone, he said, "sounds like you need a new ($300) gas valve."
I welcome any thoughts and or suggestions. As always, the helpful advice on this forum is greatly appreciated. Thanks and best,
KT![]()
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