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Background: Heat & Glo Escape 42DV natural gas fireplace shuts off after 2-3 minutes. Will not relight immediately following shut down. After an hour or so, it will relight and then extinguish again after the same 2-3 minutes. The pilot light works fine, sparking and then lighting with each attempt. Symptoms are exactly the same whether the glass is installed or removed. Over the course of a month+ of troubleshooting, the fireplace has lit and stayed lit for a few hours (until I turned it off) just twice. The other ~30 times, it behaves as described above. We've owned the home for a year and the issue has been persistent the entire time.

Troubleshooting already completed:

  • Gas line from valve to main burners cleared out with air compressor
  • IPI (ignition/thermocouple/pilot light) assembly replaced
  • Control module replaced
  • Gas valve replaced. The replacement valve came with a manual rheostat for high-low which can be removed and replaced with the electronic rheostat that presumably gets it's signal from the wall-mounted control panel switch for high or low. I attempted using the manual rheostat first before replacing it with the electronic one, but the symptoms remained exactly the same.

I'm running out of ideas. My next guess would be the gas line itself has low pressure (we're at 7,000 foot altitude, so it's supposed to be higher). I have another fireplace in the basement and it has no issues starting or remaining lit....though the flames don't look particularly big and bright orange. There are no other 'low pressure' indications in the home (furnaces, water heaters and kitchen burners work great). I have not measured the pressure at the valve as I don't currently own the proper equipment.

Anybody got any idea of where I should look next?

Thanks in advance.

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  • Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Once you have the fire going, what does the flame do as it's "shutting down"? And, you should probably take our tour so you'll know how best to participate here.
    – Daniel Griscom
    Oct 26, 2019 at 22:14
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    Wild guess - Is there a flue flow sensor that can shut it down because of inadequate flow. That is, there is not enough air coming into the house to permit natural draft. Your furnace very likely has an ejector fan in the flue and a range does not need one. Simple to test, open a window and try to start the fireplace. If it won't light , I am just another nut on the internet.
    – blacksmith37
    Oct 26, 2019 at 23:34
  • Thanks. When the flame goes out, it just goes out. No sputtering nor popping and flames don't rise or lower.......the flames just all quietly disappear at the same time. The pilot light does remain lit though (intermittent system). After reviewing the installation manual, wiring diagrams and parts list, I don't see anything about a flue flow sensor. There's an air shutter up the exhaust venting somewhere that required a manual setting upon installation, but it doesn't tie back electronically to valve in any manner that I can see, including tracing wires visually out of the control module.
    – Mogrity
    Oct 27, 2019 at 21:21
  • And the open window didn't solve the problem. Fireplace lights, but won't stay lit. Thanks though.
    – Mogrity
    Oct 27, 2019 at 21:23

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Similar issue with an Escape 42DV. Different in that the flame goes out and re-ignites immediately.

Initially, the flame would go out and come back on as if someone switched it off and then back on really quickly. Then, the problem worsened. Finally, the fire would go out (along with the pilot) and stay out until the system was turned off (powered) and then turned back on.

I proceeded to replace the thermocouple and the controller. Same issue. It wasn't until I replaced the Dexen IPI electronic ignition control module that the fireplace returned to being somewhat stable.

I'm still having periodic shut-off/start-up within a second or two. But, it can't be the electronics, since they're all new. Also, I relocated them away from the firebox, so they'd stay cooler (thinking they themselves may be getting overheated); and there are no ancillary sensors. This is a Direct Vent fireplace, where the flue is a jacketed pipe, pulling cool air in from the outside by pushing hot out the center pipe (creating a vacuum). There is no fan in the flue.

The only thing left is to have the flue cleaned. It is possible that there is a build up (after 11 years) of soot that is affecting the airflow, choking the fire momentarily, and the flue needs to be cleaned.

Hope my experience helps.

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