Modine PA50AB - Why am I afraid to use it?

[RichTJ99]

Hi,

The house I bought came with a Modine 50,000 btu heater. There is a thermostat on the other side of the garage & it looks about as old as the heater.

My propane guy came out when I bought the house, turned on the pilot light and showed me that it all worked. He shut it down for the summer.

So, I am a little hesitant to start it for two reasons:

1. Due to its age, I have a fear that the pilot light will go out, the garage will fill with propane, and then blow up when I open the garage.
2. I dont work that often in the garage & cant figure if its worth keeping on all winter for the 25 days I will be using it.

There doesnt seem to be anything wrong with it. I dont know if I should get it checked out (the gas guy thought it was OK). I might just be paranoid.

Are newer units more reliable or could they also have the same issues?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Jeff Ivers]

That looks just about like the one I bought used and installed in my shop a year ago. I love it! I have a friend with an even older unit in his shop. If you have concerns, have a licensed heat/air person inspect it. If there are any doubts about the pilot light and automatic shutoff, they should be able to install a replacement. I keep mine turned down all the way and then kick it up to about 70 when I go out to work.

 

[nehog]

I believe this heater has a thermocouple to prevent that from happening. However, documentation seems scarce (the only link I have is now dead...) so only a physical examination would tell you for sure. (The info/specification plate says there is a thermocouple safety in this heater.)

 

[Shocker]

I would use it. I bet that thing will keep on working long after you are dead.

The old wall furnace in our last home was built in about 1940 and it was humming along just fine last time I talked to the owner. That was a couple of years ago.

It has a pilot light and if it goes out, the thermocouple just turns off the gas. No problem.

 

[lessersivad]

I wouldn't be concerned about the heater.

The door opener on the other hand......

 

[dave67fd]

The Modine is a great and well built heater. The installation looks like a quality one and if you don't trust the gas guy who will you trust.

If he's a pro at it and fully insected it you should be good to go.
Typically, if in question they would clean it, leak check it as well as check line/manifold pressures.

Run it for a couple hours while your in there and pay attention to it during firing cycles. Make sure it starts quicky and fully and confirm consistant heat output.

 

[ForceFed70]

Use it. Any heater built in the last 40years will cut all gas flow if the pilot light goes out. You could always do a test...blow out the pilot and see what happens. I bet that within 60 seconds you won't be able to re-light the pilot with a BBQ lighter.

 

[philjafo]

As was already stated, there SHOULD be a thermalcouple that shuts off the gas in the event the pilot goes out. As long as it hasn't been changed or modifed in any way, I've seen some strange and unsafe things done to furnaces. There is conversion kits available to change the pilot to hot surface ignition, safer and your not burning a small flame 24/7.

 

[volaredon]

I have a Modine here like yours (larger version) that was manufactured in 2006) and though they have other models and "options" like electronic ignition the basic Modine heater has not changed in many many years, I looked at several from places like craigslist before I got the one I did; as long as it doesnt have something wrong with it like a cracked heat exchanger use the He11 out of it and dont look back

 

[danfromsyr]

Don't be a Nancy boy. the guy said it's fine and it has safeties to ensure it doesn't "fill your garage with propane and go BOOM"

I have a much olde runit in my (larger) shop and don't have the exhaust vented.
I have a CO meter and Smoke detector that only ever complain when I fire up the snowblower (so I'm confident they're working)

 

[JakeKohl]

Hi,

The house I bought came with a Modine 50,000 btu heater. There is a thermostat on the other side of the garage & it looks about as old as the heater.

My propane guy came out when I bought the house, turned on the pilot light and showed me that it all worked. He shut it down for the summer.

So, I am a little hesitant to start it for two reasons:

1. Due to its age, I have a fear that the pilot light will go out, the garage will fill with propane, and then blow up when I open the garage.
2. I dont work that often in the garage & cant figure if its worth keeping on all winter for the 25 days I will be using it.

There doesnt seem to be anything wrong with it. I dont know if I should get it checked out (the gas guy thought it was OK). I might just be paranoid.

Are newer units more reliable or could they also have the same issues?

Thanks,
Rich

You can get a propane leak alarm - a lot of RV's use them (although I think they also detect CO2)...put one of those in, get some peace of mind, and work warm!

 

[RichTJ99]

You guys are funny! Ok, I wont be a Nancy. Anyone have instructions on how to light the pilot?

Two other questions:

1. The thermostat is set to 50 degrees & while the pilots not on, the fan keeps kicking on (probably to push out heat that is not there). I see there is a breaker to turn off the fan & there seems to be no on/off switch.

My question is, if I turn the breaker off, will that turn the pilot light off?

2. I have attached a photo of my current thermostat. Can I update that to something more current? Is it a specific thermostat for this model?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[DPelletier]

I'm late to this one;

yes, the unit should have a thermocouple and therefore be safe

i always recommend a propane leak detector just in case.

that is a generic Honeywell stat and you can replace it though you'll need to run more thermostat wires and probably install a low voltage transformer if you want a decent programmable unit.

your blower fan should be thermostatically controlled and you shouldn't turn it on or off or play around with the controls, BUT it also shouldn't be running if the unit hasn't fired so there could be something wrong with the fan switch.
Dave

 

[Milton Shaw]

If the gas valve as a bare copper (looks like 12gauge wire) going to it that's the lead to he thermo couple. It ends at the valve with a hex nut, that's the thermo couple for sure. To light the unit turn valve to pilot position push down on most designs (some have separate button) light pilot with long match (rolled up paper tube) hold button down for about a minute and then release if pilot stays lit, turn valve to on position, turn thermostat up and your heat should come on. The fan should delay about 60 seconds before it comes on and then should run after cutoff for about 60 seconds again to cool off the heat exchanger.

 

[RichTJ99]

So i called my propane company to find out when they could come out to light the pilot. They said 2 weeks & $150 dollars for the visit. I said no thanks.

Thanks for saving me $150, I was able to light it & it works. I didnt go look to check if its still on.

If the power goes off, does the pilot light go off too?

Thanks for the heat guys!

In terms of a new thermostat, is there something specific I should look for?

 

[Highbeam]

The pilot light won't go out if the power goes out. If the pilot light were to go out for whatever reason, gas flow to the pilot light circuit would stop. No heat until you relight pilot.

 

[Socophreak]

So i called my propane company to find out when they could come out to light the pilot. They said 2 weeks & $150 dollars for the visit. I said no thanks.

Thanks for saving me $150, I was able to light it & it works. I didnt go look to check if its still on.

If the power goes off, does the pilot light go off too?

Thanks for the heat guys!

In terms of a new thermostat, is there something specific I should look for?

The thermocouple generates the only electricity that holds the valve open. If there is no flame or the thermocouple breaks, the safety valve will close.

 

[imperialman67]

Interesting thread on this Modine heater.
I have been following it closely as i am sort of in the same situation.
My hang down garage heater also has a pilot light and is old.
It is a Janitrol ,natural gas ,and is of the middle 50's vintage.
Works perfectly ,and has for the 22 years I have used it.
I would light the pilot light every October, use the heater thru the winter as needed, then shut off the gas to the unit every April or so.
Never had a problem, but after reading this thread yesterday ,I went looking for a thermocouple hooked up to the heater. The short answer is I don't think there is one. So now I'm thinking that I should keep the gas turned off to the unit ,then relight the pilot whenever I need to heat the garage.
I want to ask if its common to have pilot lights snuff out , but I guess all it takes is once.....

 

[Socophreak]

Interesting thread on this Modine heater.
I have been following it closely as i am sort of in the same situation.
My hang down garage heater also has a pilot light and is old.
It is a Janitrol ,natural gas ,and is of the middle 50's vintage.
Works perfectly ,and has for the 22 years I have used it.
I would light the pilot light every October, use the heater thru the winter as needed, then shut off the gas to the unit every April or so.
Never had a problem, but after reading this thread yesterday ,I went looking for a thermocouple hooked up to the heater. The short answer is I don't think there is one. So now I'm thinking that I should keep the gas turned off to the unit ,then relight the pilot whenever I need to heat the garage.
I want to ask if its common to have pilot lights snuff out , but I guess all it takes is once.....

What does the pilot look like? Pictures say a thousand words.

There are older safeties that use a mercury filled capillary bulb. These are still quite safe, as they will shut off gas to main burner in event of failure. The only real problem is the mercury.

If you have to hold Down a button to light, turn a knob, etc. the pilot, you have some kind of safety device.

 

[imperialman67]

What does the pilot look like? Pictures say a thousand words.

There are older safeties that use a mercury filled capillary bulb. These are still quite safe, as they will shut off gas to main burner in event of failure. The only real problem is the mercury.

If you have to hold Down a button to light, turn a knob, etc. the pilot, you have some kind of safety device.

I will post a picture , but no. I have always turned on the main gas supply to the furnace, stuck a propane torch at the pilot lite ,and had it lite with out doing anything else

 

[RichTJ99]

So I went to the garage last night & the pilot light was off. I relit it last night & this morning it is still on - so i guess thats good.

One strange thing is that if the unit has say 6 rows of where the propane lights, I noticed (last night) only 4 rows were lit. I took a long fireplace match, and was able to light the other two rows so all 6 were on. I will try to turn it on again later today to see if only 4 light on their own & if i need to help the other 2.

Is this an indication that there is some sort of problem?

 

[imperialman67]

Here is a picture of the pilot, tag on the heater and gas line into the heater.

 

[imperialman67]

Apologies RichTJ99...didn't mean to hijack this thread..learning as you are about these old heaters

 

[philjafo]

So I went to the garage last night & the pilot light was off. I relit it last night & this morning it is still on - so i guess thats good.

One strange thing is that if the unit has say 6 rows of where the propane lights, I noticed (last night) only 4 rows were lit. I took a long fireplace match, and was able to light the other two rows so all 6 were on. I will try to turn it on again later today to see if only 4 light on their own & if i need to help the other 2.

Is this an indication that there is some sort of problem?

Yes that is an indication of some sort of problem if not all of the burners light by themselves. You should get it checked by a professional HVAC company, make sure you check on their background too there's lots of people out there pretending to be professionals.

 

[danfromsyr]

there are little plates by/across the burners that help the fire leap to all of the burners.
or there are larger jet/orifce holes in the burner at an end that directs the flame to the next row.. these may be dirty.. can be cleaned with a pick.

if you want to turn it off but not turn it off. you can install an interupt switch on the wire for the Thermostat.. either wire if it's interupted with a light switch it won't come on at all.

since it has a pilot it should stay on even if the breaker is off, this is how I run my hanging heater.

 

[RichTJ99]

When you say clean it with a pick, can I use an old toothbrush or something?