Gas starter for wood burning fireplace

[LSU]

I have a wood burning fireplace.

it uses a gas “starter” log.

My starter log is clogged up/worn out.

I‘d like to replace it. It is a normal/standard starter log. I installed it 29+ years ago.

Probably standard thread size.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Wheelingit]

Nothing new or groundbreaking. You can get them on line or from a fireplace store.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

If by "starter log" you are referring to a piece of iron pipe with holes or slots in it that extends out from the side of the firebox under the grate, I have had that style and would never have one again. I have a piece of iron pipe that extends out only about 2 inches from the side of the firebox with a standard pipe cap on it with a 1/8 inch hole in the center. Works great and much easier to replace a cap then a length of pipe.

 

[nadogail]

I replaced mine with a "Gas Log" i think we last lit it 5 years years ago.

 

[cfk]

If by "starter log" you are referring to a piece of iron pipe with holes or slots in it that extends out from the side of the firebox under the grate, I have had that style and would never have one again. I have a piece of iron pipe that extends out only about 2 inches from the side of the firebox with a standard pipe cap on it with a 1/8 inch hole in the center. Works great and much easier to replace a cap then a length of pipe.

I have the iron pipe, but I am interested in your "upgrade". So your flame just shooter out horizontally from the cap?

Have a pic?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I have the iron pipe, but I am interested in your "upgrade". So your flame just shooter out horizontally from the cap?

Have a pic?

Her you go:

 

[cfk]

Her you go:

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[4x4Pete]

Wow that would be so illegal in Ontario! TSSA would be doing backflips to find out who to fine on the install!!

 

[gmcgeo]

Yeah you do not see these aloud in my area either.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Wow that would be so illegal in Ontario! TSSA would be doing backflips to find out who to fine on the install!!

Yeah you do not see these aloud in my area either.

This was not my invention. It was installed as part of the prefab fireplace insert in 1992 when the house was built. Have been using it for 30 years with no problem. I am curious why someone would consider it unsafe or not allowed. Aren't all gas burners just holes in a piece of metal?

 

[cfk]

I am curious why someone would consider it unsafe or not allowed. Aren't all gas burners just holes in a piece of metal?

I could be wrong, but most stuff now has a thermocouple, meaning if the gas somehow gets turned on but there is no flame to burn it, the orifice closes so the gas doesn't fill up your house and cause an explosion... the fireplace starters have no such safety feature.

 

[4x4Pete]

I could be wrong, but most stuff now has a thermocouple, meaning if the gas somehow gets turned on but there is no flame to burn it, the orifice closes so the gas doesn't fill up your house and cause an explosion... the fireplace starters have no such safety feature.

Exactly.

 

[PoorUB]

You can still buy log lighters. They have manual gas valves and no controls. You light a piece of scrap paper, set it by the burner and open the gas valve. You leave it on until the wood logs are burning and shut of the gas.

I find it weird that they are still available with no safeties to shut the gas off if there is no flame.

 

[gmcgeo]

This was not my invention. It was installed as part of the prefab fireplace insert in 1992 when the house was built. Have been using it for 30 years with no problem. I am curious why someone would consider it unsafe or not allowed. Aren't all gas burners just holes in a piece of metal?

i know you did not create it, mixing a gas with a wood fire is not code here, there are safety's that need to be in place.

in any instance the gas being piped into the wood burning appliance would be against code.

What stops the gas if you forget to shut it off while having wood in there? say the cap fell off or the heat melted the pipe.?

 

[HoosierBuddy]

You can still buy log lighters. They have manual gas valves and no controls. You light a piece of scrap paper, set it by the burner and open the gas valve. You leave it on until the wood logs are burning and shut of the gas.

I find it weird that they are still available with no safeties to shut the gas off if there is no flame.

There's no safety on your gas burners on your range top either.

My dad worked for the gas company his entire adult life, and he had one in his wood burning fireplace. You turned it on with a removable key with a valve that was installed flush with the brick hearth. His burner was just was a piece of 1/2" black pipe with slots cut in it. I don't recall any problems with it ever. It isn't going to melt. Your andirons don't melt either. Without a bellows you're not going to get a fire hot enough to melt that pipe.

 

[gmcgeo]

well i am speachless....... you can buy them on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741D3S37/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[PoorUB]

well i am speachless....... you can buy them on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741D3S37/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You didn't believe me when I said you could still but them?

I have installed a few when I worked in HVAC. They always weirded me out as you could just open the valve and walk away!

At least they needed a "key" to open the valve so you could shut it off and hide the key.

 

[gmcgeo]

You didn't believe me when I said you could still but them?

I have installed a few when I worked in HVAC. They always weirded me out as you could just open the valve and walk away!

At least they needed a "key" to open the valve so you could shut it off and hide the key.

LOL, i really did not think so Yeah i seen them with a key in the past installed.

I didn't know you could still get them. I learn something new everyday

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I could be wrong, but most stuff now has a thermocouple, meaning if the gas somehow gets turned on but there is no flame to burn it, the orifice closes so the gas doesn't fill up your house and cause an explosion... the fireplace starters have no such safety feature.

Do gas ranges now have thermocouples? I am only familiar with thermocouples on furnaces and water heaters. I certainly hope the safety ninnies don't get fireplace starters outlawed.

 

[gmcgeo]

Do gas ranges now have thermocouples? I am only familiar with thermocouples on furnaces and water heaters. I certainly hope the safety ninnies don't get fireplace starters outlawed.

No, just the oven

 

[u3b3rg33k]

No, just the oven

my oven doesn't have a thermocouple lol. no mechanism to detect flame whatsoever.

 

[gmcgeo]

my oven doesn't have a thermocouple lol. no mechanism to detect flame whatsoever.

cool, a new rages have flame sensors in the oven. You must have an older range

 

[u3b3rg33k]

cool, a new rages have flame sensors in the oven. You must have an older range

UL listed from 2016. no flame sensor.

 

[gmcgeo]

ok, you have me. you have a pilot that you turn on? is this a commercial oven? how do you light it?

 

[u3b3rg33k]

ok, you have me. you have a pilot that you turn on? is this a commercial oven? how do you light it?

dumber than that IMHO. residential oven. SiC igniter in series with a gas valve. igniter fails, gas valve can't be powered on.

the best part is, as it ages, it becomes unreliable, but there's no error codes to tell you why your oven pre-heated but wouldn't re-light once your food was half cooked.

 

[gmcgeo]

dumber than that IMHO. residential oven. SiC igniter in series with a gas valve. igniter fails, gas valve can't be powered on.

the best part is, as it ages, it becomes unreliable, but there's no error codes to tell you why your oven pre-heated but wouldn't re-light once your food was half cooked.

, that's a mechanism... but alright. If ignitor shorts or fails its a safety. you are lighting the burner, burner comes up to temp and shuts off it wont relight with out that ignitor coming up to a certain volt.

No standing pilot, or pilot at all. great system. cant run with out power.

 

[SlappyWhite]

Why, just why?

Wood fires are super easy to light if you know the tricks, this just seems like a dangerous solution to a problem that does not exist. If nothing else the wood fibre and wax cubes with very little kindling are easy and work great.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

, that's a mechanism... but alright. If ignitor shorts or fails its a safety. you are lighting the burner, burner comes up to temp and shuts off it wont relight with out that ignitor coming up to a certain volt.

No standing pilot, or pilot at all. great system. cant run with out power.

it's clear to me that the igniter has been replaced prior to me doing it. so that tells me it has a 3 year service life (give or take) if you actually cook in it. They have a 2 year warranty, so I assume you'd have to bake a LOT of cookies to wear it out in 2 years, but I would prefer some "better" mechanism. that, or some kind of non-liar control board that does something with a failure to maintain temp and a closed door for 30 minutes. all it will alert on is over-heat. /rant

 

[PoorUB]

Why, just why?

Wood fires are super easy to light if you know the tricks, this just seems like a dangerous solution to a problem that does not exist. If nothing else the wood fibre and wax cubes with very little kindling are easy and work great.

A log lighter will start a wood fire faster and more reliably than any of the methods you can come up with! Simply just a convenience thing. Same reason you have running water and electricity in your home. it is more convenient to have it.

 

[SlappyWhite]

A log lighter will start a wood fire faster and more reliably than any of the methods you can come up with! Simply just a convenience thing. Same reason you have running water and electricity in your home. it is more convenient to have it.

I find storing/soaking fire logs in a vat of gasoline also gets the fire going really fast and is simply convenient, doesn't mean it is a smart idea.... There is a reason this gas pipe/log deal will not fly in many jurisdictions!

For the OP, I would not fix it I would just get rid of it and light the fires the simply inconvenient way. BTW, with kindling and the wax cubes it takes five minutes to get the fire going... how big of a hurry is everyone in?

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I find storing/soaking fire logs in a vat of gasoline also gets the fire going really fast and is simply convenient, doesn't mean it is a smart idea.... There is a reason this gas pipe/log deal will not fly in many jurisdictions!

For the OP, I would not fix it I would just get rid of it and light the fires the simply inconvenient way. BTW, with kindling and the wax cubes it takes five minutes to get the fire going... how big of a hurry is everyone in?

Growing up with one of these in both of our house's wood burning fireplaces, I never recall any sort of issue.

I do recall you could start a fire with wet logs. It just took longer.

On a scale of 1 to crazy, I give it about a 3. Lit coleman lanterns in our tent while camping would have been more a 7 on the same scale. Going on vacation with my mom driving her '72 Ford Country Squire with the whole family cruising down the interstate at 90 while my dad took a nap and none of us wearing seatbelts I'll say 9 on that one. Letting me ride a KZ-1000 to high school...a solid 85 on the same scale. Somehow we survived. It's a miracle.

 

[My Old Tools]

My pipe with holes is stainless steel. I found it online for $40 or so. They had multiple configurations. Mine comes up in the middle of the firebox floor, so I got the "T" configuration. Works great, never rusts, on and off with a key type valve handle. All this nanny state stuff makes my head hurt. It has gas coming out and flame is present, it burns. It continues to burn until you turn it off, whether you have wood in there or not. No safety issue at all. It's a damn fireplace designed for flames.

 

[kelpaso1]

I find storing/soaking fire logs in a vat of gasoline also gets the fire going really fast and is simply convenient, doesn't mean it is a smart idea.... There is a reason this gas pipe/log deal will not fly in many jurisdictions!

For the OP, I would not fix it I would just get rid of it and light the fires the simply inconvenient way. BTW, with kindling and the wax cubes it takes five minutes to get the fire going... how big of a hurry is everyone in?

This has got to be the worst piece of advice I have EVER heard here. No way a gas soaked log is going into my wood stove or fire place. Man you need to delete your post before someone destroys their home.

 

[gmcgeo]

cheap vegetable oil in a squirt bottle - squirt some onto a paper towel ( or any absorbent waste paper of cloth) and that makes a great fire starter. better than gas anyway.

 

[SlappyWhite]

This has got to be the worst piece of advice I have EVER heard here. No way a gas soaked log is going into my wood stove or fire place. Man you need to delete your post before someone destroys their home.

I guess I should have used a more sarcastic font....

 

[Lassen Forge]

Yeah, we got one as well for our wood burning stove about 10 years ago... It worked perfoectly for the purpose until about a year ago, when we had to replace the blue part about a year back... pretty cheap, and I understand that those are available almost everywhere...


It has performed flawlessly...



19.99 on sale at Ace Hardware... no jets to clog, no fake log to replace, no gas supply to your wood burning fireplace to backflash and burn down the house...

 

[gmcgeo]

I guess I should have used a more sarcastic font....

maybe you should have winked? that's a shore sign of sarcasm

 

[WordMan]

How they start the fire at pretty much every Cracker Barrel restaurant.