Ventless heater problems

[oldgoat]

I have a 30K Desa ventless heater in a 22 x 26 insulated garage. I don't use it all that much, but have never had a problem with it in the 4 years I've had it. This season though it has gotten to where it will shut off after anywhere of 3 to 6 or even 8 hours of running OK. Other times I have no trouble at all. The only thing that has changed is that I had a new hot water heater last fall installed, but I've turned everything on and the flame still burns blue and doesn't pull down. Changed the thermo coupling and cleaned it since I do woodworking out there also. I have a carbon monoxide alarm out there and it nevers goes off either. It does seem to be worse when the son in law is out there with the rattle cans spray painting the shelves for the kids rooms. Could that fool the oxygen shutdown system by any chance? It shuts the gas off fine so I'm not too worried about gas buildup, but I would feel a whole lot better if I could get the thing to either fail or work all the time. Any ideas?

 

[merlinpro]

I use a procom ventless heater in my 24x24 and it will shut down at times if i use carb or brake clean or paint cans...not all the time but it will shut down.

I believe it (the heater) picks up air from the bottom so the detector you have will be slower on picking up a signal as compared to the heater, in other words, the chemicals are ending up closer to the ground so the heater will pick this up and shut down...mine does it.

It can be a pain in the ***, but its doing its job!

Hope this helps...

 

[oldgoat]

Thank you for the info. Makes me less worried now. That was about the only thing that I could think of that might be the problem. Mine draws from the bottom also. Does the sensor require cleaning and where is the thing or what does it look like?

 

[merlinpro]

Not sure what or where on the sensor, never had it apart...yet!

I would not clean it as it may be damaged?

Since the heater recirculates the air in the garage-building, if you spray brake clean or carb cleaner, or rattle cans, you will get some serious fumes for sure! This i know!

I think all you can do is really try to keep them chemicals away from the heater...what i do now is clean my stuff out near a door, or use a natural type of cleaner.

I love my heater though!
Good luck.
dave.