What's wrong with this wall heater?

[pancho400cid]

My house was built in 1955 and this Venetian pink wall heater has been heating the bathroom ever since.... without issues until recently.

It's natural gas, match-light (no pilot). I assume it's just a regulator letting gas flow to the burner, which is cast iron and has a bunch of holes in the top to let gas out to be burned.

What would make the one area burn tall with yellow flame? Note the blackened spot on the face of the heater.

We quit using it since it's acting up. The only thing I know to do is pull it down and disassemble and clean it. Any input / advice?

NOTE - I HAVE LIVED WITH THIS THING FOR 20 YEARS WITHOUT KILLING ANYONE. I DO NOT NEED BASIC SAFETY LECTURES!!!

Thank you.

 

[Fordguy1964]

We have large natural gas heaters in our plant that are just a larger version of this. Sometimes ours do the same thing and we pull them down and clean them. This normally fixes them.

 

[jshillin]

yep, very simple heater. Needs cleaned, likely needs it BAD if it's that old.

 

[TractorJeff]

If that Manifold is Cast Iron, then in the summer humidity rust/scale builds up inside which is probably blocking the air flow to that particular Jet or a Spider moved in there.
Meaning I agree, just clean it.

 

[pancho400cid]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Poking around the internet more, I think it is a Peerless Model 7602E - it appears to be exactly what is in the Ebay listing below - complete with some disassembly pics:

https://www.ebay.com/c/1740318125

 

[ant.foste]

Yellow indicates a fuel/air ratio light on fuel. Clean the gas manifold and the little holes.

 

[TRITOON]

I love natural gas bathroom heaters. I wish I had one. Clear out the gas holes and it will run for another 20 years.

 

[David0858]

A spider putting what looks like sticky cotton in the tubes will do it, too. They've done that to our grill a couple times.

 

[hardalada]

The last time I saw a heater like that it was running on town gas (coal gasified) and was in a Convent ...about 1963!

The Nuns were in the habit of lining up rain-drenched kids in front of them and steam drying them quickly to get the kids back into class ASAP.

We took the pain without a wimple....

 

[red61cj5]

Yup, likely nothing but dusty. Mine does the same thing every few years.

 

[TRITOON]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Poking around the internet more, I think it is a Peerless Model 7602E - it appears to be exactly what is in the Ebay listing below - complete with some disassembly pics:

https://www.ebay.com/c/1740318125

The best part is no moving parts, im sure a quick clean will get it back and working for the next 50 years.

If it didnt cost me a crazy amount to have a new gas line run i would be tempted to get one installed. We have a newer house but our master bathroom is large and it gets cold in there. I've thought numerous times it would be nice to have a cheap way to keep it warm.

We rely on a electric bathroom heater that has a built in timer now. It helps, but not when you wake up multiple times a night.

 

[pancho400cid]

Thanks again for the input all.

Yep... for lots of heat "right now", you can't beat these heaters. It's 8,000 BTU/hr which is 2,342 Watts.

I hope to get into it this weekend.

Looks like parts are not hard to get. I found some new stainless reflectors for it which I'm about to order. The old ones are rusty and crud flakes off of them.



...

 

[fsae0607]

Yellow indicates a fuel/air ratio light on fuel. Clean the gas manifold and the little holes.

Yup, this.

I would take it apart, clean the manifold real good and inspect it for cracks, etc.

Re-assemble and keep on truckin'

 

[Stillgottimefor1]

We have exactly the same one that color in our mid-century River House. The toilet used to match until some lazy person replaced it because it had calcium buildup in it.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[pancho400cid]

Which river?

 

[Stillgottimefor1]

The Frio


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[lockhart3]

Tall yellow in one area could be caused by deterioration around the gas orifice or air shutter. Too much air flowing in that area.

Your cleaning process will expose it if so - good luck. Cool old heater [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pancho400cid]

Tall yellow in one area could be caused by deterioration around the gas orifice or air shutter. Too much air flowing in that area.

Thanks... we shall see.

The Frio

Cool! (literally LOL)

 

[nadogail]

Too easy, improper fuel and air mixture.

 

[pancho400cid]

Hey all - Now that the big winter storm is behind us I thought I'd post "the rest of the story" on this wall heater.

Took it down, cleaned it up (nasty! Surprised it was working as well as it did. Cleaned the orifices with a suitable drill bit), removed old paint/caulk from the outside with acetone and a razor blade, replaced all the rusty hardware (#10-24 stovebolts of various lengths & square nuts mostly) with stainless, put new stainless outer reflectors on it, and then reinstalled it (with screws - was nails - which makes me suspect it's never been pulled down since it was installed in the 50's). It's working perfectly now!

I still want to try to get the black stain off the front (solvent wasn't really cutting it), but I had to get the heater up and installed before the big storm. Glad I did! We lost electricity and water, but never lost gas. Between the wall heater, the gas range in the kitchen and my garage space heater, we could keep the inside temp in the 50's in the house. I'd never sleep with un-vented heat running in the house, but it made the daytime temps bearable.

Appreciate the input!


...

 

[rlitman]

That is an awesome little heater, and with the stainless reflectors I expect it should serve you even better than before for a very long time. I love it, and the job you did on it, and I wish I had a few of those myself!

I really don't think that that few BTU of unvented heat is going to pose any danger in an old (not so well sealed) house, so I'm glad that nobody went all safety crazy on you. Still, in a well sealed modern house, it might not be the best idea, so I get why these are out of style.

As for the stain, I'd try a magic eraser, and if that doesn't work, a hint of oven cleaner with the magic eraser.

 

[pancho400cid]

Thanks! "Not well sealed" is very true.

I may try those cleaning tips. Speaking of oven cleaner - it is very hard to come by these days. One grocery store manager said that due to Covid, it was hard to get. I doubted him at first but soon learned NO stores near me had it in stock. Finally found an on-line seller who actually shipped my 3-pack, after a couple of others took the order, but canceled later.

 

[MoonRise]

WARNING :

Oven cleaner WILL remove paint!

It is usually spray lye.

 

[pancho400cid]

Thanks - Agree the "good stuff" has lye in it. I use oven cleaner for quite a few chores.

That heater is covered in porcelain enamel (or whatever you call it) kinda like the inside of an oven. Still - I'd try an inconspicuous spot first.

 

[MoonRise]

Actual porcelain is 'glass' (or close to it). Lye -shouldn't- hurt that.

Enamel is just 'glossy' paint. Sometimes a little 'harder' than plain/standard paint.

Start with the mildest removal method. On-line folks say that the Magic-Eraser usually works. Start with that first and work up from there.

If the Magic-Eraser doesn't work and the finish is actual glass/porcelain, I might go up to a non-abrasive cleanser (Comet/Ajax or such).

Of course, if that 'soot stain' is actually 'burnt' paint, then it's no longer a 'stain'. Uh-oh.

 

[rlitman]

Thanks! "Not well sealed" is very true.

I may try those cleaning tips. Speaking of oven cleaner - it is very hard to come by these days. One grocery store manager said that due to Covid, it was hard to get. I doubted him at first but soon learned NO stores near me had it in stock. Finally found an on-line seller who actually shipped my 3-pack, after a couple of others took the order, but canceled later.

Oven cleaner out of stock? Wow, people are weird/stupid.

WARNING :

Oven cleaner WILL remove paint!

It is usually spray lye.

Yes, exactly. I recommended lye based cleaner.

Actual porcelain is 'glass' (or close to it). Lye -shouldn't- hurt that.

Enamel is just 'glossy' paint. Sometimes a little 'harder' than plain/standard paint.

Start with the mildest removal method. On-line folks say that the Magic-Eraser usually works. Start with that first and work up from there.

If the Magic-Eraser doesn't work and the finish is actual glass/porcelain, I might go up to a non-abrasive cleanser (Comet/Ajax or such).

Of course, if that 'soot stain' is actually 'burnt' paint, then it's no longer a 'stain'. Uh-oh.

My assumption was that this is porcelain enamel. That's reasonable based on the age, as well as the fact that it's a heater. If this were painted, there's no way it would have aged so gracefully.

But you're absolutely right. If this is paint, I don't have a good answer for the soot, because even magic erasers will abrade it. Maybe one of those soot remover rubber sponges?

If it is actually porcelain enamel (I'm 99% sure of that), then lye is your best bet for a chemical at removing the carbon. It works on the same carbon in ovens, that have the same porcelain enamel interiors.

Ok, so oven cleaner is not on your shelf? Do you have Purple Power? That's lye based. Simple Green (undiluted) should work too if you have that. TSP (or TSP substitute, which is sodium-metasilicate) would work, but these risk hazing the surface if allowed to dry without rinsing off.

As for lye hurting glass, it actually does, but at a glacial pace. Concentrated lye shouldn't be stored in glass bottles for that reason, but for the purposes of cleaning, it's just fine, and lye solutions are fine to use in glass.

Comet was traditionally abrasive (pumice based), but I believe they have non-abrasive (or really, less abrasive) formulations made to compete with the likes of Bon Ami. Pumice should be safe to use on porcelain enamel, as it's actually softer than the glass, but melamine (Magic eraser) is softer still.

 

[pancho400cid]

Not to beat this heater story to death but....

The black spot literally removed itself. Went to look at it last night and the spot was gone. I asked my wife if she cleaned it. She said "no".

I guess all the operating at wide open somehow burned-off / re-vaporized / removed the soot stain??!! Pretty baffled, but I'll accept any problem that solves itself.

Also - I'm a bit disappointed no-one noticed the clocked screws! LOL.

Thanks again!

...

 

[MoonRise]

Now that you mention it ...

The top right screw head is about 5 deg off.

Glad that the soot burned itself off. Either that, or someone licked it off.

 

[rlitman]

Not to beat this heater story to death but....

The black spot literally removed itself. Went to look at it last night and the spot was gone. I asked my wife if she cleaned it. She said "no"...

Ok, that's pretty cool. The exhaust vapors are fairly corrosive, and that spot is right in their path, so it kind of makes sense to me, but it's neat nevertheless. I suppose that's also one reason it stayed so clean all these years.

As for the clocked screws, I'd probably have seen it if they were slotted, but I look past that on Phillips. I did notice the stainless screws with matching finish washers, but failed to compliment them. It was a great touch.

 

[Bert_]

Not to beat this heater story to death but....

The black spot literally removed itself. Went to look at it last night and the spot was gone. I asked my wife if she cleaned it. She said "no".

I guess all the operating at wide open somehow burned-off / re-vaporized / removed the soot stain??!! Pretty baffled, but I'll accept any problem that solves itself.

Also - I'm a bit disappointed no-one noticed the clocked screws! LOL.

Thanks again!

...

I didn't notice that they were clocked. I did think to myself they'd be more appropriate if they were slotted instead of philips.

Really only even notice that because I did it when putting the hardware back on my kitchen cabinets. Needed a few new screws. Philips wasn't around in those days.

 

[rlitman]

I didn't notice that they were clocked. I did think to myself they'd be more appropriate if they were slotted instead of philips.

Really only even notice that because I did it when putting the hardware back on my kitchen cabinets. Needed a few new screws. Philips wasn't around in those days.

I keep drawers full of old slotted screws for stuff like that. But I don't have anything slotted in stainless. Truth be told, cruciform heads in stainless screws from that era are perfectly appropriate. Though they would be Frearson (aka Reed & Prince) and not Phillips, they were quite common on marine hardware, so I wouldn't say these were inappropriate.

 

[Bert_]

I keep drawers full of old slotted screws for stuff like that. But I don't have anything slotted in stainless. Truth be told, cruciform heads in stainless screws from that era are perfectly appropriate. Though they would be Frearson (aka Reed & Prince) and not Phillips, they were quite common on marine hardware, so I wouldn't say these were inappropriate.

No worries. I think it looks great

 

[75gmck25]

If you do have any concerns about CO levels, the cheap CO detectors are only about $10-15. I installed a digital one when I bought vent-free gas logs for my old fireplace, but it never showed the CO level going up in the room when we ran the fireplace.

Bruce

 

[rlitman]

If you do have any concerns about CO levels, the cheap CO detectors are only about $10-15. I installed a digital one when I bought vent-free gas logs for my old fireplace, but it never showed the CO level going up in the room when we ran the fireplace.

Bruce

I wholeheartedly feel that every house should have a CO detector. Even those that don't burn fuel. But there's just no way that THIS heater in THIS home is a CO risk.