Garage Heat

[CrowRiverRat83]

I have an older Modine natural gas heater in my garage that hasnt worked since I moved in over a year ago. The fan kicks on, but I can't get it to light. I'm leaning towards selling it and getting a wood burning barrel stove. I've got lots of wood, so I like the fact it would be free to heat. I would only fire it up for projects in the garage, not to heat all the time. My question is with the vent pipe. Would I be ok just hooking on to the exsiting vent pipe from the gas heater? Is there a thicker type that needs to be used with a wood burner? The exsiting vent goes through the ceiling and out the roof nicely, so I really don't want to rip it out. Thanks.

[WallEYES]

Your gas vent for unit heater is probablty class B double wall aluminum/galvanized, not to be used for wood burning appliances. You need to get a class A chimney for wood burning appliances/equipment...made of stainless steel. Just fix your Modine unit.... I would start with the thermocoupler if it is standing pilot or change out the gas valve if this does not work....cheeper than a stainless vent.

[CrowRiverRat83]

Yeah, I guess I'm trying to decide the pros and cons of both. Where would I get a new thermocoupler, and other parts from? Online?

[hunt fish repeat]

The first step is to determine if you have a standing pilot light or ignighter. Is there a fan that pushes the exhaust out of the furnace?

[WallEYES]

Try Minvalco in S. Louis Park

[birdswacker]

You should check with your insurance carrier. I've heard that some companies will not give you coverage with a wood stove in a garage?

[ishy]

Has far as parts for the Modine go>>>> Dey Distributing in Coon Rapids is an excellent parts house for many appliances for the do it your selfer. Great people to work with also..

[CrowRiverRat83]

Well it turns out I'm not getting any gas to the heater at all. There is a valve on the house meter with a line going to the garage. Turned it on, and could hear/feel gas running. Then there is a regulater outside the garage. Once the pipe goes into the garage, there is another valve followed by another regulater. When opening the inside valve, there is no hiss of gas coming through. I dissasembled the pipe after the inside reg, and turned the inside valve. Nothing. So I'm assuming the reg outside the garage is bad. Can they clog up so as not to allow gas through at all? Where could I get a couple new natural gas regulators? Thanks.

[CAMAN]

Turn off the valve in the basement and go to the bad regulator and give it a couple firm (but gentle) taps with a wrench or a small hammer. It may just be stuck. Turn the gas back on and see if it fixed it.

[Tom7227]

Isn't that a bit of over regulation?

[Eric Wettschreck]

Yes, regulators can clog, or get a small deposit in them. Especially the ones that arn't used often, like for garage heat. As stated, give it a couple of taps. If this doesn't work, replace it. Regulators, thermocouples, and many other small appliance parts can be found at a good hardware store. I'm not familiar with your area so I can't name a name, but normally any Ace hardware carries these.

Thermocouples are only a couple bucks, regulators can hit you for aboot 50 bucks or so.

As far as a wood burner chimney, your existing one won't cut it. Also, as stated, check with your ins company. They may drop you like a bad habit if they find a wood burner. Or, your premium may take a serious increase. It's a lot easier and safer, IMO, to fix your gas furnace.

[CrowRiverRat83]

Thanks a lot for the tips guys. I tried tapping on the reg with no luck. So I will look into getting a new one and a new thermocouple while I'm at it. The therm that's in there now looks pretty rough.

[Tom7227]

Is there any way to take the system apart so you can see if there's flow past a regulator. Sort of disappoint if you replace #3, then #2 and find out that the one that's kaflooey is #1. I'm not an expert at anything other than finding the hard/expensive way to do things and learning to try and avoid them in the future. Even though the thermocouple is cheap why replace it if the problem is downstream?

[WallEYES]

You should not have 2 regulators to that piece of equipment. If you are on a high pressure system the regulator reduces from 2psi to 11 inch water column...why is there 2????

[CrowRiverRat83]

I am confused as to why there are two regulators also. I think I'm just going to replace the whole section from where the line comes out of the ground outside the garage, to a new reg just inside the garage. This way there should be no doubts, seeing as though the inside reg is old too.

[WallEYES]

RANGERGUY

I was thinking before you go thru the troubleshooting...find out from your gas supplier/ company how much pressure is coming in after the meter regulator... I remember running into a 5 psi system where a regulator was on the exterior and regulators at each piece of equipment....very rare, but have seen this. find if your on a 2psi system 1 regulator is then involved....usually the most common one is a maxitrol 325.

[Tom7227]

I just re-read the original post. I'm pretty sure you can kiss your homeowners insurance goodbye if you put in a barrel stove. They got real picky many years ago about what they would cover and I think some will accept a UL approve stove but there's no way a barrel stove would qualify. They may never find out and you may never have a problem but if it takes off you're going to be out whatever was in that garage and maybe the house as well if they're close together.

[CrowRiverRat83]

WallEYES, thanks for the info. I'll be sure to check it out.

Tom, I hear what you're saying about the insurance. Sure would have been nice, but I'll just stick to fixing the Modine.