Just lit our motorhome gas fire & had one heck of a blowback. Help.

[ambulancekidd]

We popped a new cylinder of gas into the motorhome today, I lit the fridge gas supply with no problems. Then I lit the gas fire & as usual it lit first time. I turned it down too quickly & it went out, so I turned it off, then back on, sparked it & bang, I blew a hole in my trousers, hit the roof & woke up half the neighbourhood!
Hazel came out to see where the bang had come from? By then I was trying to light it again, but it wouldn't stay lit.
Its an old TRUMA heater with the blown air system on the back & now I'm not sure what to do. The gas is now isolated, its the old fashioned regulator on the bottle & its less than a year old, I've never had any problems with it before.

All advice will be gratefully received.

 

[gus-lopez]

How can it blow a hole in your trousers as it shoulñd be sealed from the room? They are a type of 'balanced flu' . I.e draw the air in from outside & exhaust the same way

 

[Figaro]

Maybe he blew a hole in his trousers with the shock ?

 

[ambulancekidd]

Maybe he blew a hole in his trousers with the shock ?

Exactly right!

 

[Googlebot]

I have done this on one of those, probably the gas built up as the thermocouple was open as it initially lit.

Apparently the noise outside was louder than in.

I would leave it to clear for a while and try again. It may have knocked something out if it won’t light now.

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[steve69]

Sounds like leak somewhere.
Turn the gas on again but don't light it. Keep sniffing for gas for a few minutes around the fire.

 

[nicholsong]

Personally I would call an LPG-qualified gas engineer before I touched it again.

 

[Spriddler]

I have done this on one of those, probably the gas built up as the thermocouple was open as it initially lit.

In one of my manuals (fridge or Carver heater) it says to wait (a minute? 2 minutes?) for any gas to clear before attempting a relight.

 

[pappajohn]

How can it blow a hole in your trousers as it shoulñd be sealed from the room? They are a type of 'balanced flu' . I.e draw the air in from outside & exhaust the same way

We had one with a gas fire (separate boiler, no blown air) same as you would find in a house .
If it went out after the thermocouple had opened the valve it would still be feeding gas for a few seconds as it cooled.
Instantly relighting would ignite any free gas.....with a bang

 

[Just smiffy]

I have done this on one of those, probably the gas built up as the thermocouple was open as it initially lit.

Apparently the noise outside was louder than in.

I would leave it to clear for a while and try again. It may have knocked something out if it won’t light now.

We had one with a gas fire (separate boiler, no blown air) same as you would find in a house .
If it went out after the thermocouple had opened the valve it would still be feeding gas for a few seconds as it cooled.
Instantly relighting would ignite any free gas.....with a bang

I’m with these thoughts….

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[TheBig1]

You may well have damaged or dislodged the thermocouple. Not done one for a few years, but the tip used to burn off. As I recall the replacement sometimes came with a side order of swear words when you tried to get the old one out

 

[mitzimad]

Same with any appliance you light manually once it fails to light your supposed to wait before relighting gas is explosive in certain concentrations 5 to 15 per cent if i remember correctly i had the front panel of a boiler popp off due to exsplosive ignition hit me full in the face

 

[Odd-no-more]

Same with any appliance you light manually once it fails to light your supposed to wait before relighting gas is explosive in certain concentrations 5 to 15 per cent if i remember correctly i had the front panel of a boiler popp off due to exsplosive ignition hit me full in the face

What he said
Always wait at least 3 minutes after any appliance goes out before attempting to relight it.

 

[PP Bear]

So, turn on the gas, but don’t light it and then see if you can smell it

If needs be, use a candle for a bit more light

 

[Steve and Denise]

We had a similar thing happen on a new Autotrail back in 2010 big bang the front came off the fire went back to the dealers and they fitted a taller flu on the roof never gave any more problems,
like others on here I understood the fire was a sealed system so not sure why the front of the fire jumped off

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[pagey]

I have done that big bang and it put the cowl on top into orbit

 

[Trevor Wbm]

Mine did this first time I lit it after summer a couple of years ago. Put it down to an odd air-gas mix as the pipe filled up and filed it under 'That's odd'. Hasn't happened since. (I suppose I should now write something about this being potentially bad advice, but .... )

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Currently on a site and our gas fire has failed to light: dont think the piezo battery is working.
All checked and tested back at home before coming away, with success and as should be, but have been on so many pot-holed roads to get here that I think something must have dislodged.
Will not attempt any repair utill back home, but thankfully have our electric heater whilst on hook-up, so can keep warm and dry.
Would be brilliant if I could figure a way to channel the fan heat from the electric heater into the blown-air pipework that the gas fire uses, to get a mor even distribution, and efficient, distribution of heat.
Will have a ponder

 

[ambulancekidd]

Progress report....Gas back on, fire lit first time & settled down perfectly.
However, the chimney cowl has been blown off, I couldn't get the roof checked today to see where it landed, but I remember a bump sound on the roof a few seconds after the blow back, so its probably still up there. Oh joy.

 

[TheBig1]

Progress report....Gas back on, fire lit first time & settled down perfectly.
However, the chimney cowl has been blown off, I couldn't get the roof checked today to see where it landed, but I remember a bump sound on the roof a few seconds after the blow back, so its probably still up there. Oh joy.

They make an effective propane powered cannon. Maybe the cap landed in Red Square outside the Kremlin. I bet Putin is shaking in his boots, thinking that there is some new deadly projectile being used to get him

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[Googlebot]

Phew!

Glad it’s lit and working.

The cowl will be cheap or free to put back on so that’s a result.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Phew!

Glad it’s lit and working.

The cowl will be cheap or free to put back on so that’s a result.

Much appreciated, thank you.

 

[TinaLes]

So when will Hazel let you back in the house Robert?, Fess up, what did you say or not do this time, shops open tomorrow for flowers & chocolates, but make sure you get the ones she likes.
Have a peaceful evening in the van in the meantime.
Good luck, stay warm mate.
LES

 

[Gaston aires]

You might just have invented a mobile bird scarer.

 

[suavecarve]

Progress report....Gas back on, fire lit first time & settled down perfectly.
However, the chimney cowl has been blown off, I couldn't get the roof checked today to see where it landed, but I remember a bump sound on the roof a few seconds after the blow back, so its probably still up there. Oh joy.

Is your van covered by CCTV you own ?

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[MisterB]

Is your van covered by CCTV you own ?

If so post on here and we will all have a good laugh see if we can spot it for you ..

 

[suavecarve]

If so post on here and we will all have a good laugh see if we can spot it for you ..

I hadnt thought of that much

 

[ambulancekidd]

Is your van covered by CCTV you own ?

Yes but not overlooking the motorhome yet. Weather terrible today, so if the cowl is on the roof, it won't be by tomorrow lol.