overhead workshop heater problem ?

[tigler]

My mates workshop has those overhead , gas fired , tubular radiating heaters.
One of them , the most important one over the two post lift , has stopped working. The blower fan is still operative and the power light is on but it doesn't heat up. Does anyone know how they work so we can have a dabble at sorting it out ?

 

[superls]

daft question, is there any gas

 

[pedrobedro]

Does it have a thermocouple (like a copper wire with a nut on each end) to detect the heat from the gas flame ? They break down and stop conducting cutting the gas supply, worth a look. One end is in the gas valve and the pointy end is in the flame.

 

[tigler]

LOL !! Yup , cuz the others are working. We have checked that the gas valve is open. It was working earlier in the year but then just didn't one morning !!

 

[tigler]

Does it have a thermocouple (like a copper wire with a nut on each end) to detect the heat from the gas flame ? They break down and stop conducting cutting the gas supply, worth a look. One end is in the gas valve and the pointy end is in the flame.

Do they have a pilot flame then ?

 

[bpcoryton]

over headheaters

these have been in workshops that ive worked in,if thay the same type theres two lights on them red&orange one for the motor&one for the gas, all we used to do was give the box were these lights are fitted good clump with a lump of wood till the light that was not lite came on,followed by it starting up...try it!

 

[Shox Dr]

Was that PSE or ruff sawn timber

 

[tigler]

these have been in workshops that ive worked in,if thay the same type theres two lights on them red&orange one for the motor&one for the gas, all we used to do was give the box were these lights are fitted good clump with a lump of wood till the light that was not lite came on,followed by it starting up...try it!

Yes , there is a red and an orange light ,worth a go , we'll try that !!

 

[GrahamGKD]

Do they have a pilot flame then ?

Is a thermocouple always used with a pilot - surely it would need some kind of flame-out sensor irrespective of the ignition method - otherwise the gas valve could be kicking out heaps of gas with no flame to burn it. A few years ago I had problems with our domestic boiler and that had a flame out sensor (I think it was a thermocouple) as well a number of other interlocks on things like blower pressure, overtemperature, etc..

Lump of wood sounds like a good option for starters though…. ….and very satisfying!!


Graham.

 

[tigler]

newer gas fired boilers and heaters have pilotless ignition , I reckon these are old enough to be pilot though !

 

[Basil]

overhead workshop heater

These sound like Ambirad radiant heaters. I've got an old one in my workshop. Main unit has two lights. Ignition is electronic spark and you should hear a loud click as the gas valve opens followed by the ticking of the spark ignition if it is trying to start. If it ticks for ten seconds or so but doesn't ignite then the gas valve probably is gone. This happened to mine but I was able to buy a new coil for the gas valve. If it doesn't tick but the fan runs then most likely the vacuum sensor switch is faulty or the pipe has come off. I have part of the manual I could e-mail you.

 

[tigler]

It's like this ,
http://www.ambaheat.co.uk/downloads/Vision Range.pdf

So it sounds the same. Yes , the manual would be great , ta very much !

 

[Basil]

overhead heater

Can't seem to send PDFs by private message but all the ambirad manuals are available here http://support.ambirad.co.uk/article.aspx?id=10046

Mine is an AR-ARE type. If your link is correct then it is probably from the newer Vision range. Above link has wiring diagrams and trouble shooting charts etc. They aren't that complicated inside.

 

[tigler]

It's not the latest type , that was just the only similar image I could find. These have to be 15-20 years old. I thought my email was available via my profile but thanks for the link.