Propane Water Heater Question....

[Lifespalette]

New 2012 model 1206 - Was firing up all the appliances today checking to make sure they work properly and to get familiar with them. When I lit the water heater I notice the burner flame throw was sputtering (kinda of pop, pop, pop sounding) and after it warmed up the flame had a lot of yellow to it........more yellow than the blue. Now I know that when a gas orifice is adjusted properly there is supposed to be nothing but blue flame in the burn......I am assuming this holds true for propane as well........and the sputtering, is that normal? My first thoughts were that the orifice adjustment is off. Any suggestions?

[bailee21]

no that is not normal for at least the ones i have had

[Rustic Eagle]

I assume the sputtering/yellow flame condition persisted even after a few minutes....., sometimes it's just air in the LP feed line and corrects itself once the air clears.

May be some dirt or debris in the burner orifice tube. Could also be a air fixture issue, which is corrected by moving the slide tube over the opening (a screw holds it in place). But yes, there should be a predominantly blue flame.

I assume that the other LP appliances work fine so the LP pressure should be ok.

Bob

[Lifespalette]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

I assume the sputtering/yellow flame condition persisted even after a few minutes....., sometimes it's just air in the LP feed line and corrects itself once the air clears.

May be some dirt or debris in the burner orifice tube. Could also be a air fixture issue, which is corrected by moving the slide tube over the opening (a screw holds it in place). But yes, there should be a predominantly blue flame.

I assume that the other LP appliances work fine so the LP pressure should be ok.

Bob

Yes Bob.... everything else is burning just fine. It's just the water heater unit. Going to look at it more today to see if there is an air adjustment barrel sleeve at the orifice junction with the supply pipe.........

[UPCamper]

My parents did a similar thing when they purchased their used unit. Previous owner never burned propane in it. Very yellow flame and lots of soot. Turned out it was all clogged up and dirty if I recall. Some compressed air and pipe cleaners took care of most of it. But yours may be different.

[Lifespalette]

Just looked at it and I'm thinking the jet maybe be partially clogged.....the flame is actually burning down the neck of the orifice pipe to the point of the air adjustment barrel sleeve..... pretty dang sure that's not supposed to be.

Of course Keith our walk through tech told us they had tested everything and it was all working........

[djalbrec]

Check for spiders or other critters in the burner.

[namusmc65]

If its new and still under warranty, let the dealer get it adjusted right. I am all for going to the dealer under warranty so a record is made of any problems in case there are problems in the future. IMHO

[norty1]

You are smart to verify what the dealer assured you. Sounds like one of the things already mentioned is the source of your flame problem.

Get your dealer involved or fix it yourself but don't let it go.

Many years ago I was camped next to a lake and one morning I heard a knock on the door as I was drinking coffee and my wife was showering.
The guy at the door said, "Mister I am fishing in the lake, Do you know your water heater is on fire?"