Monitor 441 High Yellow Flame + lockout/shutdown

[UB-Einstein]

Hello

I have been using a monitor heater for over 15 years without it ever being serviced.
Yesterday after it locked out, i restarted the heater and noticed a very high yellow flame, and after several minutes the unit shut down(probably over-temp?)

I started to dismantle the heater and have gotten to the point where i have removed the chamber cap(6321) and also removed the combustion ring (6356). The combustion ring is deformed in one area , and part of the burner cloth (6363) missing. After removing some carbon build up on the burner (6401) everything seems to be ok.

One key note is i did find a piece of carbon bridging from the burner to the flame detector plug.

I have thoroughly vacuumed and removed all debris from pot area and even placed a vacuum hose up into the bottom of the burner
I planned to just replace the ring 6356 and the cloth 6363, without complete dismantling the system.

I would like opinions is this is enough to get my monitor back up and running properly or could something else be a miss that caused the large yellow flame?
Also, i have never had the fuel chamber apart(screen clean yes), is it possible junk got into the needle valve and just flooded my burner?

Thank you in advanced
P.S. would have uploaded some pics but kept getting errors

[hawkins111]

Finding the burner ring warped after 15 years is very normal. The burner mat being lifted and broken would be normal after that time. The carbon bridge between the flame sensor would have caused the heater to quit for sure. It would be much simpler to remove the combustion chamber and take the burner out from the bottom. With the burner out you could clean all the air holes and the bottom. It is hard to do a good job while the burner in in the chamber. Since your heater does not work you can start before you get all your repair parts. You will need a burner ring, burner mat, 2 ea. chamber gaskets, Flame sensor gasket, Igniter and igniter cover gasket and a gasket between the burner pot and the chamber. You will need glue for the burner mat as well. These parts may be bought from Hickory Home and Garden in NC or off Ebay. Good luck on your repair.

Tom

[UB-Einstein]

Tom
thanks for the quick reply, on a very limited budget, going to try to make due with burner mat, glue new ring and keep my fingers crossed
also going to take apart the fuel bowl to look for any gunk
Harry

[FordMan59]

There are also materials available through McMaster-Carr that are suitable for use as burn mat and gasket materials for a fraction the price of original Monitor parts. My 422 lasted 16 years before I had to replace the burn mat and flame ring. I used McMaster-Carr products for my burn mat and gaskets when I rebuilt my 422 back in 2012 and haven't had any problems with their use. You can also use Rutland 77 Stove Cement available at most hardware stores, for gluing the mat to the bottom of the pot. A large tube only costs about $5-7 as compared to a very small tube of Monitor glue for about $20.

[UB-Einstein]

Thanks FordMan59,
I have searched through the forums and found references by Hayzee518
Burn mat 6363
8838K2 - Acrylic-Coated Fiberglass Fabric, 40" Width, .040" Thick, 1' Length (does any one have the dimensions on this, there was next to nothing left on mine)
Cap gasket 6317
8813K11 - Tightly Woven Slotted Fiberglass Seal, 1/8" Thick, 1" Wide, 25' Long (this is like a rope gasket where they meet i will use Rutland cement like a wood stove door gasket)
Need a xref to the rope gasket 6358, mine was comepletely gone, looks like standard wood stove door gasket just not sure diameter (help needed)
BUT the worst news of all is I cant find Burn Ring 6356 no one seems to have them in stock, i would be willing to use old being mine is too far gone.

[FordMan59]

I'm sure what HayZee518 uses probably works fine. The materials I used were 9323K21 for gasket material and 8799K3 for burn mat material. Both seem to be working fine in my 422. Although I didn't have to, it's possible because of the thickness of the material you'd have to double the gasket material in some applications. Do a web search for Hickory Home and Garden in Hickory, NC. Their web site has a toll free number listed. Their site doesn't list Monitor parts, but they do have them and are the cheapest I've found for original Monitor parts. If they don't have a flame ring in their store I'm sure they can probably have it within a couple days from their supplier in Winston-Salem, NC. When I ordered parts from them in 2012 they shipped them USPS priority mail and I had them in about 2-3 days. The materials I ordered from McMaster-Carr were shipped by UPS and took about a week if I recall correctly. I have a PDF of the 441 burn mat I could send you if you'd provide your email address to me in a PM. This would give you the specific shape of the mat, you might have to play with the size on your computer screen and print out a template that fits the pot correctly.

[UB-Einstein]

i have contacted Hickory Home and Garden, but they didn't have any burn rings and it might be months before they do.
it appears there was a quality issue with parts coming from China.....
they say now the person who bought the rights to Monitor is trying to get parts made in Japan
going to try to fix the old burn ring if i can and look for a used one.
might be time to save up for a Toyo....

Update Was able to get a burner ring from Perfect Plumbing and Heating, up in Lyman, Maine, thanks Richard.

[FordMan59]

I wasn't aware of the quality problems they were having, glad I bought extra rings in 2012 for my 422 and 2200. I was afraid that Monitor parts would get scarce in the coming years so bought extras. Check your email.

[UB-Einstein]

All
Thank to all that helped, being on a fixed income, the information contained in this forum helped me get back up and running for not alot of money.
UB

[FordMan59]

Glad you're up and running again. Which materials did you use for gaskets and burn mat?

[UB-Einstein]

Hi FordMan59

i ended up using 8838K2 - Acrylic-Coated Fiberglass Fabric, 40" Width, .040" Thick, 1' Length

Glad you're up and running again. Which materials did you use for gaskets and burn mat?