Cold and helpless!

[Cryanthia]

So glad this forum exsist! We inherited our monitor 441 when we purchased our house 7 years ago. We have had no problems until now....woke up in the middle of the night to a cold house and the flashing orange lights. I immediately began googling and discovered you guys! So I called every heater repairman in the phone book and no one will help. We did all the basic trouble shooting steps..cleaned filter, checked fuel line, checked full tank, and we put it on a surge protector. I read that I should unplug it and reset the computer. Well something we did worked (for about 2 weeks) it turns on, lights, and blows warm air....by when it gets to the set temperature and begins to cool down it shuts off nd I get the dreaded flashing lights. So this time we opened it up nd discovered lots of soot. We cleaned everything we could see with the vacuum including the little window. Lo and behold we got it working again for about 2 weeks....and here we are again....this time we cleaned more soot turned it back on but in economy mode. We set it to 68 normally this mean it would heat to about 78 but it seems to be stuck on 72.....I'm not complaining its nice and warm in here! But can we constantly run it like this? In this "stuck mode"and why does it work for 2 weeks then stop? We are moving in the spring! Just need to get through 2 more months! We are far from mechanically inclined and would be more than happy to pay someone but no one will even come look at it. Any suggestions? Thank you spool much!

[hawkins111]

Sounds like you are using the Economy Plus feature which lets the heater run until the temperature is 12 degrees over the Set Temp. It is OK to use this feature as long as you under stand what is going on. 78 degrees is hot and you may be overheating. Clean the fan blades in the back and make sure the louvers in the front are open.

More than likely you need to over haul the burner. New mat, ring and gaskets. Clean the heat exchanger at this time as well.

Tom

[OnTheEdge]

Where are you? Perhaps someone here can recommend a service guy in your area..

I would also try dropping your setting to 62 if you are using the Super economy mode. The heater may be incapable of raising the temp in the space you are heating to the required temp to turn off at the setting you have it on..

Remember the 441 is only a 40,000 BTU heater so the less efficient the space is and the larger the space is, the harder it will be to get the space heated and keep that space heated, and the harder it will be for it to bring temps up that high when it is cold outside..

Another thing some people don't think of is the location of the temp sensor.

I made an antenna from a Piece of heavy solid copper wire that attaches to the exterior of the unit using one of the screws that holds the top on, to that I zip tied the temp sensor wire so the black bulb at the tip of the wire was 2 or 3 inches above the solid antenna I made (do not attached it to the wall) and approx. the same height you would find a thermostat on an interior wall for a central heating system. This gives me a room temp reading approx. 5' off the floor, which is a good place to get the average room temp from floor to ceiling.. We all know hot air rises, so it is warmer up by the ceiling than it is down by the floor. If your temp probe is attached to the machine right on the back where the plastic clip is, it is censing the temp 2 feet from the floor which is the coldest part of the room. In cold temps It will likely never get warm enough that low in the room for that machine to get that space 12 degrees above your setting of 68 degrees which would be 80 degrees. By raising the temp probe to approx. 5' above the floor and reducing the setting to 62 you may have a better chance of using the super economy mode, and have it cycle on and off properly..

Tom is also correct that your machine may very likely be ready for a burner overhaul and cleaning..