# gas fireplace goes out after 10 seconds **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608 "2012-12-20T05:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JerryW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dc4da7/32.png) [@JerryW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerryW)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/1 "2012-12-20T05:29:36Z")
Gas fireplace wall switch stopped working 4 weeks ago, but button on the control continued to start and stop the fire. Now that will start the fire, but the fire goes out after 10 to 15 seconds, every time Replaced thermopile last year and this is not the same symptoms. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/2 "2012-12-20T06:10:17Z")
Sounds like flame sensor is not work properly. It would be a SWAG to answer with out knowing sensors system fireplace has. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/3 "2012-12-20T07:33:02Z")
Sounds suspicious. Hire a detective to follow it whenever it goes out, and to report back to you on its whereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/4 "2012-12-20T12:20:53Z")
Possibly the flame detector, does it have fan ventilation? If the fan does not start then there will be an airflow sensor that will also cut out the flame - I have seen environments where its all working properly but an obstruction in the outflow (bird’s nest) also caused it to go flame out. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/5 "2012-12-20T13:03:35Z")
Is it one of those funky controls that senses how hot the fire is and turns it off if it gets above a certain temp? If so, make sure the temp on the control is set correctly. If that doesn’t work, I’ve got nothing for you. We have one of those, and it’s never worked well despite getting it professionally fixed more than once. We just don’t use the control anymore, which requires us to flip open the grill on the bottom of the fireplace and use the button inside to turn it on and off because we don’t even have a wall switch. It’s a bit of a hassle, but the remote is so damn frustrating that we gladly do it. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/6 "2012-12-20T13:52:20Z")
The flame sensor in my gas furnace occasionally needs to be cleaned. The furnace acts just like the fire place in the OP. It starts and then shuts off after a few seconds. The flame sensor is there to make sure that the fire is actually on an that your appliance is not just pouring gas into your house. Soot builds up on the outside of the sensor. Cleaning it with a little fine steel wool takes care of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-fireplace-goes-out-after-10-seconds/644608/7 "2012-12-20T18:19:30Z")
I had a similar problem last year. The company told me to to get one of those pressurized air cans used to clean keyboards and blow out any dust from the holes in the burners. Worked like a charm and saved me a lot of money.