Wave heater question

[christine]

I have a Wave 3 heater, and starting it is ... stressful. Sometimes (but not all the time) starting it releases a big flame. It's so large that I'm afraid that if it gets any bigger, it'll burn my hand so I've resorted to wearing silicone oven mitts when I start it. Does anyone else have this experience with the Wave 3? I'm afraid that one day it's going to release a huge fireball and set my whole van on fire.

 

[mockturtle]

I have a Wave 6 and have never experienced that. Are you pushing the gas button too long before ignition? Five seconds is usually enough.

 

[LowTech]

/\ /\ /\ ditto on what MockTurtle said.

 

[akrvbob]

A flame flare-up is normal but not a fireball. Could it be that you're surprised by any flame and it seems worse than it is?
Bob

 

[SoulRaven]

I would get it checked out by an RV repair person before ever lighting it again.

 

[christine]

Oh, I see that I wasn't clear about when the flame was happening. So the big flame isn't happening when I light the flame spreader, it's happening after that, when the catalytic combustion is supposed to start. The instructions say to keep the control knob depressed for 30-60 seconds after the flame spreader is lit. It's during that time that I'm holding the knob down that the flame happens.

I've found that if I hold it for less than 30 seconds, the catalytic process doesn't start properly, and the heater simply turns off. If I hold it for 45-60 seconds, about 50% of the time, I get a big flame. Once it actually burned up a strand of hair that was lying across my lower thumb area on my right hand.

Yes, it's entirely possible that the flame is just simply surprising me, but since the flame is sometimes small, sometimes large, I'm going to try contacting the manufacturer to see if they think my unit is faulty, or if I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for your responses!

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I have the wave 3 as well. I get that burst of flame(really not that big for me) every time too but only 15 seconds after the flame spreader has been lit. Once the ball of flame comes i wait 5 more seconds and it usually starts right away. I think you may be holding down the dail for too long and releasing too much propane.

 

[wagoneer]

Unless you have a leak which you would notice by the smell your fine in my opinion I get the same little flare-up. Some people not used to open flame will have that reaction. usually it takes a while for the propane to permeate the material and when your cold it seems like forever.

 

[StarEcho]

When I first got mine, I was told to wait until the second flare before I let up and that seems to work fine for me. I know it's coming so I keep my face away from it and count to 60 or sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (takes around a minute to get through the whole song at a regular pace).

 

[mockturtle]

Sorry I misunderstood the nature of the problem.  Yes, while I am holding the knob down for 45 seconds, there are several 'flame-ups' that occur but they flame up, not out, and I don't consider them dangerous.

 

[ascii_man]

or sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (takes around a minute to get through the whole song at a regular pace).

Too cute not to repeat. The world needs more of this.

 

[Canine]

Make sure you have some marshmallows on hand. If your rig catches fire, at least you will be able to take advantage of it. Don't let a tragedy go to waste.