Gas Fireplace Repair in San Jose, CA

Pilot lights, dead ignitions and the gas fireplace that won't stay on

Most calls start the same way. You hold the knob, the pilot lights, you release it, and the flame dies. That is usually a weak thermocouple or thermopile. These generate millivolts from heat. Output drops as the tip oxidizes. A meter reading at the valve tells us in minutes. On sealed direct-vent inserts the pilot hood also collects dust and spider webbing. Spiders are drawn to the odorant in natural gas. A clogged pilot orifice looks exactly like a bad valve.

Intermittent pilot ignition units fail differently. No standing flame. The fault is usually the module or the igniter gap. Sometimes it's a corroded wall-switch loop. Remote receivers eat batteries in a hidden tray.

San Jose has two different populations. Gas logs dropped into open masonry fireplaces with clay tile liners, and prefab metal fireboxes in 1975-2000 subdivisions with Class A chase chimneys. The prefab units show rusted-through chase covers and water stains down the firebox. Cracked refractory panels turn up too. Atmospheric-river storms find every flashing gap.

Some jobs we advise against. Discontinued valves on old prefab inserts, or an insert vented into an unlined flue with no stainless liner. Fixing the burner does not fix that.