Unvented Gas Log I.D.

[Vern Heiler]

Most of the time the listing tags are buried under decorative stone or other material. Is the presence of a second detector at the pilot sufficient to identify as unvented type? If not how do you report without disturbing the whole setup?

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[Bob Harper]

Vern, you have a thermocouple (red thing to the left) and a thermopile (pencil sized thing above pilot flame). That alone does not make this a VF. Current gas direct vents utilize this same setup so the TC provides a 30 second quick dropout for the pilot while the TP provides power to the main operator.

Two obvious clues to me this is VF are, first I recognize this box with the 4" hood as a VF universal box and this is an ODS pilot. I'll bet if you lift this gas burner, you'll find the wire leash with the rating plate. In fact, down in front it looks like either the leash or the insulated wire from the piezo igniter to the pilot.
An ODS pilot has a thermocouple rigidly mounted in a heavy bracket so the relationship btw pilot flame and TC is almost impossible to modify in the field such as by bending the TC into the flame. The pilot burner has a primary air hole visble towards the point where the gas tubing attaches. That and I recognize this pilot assy. from having serviced thousands in the past.

If I had to guess, I would say Monessen. You need that rating plate to confirm NG vs. LP, BTU input rating, ANSI listing, mfr. contact info. model and serial #. The listed instructions would provide the clearances to combustibles and sizing info.

Regardless, there is more hair on this logset than the cat and should NOT be operated as is. I would recommend a comprehensive service by a qualified technician if they are to leave this in operation as opposed to removing it.

If you cannot locate the rating plate on any combustion appliance after a thorough search by a qualified tech, I think that is grounds to recommend removal.
Bob