Infrared heaters

[stampedecarwash]

Hello, winter is coming fast here in Canada and it gets close to zero at night where we are. So we put the thermostat on 10c on the heaters in the bays (I got 4 of them) . My heaters seem to struggle to stay on. They start and try 3 times and then quit. If I keep them active every hour or so during the day, they work fine (start and stay on), but I'm no there during the night and don't know if they start by themselves or not. The temperature in the bays are above 10c in the mornings so maybe they start by themselves???. Is there a special maintenance need to be done on these infrared heaters? Thanks guys...

 

[soapy]

What I see on my infrared heaters when they do not start it is usually because the pressure switch that senses vacuum does not come on when the fan is running. Make sure you have no leaks in the tubes. I would have a couple of pressure switches on hand just in case.

 

[stampedecarwash]

Thanks, what do you mean by “not coming on”? My heaters start and try for 3 times but then they quit so they do come on but they dont stay on

 

[soapy]

You should have your temperature sensor in the cold area of the bay. If it goes into to a lockout condition it should have some type of flashing light to let you know what condition is not being met to provide firing.

 

[Main Street Carwash]

My furnace in my house was doing the same thing and eventually would not start at all anymore and it ended up being a dirty flame sensor. It was easy to fix, just pull it out and clean the buildup off with steel wool. IDK if that's how your heaters work but it sure sounds like the same issue.

 

[stampedecarwash]

UPDATE: first of all my heaters are: Superior Radiant brand and I have this issue on three of my heaters out of 4. So far we changed the flame sensors but no lock. The ignitor still tries to ignite as if the system doesn't understand the flame is on. So we bent the flame sensor to really touch the flame, at first it sounded like it worked but this morning same issue. Now our only option is to change the Ignition Module. The strange part is that when I get them going after few tries (Re-starting by simply turning the thermostat all the way to zero and then back up), they work fine during the day and they start and stop by themselves like they supposed to. But then the die over the night....

 

[washnvac]

Could it be gas pressure going low when demand is higher from other businesses & homes at night when it is colder?

 

[MEP001]

Could also be when they're first fired up when it's cold some moisture is condensing on the flame sensor and keeping it from sensing properly.

 

[stampedecarwash]

UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED: It was the Ignition Module, yes on all of the 4 heaters I have. Changed few days ago and now it starts and stays on every single time.