Anyone here know much about gas heaters?

[Fishyfanatic]

James and I have a gas heater in our apt that I think rolled off the line sometime around prohibition. Seriously, this thing is old. Last night we turned it on for the first time this year. I took off the panel to check and make sure the pilot light was still lit and noticed that there was a big flame inside of the heater. I'm not sure exactly how big the flame should be in a gas unit when it is turned on, but this thing was big. It was coming out the sides of the metal plate thing. As James explained it to me, the plate is there to keep the flame contained.

Is anyone familiar with gas heating units? Is it supposed to do this? We turned it off immediatly and practically froze last night. I'd rather be cold than have the apt burn down. I called our heating guy and his assistant said he could possibly come friday but she was unsure of what was normal in a gas unit.

[kostasonia]

When a gas heater is just on but there is no consumption, there is a small flame. When there is consumption its like ****. Make sure it works properly by turning everything off and just check it with a tap of hot water. When you switch it on, the flame should be huge when you switch it off it has to go back to a small flame. But anyway the flame should NOT go out of the heater. A technician needs to repair it.

[Fishyfanatic]

The pilot light is still on, it's not small but it's not big. Maybe 4 or 5 inches tall. The flame is contained inside of the unit, but goes beyond the metal plate on the side. Basically it is a metal box that contains the flame when it is on. It is coming around the front piece of the metal box but still inside the unit. lol Complicated, I know.

I just wasn't sure if it was normal for this to be occuring. James says he doesn't think it is normal but is unsure since the unit is so old. I would take a safe bet and say that it is about 50 years old. No joke. It doesn't even have a filter screen on it. When we moved in my dad said that we should replace the filter. We tried to find one but there wasn't one in it. My dad came up and looked at it and said it was made before filters were put on units. We'd rather be safe than sorry but if it is normal we'd rather not get frost bite on our toes tonight.

[Toirtis]

What soty of heater is it? Is it one of the old gas-powered, ceramic-faced fireplace type thingys? Got any pics? We heat almost exclusively with gas in Canada, but mostly with high-efficiency forced-air furnaces.

[kostasonia]

yeah, post a pic...

[Fishyfanatic]

James must have the camera because it's not sitting here on the desk. I'll post a pic when he gets home. The only thing written on it is Singer.