I have a Napoleon natural gas fireplace, model, B36 NTRE, installed in 2019. It uses a power vent and has electric ignition (no standing pilot).

Over the last several months, I've been having the following issues:

1. The pilot will light for a moment then immediately turn off, or after a few moments.

2. The pilot will not light for several minutes (up to 20), then all of a sudden the pilot and main burner will start. This has happened a few times when I turned the unit on and then forgot about it.

3. Once the main burner has started, the circulating fan won't come on, ever.

I've tried cleaning out the pilot assembly a few times with sandpaper, wire brush, scour pad, and vaccuum, to no avail. I've tried turning off the power for several hours.

Some pictures:

I purchased a Napoleon vector from an online seller (embers living) as part of my remodel in 2022. My GC and I installed, including new iron pipe in the crawl space. The city inspected during rough in, and we tested prior to tiling the vector into the framing. It is on natural gas, as was the prior gas insert that was there when I bought the home.

Life got in the way and I never got a “final” inspection for two years. Additionally, I never installed the media since I wanted to do a full burn in first. Finally got my final from the city last week, and the fireplace lit and functioned perfectly at that time.

Last weekend I started the burn in. This was the first time it got fully hot and burned for a longer duration. 20 minutes in (right after the below picture!) the fireplace burner shut down and since that time its been completely non-responsive (as if it’s in igniter lock-out). A power cycle of the breaker and new batteries in the wall switch have not changed anything. The LEDs and overhead light functions work fine. I removed the glass and lightly cleaned the pilot and thermopile/coupler (not surprisingly, no change, as they were new).

Any idea if there is a common failure on these units? The fact that I no longer get even a spark, and additionally since it went dead while fully lit, would tell me something is wrong with the electronic pilot assembly (W010-2763). And at ~$70 for the part I am tempted to replace this first before moving to the valve and control board (at which point I’d be inclined to call a tech). For troubleshooting, have a multi-meter but not a manometer.

Thank you!