Systems and methods for flame monitoring in gas powered appliances

Abstract

A gas powered water heater includes a storage tank, a main burner, a display, a flame sensor assembly, a wireless communication interface, and a control system. The flame sensor assembly includes a probe to couple an electric current through a flame on the main burner, and a detector that provides signals representative of the electric current provided through the probe. The control system is programmed to determine a length of time taken for a transition between a signal representative of no electric current and a signal representative of a steady state electric current, to select a flame strength level from a plurality of more than three flame strength levels, to display an indication of the selected flame strength level, and to output, using the wireless communication interface, an alert based on the selected flame strength level for display on a remote computing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gas powered water heater comprising:
 a storage tank for holding water;   a main burner for burning gas to heat water in the storage tank;   a flame sensor assembly including:
 a probe positioned proximate the main burner to couple an electric current to the main burner through a flame on the main burner and not to couple an electric current to the main burner when the flame is not present on the main burner, and 
 a detector that provides signals representative of the electric current provided through the probe; 
   a wireless communication interface; and   a controller connected to the flame sensor assembly and the wireless communication interface, the controller programmed to:
 control the main burner to selectively heat water in the storage tank, 
 determine a length of time taken for the signals representative of the electric current to transition between a signal representative of no electric current and a signal representative of a steady state electric current, 
 
 determine, based at least in part on the determined length of time, a strength of the flame on the main burner, and 
 output, using the wireless communication interface, an alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the main burner for display on a remote computing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the main burner when the determined strength of the flame on the main burner is less than an alert threshold value. 
     
     
         3 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication interface comprises one of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, a Bluetooth® adapter, a Wi-Fi transceiver, a ZigBee® transceiver, a near field communication (NFC) transceiver, and an infrared (IR) transceiver. 
     
     
         4 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the alert includes an indication of the determined strength of the flame on the main burner. 
     
     
         5 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a memory storing correspondences between different flame strengths and different lengths of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current, and wherein the controller is programmed to determine the strength of the flame on the main burner by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory. 
     
     
         6 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength in response to a received input from a user;   determine a plurality of lengths of time longer than the initial length of time corresponding to a plurality of flame strength levels less than the maximum flame strength; and   determine the strength of the flame on the main burner by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory.   
     
     
         7 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength in response to a received input from a user; and   determine the strength of the flame on the main burner by comparison of the determined length of time to the initial length of time.   
     
     
         8 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the main burner when the determined strength of the flame on the main burner is less than a threshold value indicating a strong flame and greater than a threshold value indicating no flame is present. 
     
     
         9 . A gas powered water heater comprising:
 a storage tank for holding water;   a main burner for burning gas to heat water in the storage tank;   a display;   a flame sensor assembly including:
 a probe positioned proximate the main burner to couple an electric current through a flame on the main burner, and 
 a detector that provides signals representative of the electric current provided through the probe; a wireless communication interface; and 
   a controller communicatively coupled to the flame sensor assembly, the display, and the wireless communication interface, the controller programmed to:
 determine, based on the signals representative of the electric current, a length of time taken for a transition between a signal representative of no electric current and a signal representative of a steady state electric current, 
 select, based at least in part on the determined length of time, a flame strength level from a plurality of more than three flame strength levels, 
 display, on the display, an indication of the selected flame strength level, and 
 output, using the wireless communication interface, an alert based on the selected flame strength level for display on a remote computing device. 
   
     
     
         10 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the selected flame strength level when the selected flame strength level is less than an alert threshold value. 
     
     
         11 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 9 , wherein the controller comprises a memory storing correspondences between different flame strength levels and different lengths of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current, and wherein the controller is programmed to select the flame strength level by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory. 
     
     
         12 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 9 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength level in response to a received input from a user;   determine a plurality of lengths of time longer than the initial length of time corresponding to a plurality of flame strength levels less than the maximum flame strength level; and   determine the flame strength level by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory.   
     
     
         13 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 9 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength level in response to a received input from a user; and   determine the flame strength level by comparison of the determined length of time to the initial length of time.   
     
     
         14 . The gas powered water heater of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the selected flame strength level when the selected flame strength level is less than a flame strength level indicating a strong flame and greater than a flame strength level indicating no flame is present. 
     
     
         15 . A gas powered appliance comprising:
 a burner for burning gas;   a display;   a flame sensor assembly including:
 a probe positioned proximate the burner to couple an electric current to the burner through a flame on the burner and not to couple an electric current to the burner when the flame is not present on the burner, and 
 a detector that provides signals representative of the electric current provided through the probe; 
   a wireless communication interface; and   a controller communicatively coupled to the flame sensor assembly, the display, and the wireless communication interface, the controller programmed to:
 determine, based on the signals representative of the electric current, a length of time taken for a transition between a signal representative of no electric current and a signal representative of a steady state electric current, 
 determine, based at least in part on the determined length of time, a strength of the flame on the burner, 
 display, on the display, an indication of the determined strength of the flame on the burner, the indication selected by the controller from more than three possible strengths of the flame, and 
 output, using the wireless communication interface, an alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the burner for display on a remote computing device. 
   
     
     
         16 . The gas powered appliance of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the burner when the determined strength of the flame on the burner is less than an alert threshold value. 
     
     
         17 . The gas powered appliance of  claim 15 , wherein the controller comprises a memory storing correspondences between different flame strengths and different lengths of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current, and wherein the controller is programmed to determine the strength of the flame by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory. 
     
     
         18 . The gas powered appliance of  claim 15 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength in response to a received input from a user;   determine a plurality of lengths of time longer than the initial length of time corresponding to a plurality of flame strength levels less than the maximum flame strength; and   determine the strength of the flame on the main burner by comparison of the determined length of time to the correspondences stored in the memory.   
     
     
         19 . The gas powered appliance of  claim 15 , wherein the controller comprises a memory, and the controller is programmed to:
 store, in the memory, an initial length of time taken for a transition between the signal representative of no electric current and the signal representative of the steady state electric current as a maximum flame strength in response to a received input from a user; and   determine the strength of the flame by comparison of the determined length of time to the initial length of time.   
     
     
         20 . The gas powered appliance of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is programmed to output the alert based on the determined strength of the flame on the burner when the determined strength of the flame on the burner is less than a threshold value indicating a strong flame and greater than a threshold value indicating no flame is present.