What is this? (Heater)

[L911]

1) Ok, I have this gas heater mounted on the kitchen cabinet next to my gas furnace & its plumbed off my furnace gas line. It appears to be the same age as the trailer, but im not sure its original.

2) I followed the instructions, and tthe pilot will light but immediately goes out when you release the priming lever, regardless of where the valve is set. It has a strong pilot as long as the priming lever is held open, how do you keep it lit?

3) Is this thing safe to use?

[Bill M.]

It is a catyalic heater. When it is burning it has a red glow, no flames. It takes a while to light. If you follow the instructions carefully it will probably work. I have one in one of my trailers. I lit it once to see if it worked. Took me a while to figure it out and several tries. It worked fine. I will probably never light it again.
Is it safe? Many think so. Some do not. It uses oxygen and might be able to deplete a small enclosed space. One good reason for using it is it makes heat without using electricity, where as the furnace will kill the batterys fairly fast in cold weather. The black sooty spots on yours worry me.

[L911]

Ive tried to lite it.....if you push on the screen mesh behind the grill a small fireball will erupt and it will stay lit for a few seconds. The sooty marks on the grill are probably from me doing that, the thing doesnt look like its been used much. But it also sounds dangerous....I may remove it if i can get my furnace working.

[overlander63]

We had one in our Sovereign. It was a little anemic, as far as keeping the trailer warm. I replaced it with another, larger, newer catalytic heater, which works great. In order for the heat to go everywhere in the trailer, as well as keeping from building up CO levels, simply crack open the rear roof vent, and crack open one of the windows at the front. This will replenish the air supply, and supply a draft that will draw the warm air to the rear of the trailer.