primitive has trouble with gas stove

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=287x7286

Oh my.

dotcosm  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-01-09 08:29 PM
Original message
 
Troubleshooting a gas oven ignitor

Gas oven, electric (hot surface) ignitor.

I don't have a clamp ammeter to test the current draw.

Broiler ignitor works fine, as do stove top burners.

Oven ignitor does not glow at all.

Is it fairly safe to assume that the oven ignitor just needs to be replaced? Or should I be thinking gas valve may be the issue? But then, gas valve should not affect whether glowbar glows, right?

I don't see any fuses anywhere so I'm ruling that out (for now).

I found a replacement ignitor on ebay for about $25, just want to make sure it's a solid guess first.

No primitives at this bonfire yet.

I frankly suggest one tear out the gas stove and install an electric stove.

Electric stoves don't blow up.

[LC EFA]

If it were me, I'd get a long taper , light the end and place it next to the burner in the oven ,and turn on the gas with the oven dial. Thus determining if the gas flow exists to the burner.

Obviously if I were a primitive I'd leave the gas on for 30 or 40 minutes before lighting the taper.

[thundley4]

Unfortunately this won't won't result in a blown up DUmmy. There is an interlock on most stoves that prevents the gas valve from opening if if the igniter coil is bad.  There is a thermocouple which senses heat from the coil, much the same as the thermocouple on furnace pilot light.

[Chris]

Buy a good convection oven.

I still prefer a gas range.

[franksolich]

Buy a good convection oven.

I still prefer a gas range.

Yeah, I know, sir, I'm going against the grain here.

Everybody seems to prefer gas stoves.

Apparently nobody's seen what an exploding gas stove does to one.

[Eupher]

Buy a good convection oven.

I still prefer a gas range.

Ditto on the gas range. Dual fuel ranges are the bomb. Or, alternatively, separate cooktop and oven(s).

As far as the primitive is concerned, there ain't no thermocouple on his closed garage, a flexible hose, and a little bit of time.  

[Chris]

Yeah, I know, sir, I'm going against the grain here.

Everybody seems to prefer gas stoves.

Apparently nobody's seen what an exploding gas stove does to one.

I've never seen one explode, but they're a pain in the ass when they stop working. 

[franksolich]

Ditto on the gas range. Dual fuel ranges are the bomb.

Unfortunate choice of words, sir.

I've never seen the effects of a gas stove exploding, but as a little lad, because my parents were medical personnel, I was told many stories about people messing around with natural gas, who came to bad ends.

The story the most vivid in this memory is where all that was left of one guy was his leg, dangling from a tree as if a Christmas fireplace stocking.

[Eupher]

Unfortunate choice of words, sir.

I've never seen the effects of a gas stove exploding, but as a little lad, because my parents were medical personnel, I was told many stories about people messing around with natural gas, who came to bad ends.

The story the most vivid in this memory is where all that was left of one guy was his leg, dangling from a tree as if a Christmas fireplace stocking.

Well, it was sorta a play on words  BUT....

I've been around industrial-strength kitchens my entire working career and I've never seen a gas cooktop I didn't like. I'm not too fond of gas ovens, mostly because of the convection thing, but I like the immediacy of gas. Granted, there are dangers involved with any flammable fuel, but like gas stations for our car, I think we've got a pretty good handle on delivery of natural gas or propane for our homes.

[Chris]

The largest kitchen I worked in was an L-shaped open kitchen that was around twenty or twenty five feet on each side.  It was relatively compact... the gas burners were set side-by-side (ten of them).  I didn't do sautee there, but I did it at a couple previous jobs and loved it.  There's nothing like a gas range for putting out mass quantities of hot food.

[MrsSmith]

Yeah, I know, sir, I'm going against the grain here.

Everybody seems to prefer gas stoves.

Apparently nobody's seen what an exploding gas stove does to one.

Not everybody.  I prefer electric...probably because I can handle working on an electric item.  For gas things, unless it's just the pilot light, I have to pay someone who knows what they're doing... and I'm way too cheap to pay someone when I can just buy something I can work on myself.   

[franksolich]

Not everybody.  I prefer electric...

Thank you, madam, and of course.

You being born and raised here in Nebraska (although now living down in Kansas), you too perhaps have bad childhood memories of people and animals and buildings blasted apart when someone was trying to ignite a pilot light on a gas stove.

I never saw such sights--just heard about them--and I imagine it wasn't pretty, arms and legs and heads and dogs and cats and ceiling rafters flying randomly through the air.

[Wineslob]

Frank, you can't compare the stoves of old to today. We use a Dacor (5 burner)which has an auto igniter. If the flame goes out, it re-lights, no pilot lights.
Besides, we lose power so often, an electric range is out. You can light a gas stove by hand when there's no power.
Gas ovens aren't very good ("hot" and "cold" spots) so we do have a 27" electric, which works very, very, well.

[debk]

I have a 6 burner gas cooktop with 2 ovens under ....the big one is electric and the small is gas.

I love cooking with gas....being able to immediately turn off the heat and it be gone.

I am glad that it has an electric oven though. It has a switch to convection, but I never use it.

Not a pilot light on it, Frank.

[MrsSmith]

Thank you, madam, and of course.

You being born and raised here in Nebraska (although now living down in Kansas), you too perhaps have bad childhood memories of people and animals and buildings blasted apart when someone was trying to ignite a pilot light on a gas stove.

I never saw such sights--just heard about them--and I imagine it wasn't pretty, arms and legs and heads and dogs and cats and ceiling rafters flying randomly through the air.

I have to confess that I never heard of anyone doing that.  I lived in a community that had no primitives, so everyone understood how to safely light pilot lights.     I'm sure you're right, though...it would NOT be pretty!!

[Wineslob]

I have to confess that I never heard of anyone doing that.  I lived in a community that had no primitives, so everyone understood how to safely light pilot lights.     I'm sure you're right, though...it would NOT be pretty!!

We live in an area rife with uber-primates. So much so they've managed to blow up two homes trying to use propane heaters designed for outdoor use in their homes. 

[Miss Mia]

I have a 6 burner gas cooktop with 2 ovens under ....the big one is electric and the small is gas.

I love cooking with gas....being able to immediately turn off the heat and it be gone.

I am glad that it has an electric oven though. It has a switch to convection, but I never use it.

Not a pilot light on it, Frank.

My house has a gas range.  I hate it.  I think it's more that I hate the cheapass range than gas though.  It takes a good 20 minutes to boil water.  I've also learned that I have to bake at least 10-15 minutes longer than whatever a recipe says to.  When I did the cupcakes I upped the temp 10 degrees and that cut that back to only 5-10 minutes longer.  I keep experimenting with it.  *sigh*  One day I'll get a new stove. 

[franksolich]

My house has a gas range.  I hate it.  I think it's more that I hate the cheapass range than gas though.  It takes a good 20 minutes to boil water.  I've also learned that I have to bake at least 10-15 minutes longer than whatever a recipe says to.  When I did the cupcakes I upped the temp 10 degrees and that cut that back to only 5-10 minutes longer.  I keep experimenting with it.  *sigh*  One day I'll get a new stove. 

This is close to my complaints about natural gas stoves, in addition to the explosive effect.

Electric burners get hot real quickly, and hotter.

If one ever pops popcorn the old-fashioned way (glassware pot and lid, a little bit of grease, the popcorn) on top of the stove, there's a world of difference between what an electric stove puts out, and a natural gas stove.

Much more unpopped popcorn from the latter, than the former.

I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that stoves run by natural gas can't get as hot as stoves run electrically.

[Miss Mia]

This is close to my complaints about natural gas stoves, in addition to the explosive effect.

Electric burners get hot real quickly, and hotter.

If one ever pops popcorn the old-fashioned way (glassware pot and lid, a little bit of grease, the popcorn) on top of the stove, there's a world of difference between what an electric stove puts out, and a natural gas stove.

Much more unpopped popcorn from the latter, than the former.

I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that stoves run by natural gas can't get as hot as stoves run electrically.

Honestly, I know this is a cheap range in this house.  It's not well insulated and I forgo baking (which I love) for months during the summer b/c the darn thing heats up the whole house so much.  I think with a better quality stove I wouldn't have these issues.

[Peter3_1]

a good gas range is much better for cooking than any electric. Especially when using the broiler on meat.

But an electric does not blow up the whole house and everyone in it, leaving bits hanging from trees tens of yards away when abused, tho it might electrocute an abuser. Or short out , setting a home on fire, irritating the hell out of the residents.

[Eupher]

a good gas range is much better for cooking than any electric. Especially when using the broiler on meat.

But an electric does not blow up the whole house and everyone in it, leaving bits hanging from trees tens of yards away when abused, tho it might electrocute an abuser. Or short out , setting a home on fire, irritating the hell out of the residents.

  H5, Peter.

Honestly, to each his own; your mileage may vary, and all that stuff.

With relatively modern equipment, you've got different sized burners. Even still, when I want to put a pot of something on low simmer, I've got to put the pot on the tiniest burner I have because the others are too powerful.

Lotsa variables here. I found my particular gas range (which is propane, btw, because I live out in the boonies) to have been installed incorrectly. I called a guy out and he determined that the yahoo who put it in didn't know what he was doing.

For my money, gas is every bit as powerful as electric. And I don't have to worry about a burner shutting off when I shut it off.

[franksolich]

.....(which is propane, btw, because I live out in the boonies).....

You know, this place is out in the boondocks too, and I was surprised when learning of it, that it had natural gas.  When one is way out of the way in Nebraska, one usually has propane and electric, or just electric.  Rurally, we're a pretty electrified state.

I later found out it's because this place is conveniently located near a natural gas pipeline, and so the few dwellings on this side of the river have natural gas, while those few dwellings on the other side don't.

It apparently cost a fortune when first installed, but the family was affluent, and so it was only a tiny fortune; to have a telephone line stretched out here cost more.

The old guy across the river, whose place I watch while he's gone, has an average-size propane tank, looking very much like one of those railway cars of yesteryear (cylinder tube on wheels with a dome on top, in the middle), and I don't believe I've ever walked within 100 feet of it.

Too many stories about people decorating the air when messing with them.

[Thor]

Frank, seems to me that you have an unnatural fear of gas appliances. I've had gas since I can remember. It was only after I got my first apartment that I ever had an electric stove. I prefer gas for cooking and electric for baking.


Miss Mia: I would invest in an oven thermometer. Many cheap &/or older gas ovens are inaccurate. Electric ones tend to be more accurate, but even then, there's always a fluctuation between  the sensor and the controls.

[franksolich]

Frank, seems to me that you have an unnatural fear of gas appliances. I've had gas since I can remember. It was only after I got my first apartment that I ever had an electric stove. I prefer gas for cooking and electric for baking.

As I mentioned in the recipes forum, I have three phobias, of which natural gas appliances are one.  The other two are fear of automotive batteries and fear of automotive radiators.

I doubt this fear is irrational, and it doesn't keep me from using such things.  However, like the sodhouse pioneer wife who goes home to find a rattlesnake coiled up in the middle of the dwelling, one deals with it.  One never gets comfortable with it, or even used to it, but one deals with it.

One deals with it; never routinely, never happily.

I reasonably suppose these phobias are based upon childhood stories and observation; my parents, remember, ran small-town hospitals and were R.N.s, in addition one an anesthetist and one majoring in surgery, and the pace of life, for a young lad, alongside the calm mellow laid-back Platte River of Nebraska, was slow enough that one could absorb the world comfortably.

The town, population circa 3,000, was a farming community, and in addition sat alongside the main line of the Union Pacific railway, the most important railway in America, and Highway 30 and Interstate 80, the most important roadways in America.  And lots and lots of alfalfa mills.

All sorts of things happened, very few of them pretty.

The parents used to discuss such things, vividly, in my presence, assuming, I suppose, that I wasn't capable of picking up on them.  People messing with natural gas (and propane), and suffering dire consequences, littering the countryside, were a dime-a-dozen.

And then there was the description of somebody messing with an automotive battery, which exploded.....eating away his throat and chest with acid which exposed his ribs and lungs.

And I personally used to see some guy, "Old Crusty," who according to his obituary was only 29 when he died, though, blind and the upper half of his body nearly all skin-grafted.  He had popped open the radiator cap of an automobile when it was still hot.

I will deal with natural gas, automotive batteries, and automotive radiators, if I have to, but I'll never be comfortable with it, or used to it. 

[Miss Mia]

Miss Mia: I would invest in an oven thermometer. Many cheap &/or older gas ovens are inaccurate. Electric ones tend to be more accurate, but even then, there's always a fluctuation between  the sensor and the controls.

Surprisingly, it never occurred to me to get one.  I will do so, thanks Thor.