21st Century gas range question

[turquoisedude]

One of my neighbors down in Ogden popped by on the weekend to ask what to do about his 2002 Kenmore gas range. The ignitor does not seem to work anymore; it clicks but does not light the burner. That should be a relative easy fix, shouldn't it? Or is this something that a restorer wanna-be who makes bright blue flames come out of an ELECTRIC dryer run like hell from??

 

[appliguy]

Turqouisedude

DON'T TOUCH THAT STOVE WITH A TEN FOOT POLE!!!! It would be one thing if it were an electric stove but under the circumstances if I were you I would point your neighbor to the nearstest appliance repair guy. I do not mean to offend you in anyway but no amature of any kind should fool with something like that (and FYI my definition of amature in this case means anyone who is not trained to work on a gas appliance) After all how would you feel if you tried to fix it and ended up doing more harm than good, or if God forbid it should cause an explosion or something. You seem like a real nice and helpful guy to me but I don't think it is worth taking the chance considering what could happen...PAT COFFEY

 

[volvoguy87]

Gas.

Pat's right, you'll want to be careful with gas. Unaccounted for gas can really ruin your day, as well as those around you.

See if the burners are clean. If the stove hasn't been cleaned, the burners could be dirty enough to prevent the gas from flowing and mixing with air properly. Gas lines are only under about 1/2 PSI, so it doesn't take much to stop the gas. You can also have the owner turn on the oven to see if that still works. If not, the stove may be fine but there may be a problem with the gas line (closed valve, no service, etc.).

Rule out the obvious first,
Dave

 

[mattl]

I certainly would not run from looking at the problem, often it's a very simple fix.

The first thing you need to do is determine if all the burners are out or just one or two. Then remove the grates and see if the stove is generating a spark. 99% of the time the igniter gets bent while cleaning and the spark is too small or the gap is too big. Simply bending the igniter back into position will generally fix the problem. The stove may click but not generate a spark.

Next step if that does not work would be to see if you can light the burners with a match. If you can then the issue is with the electronics and that gets very expensive. I had a Kitchenaid Cooktop from the late 80's that I really liked and one by one the igniters would fail. ended up using a gas match to light 2 of the burners all the time and the 3rd most of the time. Looked into the cost of repairing it and the parts alone were over $400, not cost effective. Funny thing is I replaced it with a Jenn-Aire that cost $350 on ebay and I HATED it, ended up replacing it in 6 months with a very nice Siemans costing about the same. Love the layout on the Siemans. One of these days I'll put the lightly used Jenn-air on CL, but been lazy...

 

[turquoisedude]

I must admit

That my first instinct is gas range = don't touch... As a brat, my parents kept telling me about a huge explosion in LaSalle in the late 50s that levelled 2 blocks and killed several of their friends, so I figure gas is not something I should mess with...
However, I did check to see if the burners could be match-lit and they can, hence why I thought it was just a simple problem with the ignitor. I keep forgetting the modern ranges are full of computer chips!!
I think I will play this one safe and tell my neighbor to call in someone...

 

[mattl]

Well, if you feel like it, I'd still check the sparks. As I mentioned, if they get bent even a little for whatever reason they won't light. Might save your neighbor $100+ on a service call, and very little risk.

Over the years here I've noted several members who are deathly afraid of gas for some reason. I've lived around gas appliances all my life and I have to say there is little to worry about if you are just a little alert. I've run lots of gas lines, Moved meters and such without issue. In recent years most gas pressure in the home is very low, not like it used to be. My local gas company insisted they had to move my home meter that was in the garage since it was on a medium pressure line. They really didn't care, it's a state mandated thing. Mid and high pressure gas meters must be located outdoors. Low pressure meters are fine in the house.

Working with gas requires just a little respect, as you would with electricity. Both are very safe in the home environment or very deadly if you are stupid...