Gas cooktop oddity

[mattl]

I have  Bosch/Seimens gas cooktop that has been in place for about 15 years.  Recently from time to time it operates at 1/3 power  but not all the time.  Today I was making pancakes and as I have always done I used the left burner.  It has dual concentric rings with flames both inner and outer.  the griddle was not heating as it should, I looked and the flames were quite small and the inner  ring had no flames.  Lit the rest of the burners and all had low flames. Tried turning off and back on, no difference.

 

This had happened a  few times in the past.  The other day when I was cooking the flame output was fine.  The only commonality would be the regulator, but I've never  seen one go bad let alone an intermittent failure. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[ea56]

Could the pressure in the gas line have been reduced temporarily by the gas company? Perhaps that’s the issue and your cooktop isn’t at fault.

Eddie

 

[combo52]

Most likely a faulty pressure regulator, especially if the problem comes and goes, if you like one burner and it looks fairly normal and it gets smaller each time you light an additional burner it’s definitely a bad regulator.

We replace one for this reason every few months.

John

 

[mattl]

Well, I think Eddie nailed it.  A little later I took a shower and the water seemed a little cool. Checked and the WH pilot was out, had to be a supply issue. Kind of odd for that, has has always been fail proof around here.

 

Was a little disappointed, might have given be a reason to drop my induction cooktop in. Been waiting for my new countertops  to put it in.

 

[henene4]

Just thought I would mention

Because you mentioned the age something rang in my head.

There was a recall for gas cooking appliances from BSH for models made around that time.
However I can't find the US webpage for that anymore.

Only US related thing I found was this CNN article.
https://money.cnn.com/2016/10/04/news/siemens-bosch-stove-recall-gas-cooker/index.html

Maybe give Bosch a call and just ask - better safe than sorry.

 

[mattl]

Thanks!

 

Mine is a cooktop, not range, but it  is from that time frame. Being in a fixed location it's less likely to have flexing stress as a range might have. I will look into it, was thinking about putting it on Craig's list when I swap it out for induction. Don't want t pas along an item at risk of doing damage.

 

[wayupnorth]

Years ago, when I was on city gas, my stove did the same thing. Problem was that everyone used their gas at the same time to make dinner and pressure dropped. After switching to propane I never had that ever happen again.

 

[mattl]

Well the mystery continues.  Had the utility co. out, they checked the pressure coming out of the meter.  Got 7 inches of water column, exactly what it should be.  After the guy left I tried it again.  Lit cooktop, fine; Lit gas log, fine; turned furnace on, not fine.  Cooktop had the tiniest of flames, gas log reduced to 1/3 of what it was.

 

Tried to call the guy back, no answer.  I think we need to test the output under load. Have to call the utility back tomorrow and have them retest with the bulk of appliances on.

 

[ea56]

Matt, that sure sounds like reduced gas pressure in the main if all your gas appliances are being effected to some extent from normal operation. They can’t all have failed regulators all of the sudden. I hope they get this resolved for you.

Eddie

 

[repairguy]

The regulator on the gas meter itself probably needs to be replaced.

 

[combo52]

If its only the Cook-Top its a bad regulator on the CT, we see this many times every year.

Turn one burner on high, then turn on one additional burner at a time and if the first burner flame gets smaller or jumps lower you usually have a bad pressure regulator.

John L.

 

[mattl]

Unbelievable--mystery solved

Called the utility out again. When the guy showed up he once again tested the pressure, 7" as it should be.  Then he came in the house and we lit the cooktop, fine, then the gas log, fine, then turned the furnace on, cooktop dropped to almost nothing, gas log was about out too.  He took videos to show his boss, put the gauge on the meter and it showed 0!. 

 

Said it's extremely rare but the gas meter must be bad.  pulled it off while we were talking and he said it might e a good idea to blow out the line before putting the new meter on.  opened the valve and nothing!  my gas line from the street is bad - said it's copper and copper gas lines can corrode over the years so the crew is on their way to run a new service line.  Who would of thought.  Wild.

 

[ea56]

Matt I’m glad that the gas company found the problem and is correcting it for you, I knew that it had to be reduced gas pressure from the way you described how the gas log and furnace were effected. At least your gas appliances aren’t malfunctioning.

Eddie

 

[mattl]

No, the gas line was only providing a trickle of gas.  At 10 PM they finished up installing the line, gas furnace going full blast, dual burner model, and the cooktop is working fine, one or all 4 burners it.