Oven help needed (not cooking instructions)

I have a Modern Maid gas oven that is starting to act funny. It sometimes takes a very long time to light and doesn’t always develope the ‘full’ flame. But sometimes it works just fine.
It appears that the needed amount of gas is not getting to the burner - but then again sometimes it does. The gas flow is sometimes so weak that I can see lines of flame fanning out from the igniter to the end of the burner.

My guess at this time is:
1 gas line restriction - unlikely due to the fact that sometimes it is fine
2 pressure regulator
3 gas valve in the oven or the soloniod that controls it

Any other ideas or suggestions?

This is a natural gas stove, yes? Perhaps it’s a pressure from the street problem. Does your home actually have a pressure regulator - maybe somewhere near your gas meter? If it does, ask your local utility to check the regulator for leaks ** they always come quickly if they think you’re leaking **. If their regulator is oozing sporadically, OR you have spotty pressure from back up the line somewhere, they may be able to ameliorate the problem without it costing you.

I use propane for my stove and hot water heater. I have a small bomb behind my house to supply said units. In the first few months, till they figured out my needs, I ran out once or twice. The distinctive odor was present, but the stove ran fine just about till the tank was drained.

Just my $ .02.

Cartooniverse

Mr. L does this for a living. He says “you hit all three. Take the gas line loose and check the pressure coming in, then check the prices on a new regulator. Could also be as simple as the magnet wearing out causing the gas valve to shut prematurely.”

E-mail if you need more help

A warning: if you have an old stove, you might have an old flexible metal hose to connect between the stove and gas outlet. If you pull out your stove and find one of these, you are in trouble. Shut off your gas immediately and replace the hose with a modern plastic hose. These metal hoses were recalled, and just moving the hose and flexing it can make it leak. It is considered extremely dangerous to have a metal hose, it is a replace-on-sight repair. I found one in an artist’s loft I rented and the gas company absolutely freaked and checked the whole building.

I think I covered this before but I will reiterate:
There are safe metal hoses!!!
In fact- the grey teflon COVERED hoses are metal underneath.
You can get stainless steel ones too- they are metal and approved for use in residential and commercial use. The ones to look out for are the really old ones with bronze coloring or have been painted multiple times (a sure sign of age and neglect).

I don’t know of ANY wholly plastic UL approved gasline and I wouldn’t put in my house in any case.

I’ll leave the stove diagnosis for Mr.L - that’s what we pay guys like him for :wink:

Cheers, Mike (kitchen designer/long time remodeler)

Well, MikeG, you have to agree, there is a risk in certain kinds of old hoses. There was a gas explosion in a bar near here that was attributed to a defective metal hose. Another similar explosion occurred in a home and blew up during a party, killing 7 people and injuring many others. They’ve been trying to get this type of hose out of homes for a long time.
It is worth checking out the hose, especially since the old defective kind can be damaged further just by inspecting it. If you pull out your stove and work on it, you’ve got to be ready to replace this hose with a proper one.

Thanks Mike and Chas for covering my gas appliance hose warning that I’ve brought up in other threads.

A few other suggestions:

[li]The burner array in the oven may have become mechanically dislodged from the outlet pipe that feeds it. See if it moves around too freely and look to see if it is properly connected to its feed pipe.[/li]
[li]Look for any drippings or detritus that may be blocking the orifices of the oven’s burner array. This will prevent proper ignition.[/li]
[li]Test as to whether the oven ignites more quickly when all the other stove burners are turned off. This will help you to determine whether it is the gas mains supply pressure or an internal problem.[/li]
[li]Check the oven’s pilot light. Sometimes it too may become occluded by debris or the like and not function correctly.[/li]
Perform a “soap bubble solution” test to any external connection that you break and remake. No exceptions.

For gas oven items like that call the gas comp they come out for free & take a look to make sure that THEIR equipment is working right & they look at your oven.

Course, thats only where I am, California.