I live in a student cooperative and we have a commercial-grade oven that runs on natural gas. We have a problem with baking because when you turn the oven on the flames go for awhile but eventually they go out taking the pilot light with them.
The way I undersand it, the main flames are regulated by the thermostat and are supposed to go out but the pilot light is supposed to remain lit so that it can relight the flames when they are needed.
Apparently they had someone in to look at it and they didn’t fix the problem, so I am assuming that this is not an obvious problem, but perhaps I am wrong.
Can someone give me some information on what my problem might be and how to fix it? Or could you point me in the right direction to learning about gas stoves and pilot lights? If it was easy I suppose you could educate me over the message board, but probably you would have to reccomend some websites or a book.
i don’t have time to go too in depth about this, but these were two things we considered. we adjusted the flame size and it didn’t seem to help. could you explain the workings of the thermocouple? Also, how big might the flame need to be?
oh, would the pilot lighy stay lit at all if the thermocouple was faulty? that is what is happening, it stays on until the main flames go out.
A thermocouple is a safety device that makes sure the pilot light is lit. A sensor is positioned over the flame. The thermocouple converts the thermal energy to a very small electric current. This is used to control an electromagnetic valve-- If the sensor says the pilot light is out, no gas to the burners. Sometimes, a thermocouple craps out when it gets too hot. There is a chance that this is the case, and the thermocouple needs to be replaced. Probably a good idea to let licensed folks look after it, if you’re not sure. You can verify if this is the case by observing what happens. If the pilot light goes out when the burners fire up, then the pilot light is probably clogged up with some muck and should be cleaned with a bit of wire. If the pilot stays lit, and the burners turn on, the oven heats up to the tempurature you’ve set, and then the burners turn off and don’t turn back on until the oven is cold, then the thermocouple needs to be replaced. Does that make any sense?
[sub]Sheesh-- how did I miss that?[/sub]
It sounds like it’s certainly the thermocouple. They are usually designed so that they can be replaced easily. What is the model of the range?
It might be the thermocouple, but then again, it might not.
I just had this problem with my furnace. It turned out the pilot jet was clogged. The Furnace Guy took the sucker out (the jet deally the pilot light burns out of) and shook out a bunch of white ash stuff. Then he brushed it clean and blew through it for good measure. (He also replaced the thermocouple.)
Thank for your answers, I am still uncertain what to do however.
Here is some more information:
I have just moved in to this house and the oven has had this problem for awhile apparently, so I’m not sure everything that has been tried. The model is a Montague Grizzly (I think, I’ll have to look again to be sure). It seems that the valve was replaced (we have an extra deely-bob that looks to be a valve; it has piping going in and out and it has the button you push to light the pilot). I think the thermocouple was replaced, but perhaps not.
So Larry Mudd, you think it is the thermocouple? What you describe seems to be what is happening. The thing is, apparently because it is a commercial range we need a person liscenced to fix commercial ranges but we don’t have a proper ventilation hood so we can’t get a commercial guy to come in. (this is the story I was given by the members who lived here when they first tried to get it fixed. Is this true? We are in Seattle WA.) Also, we have to pay a plumber to fix our plumbing so our maintenance budget is virtually nil right now. So is this a cheap and easy fix?
Thanks again for your replies. I’d like to continue discussing this until I can either figure out how to fix this problem or at least figure out that I can’t.
I agree that the problem sounds like a thermocouple. If you don’t have the skills to replace it, any appliance repair service will be able to fix it for a nominal sum. If you know someone handy with tools, you can buy a new thermocouple at any hardware store for under $10.00.
The thermocouple is the copper tube with the large end clamped to the pilot light outlet. the large end of the tube should be directly in the flame.
SJC- Just to reiterate longhair’s take–
Replacing the thermocouple is pretty simple – if you are reasonably handy. Naturally though, if there’s any doubt, leave it to a professional. I would like to stress that I am totally ignorant about commercial ranges and legal issues about their repairs. I’m a diehard DIY’er, and have effected repairs to both gas furnaces and ovens – but I don’t want to advise you to take a DIY approach if you don’t have anyone confident to do it. You might find a way around the vent-hood problem by calling a smaller “jack-of-all-trades” kind of repairman. They’re often less anal about these things.
If you do opt to do it yourself, I would point out that because of when it goes out, it seems to me that the thermocouple is crapping out when it gets HOT. (Sometimes it craps out all together and you can’t get the oven to start at all.) This could also be a problem with the wire from the thermocouple to the controller. Replace the whole works if possible.
SJC- Just to reiterate longhair’s take–
Replacing the thermocouple is pretty simple – if you are reasonably handy. Naturally though, if there’s any doubt, leave it to a professional. I would like to stress that I am totally ignorant about commercial ranges and legal issues about their repairs. I’m a diehard DIY’er, and have effected repairs to both gas furnaces and ovens – but I don’t want to advise you to take a DIY approach if you don’t have anyone confident to do it. You might find a way around the vent-hood problem by calling a smaller “jack-of-all-trades” kind of repairman. They’re often less anal about these things.
If you do opt to do it yourself, I would point out that because of when it goes out, it seems to me that the thermocouple is crapping out when it gets HOT. (Sometimes it craps out all together and you can’t get the oven to start at all.) This could also be a problem with the wire from the thermocouple to the controller. Replace the whole works if possible.
SJC- Just to reiterate longhair’s take–
Replacing the thermocouple is pretty simple – if you are reasonably handy. Naturally though, if there’s any doubt, leave it to a professional. I would like to stress that I am totally ignorant about commercial ranges and legal issues about their repairs. I’m a diehard DIY’er, and have effected repairs to both gas furnaces and ovens – but I don’t want to advise you to take a DIY approach if you don’t have anyone confident to do it. You might find a way around the vent-hood problem by calling a smaller “jack-of-all-trades” kind of repairman. They’re often less anal about these things.
If you do opt to do it yourself, I would point out that because of when it goes out, it seems to me that the thermocouple is crapping out when it gets HOT. (Sometimes it craps out all together and you can’t get the oven to start at all.) This could also be a problem with the wire from the thermocouple to the controller. Replace the whole works if possible.
Call in the gas company that supplies your gas and tank. They usually have people working for them that have to fix gas water heaters and such and they’ll check out your pilot light and fix it for a fee.
Sometimes, there is a tiny screw adjustment for the pilot light which you turn to make it bigger or smaller. Thermocouples can be replaced easily from any store that carrys gas parts. Mine ran too low on a gas water heater and I adjusted the flame up so it would stay lit. If the flame goes out, of course it cu6ts off the main burner for safety.
The screw will be where the tiny tube joins the main block coming from the big gas line. It’s usually there in the same chunk of metal where the reigniter button sets. Keep the flame lit and turn the screw slowly left or right and watch the height of the flame. Adjust it to the level you think you need and try it out.
PS! Gas stoves with top burner pilot lights burn an enormous amount of gas if you leave them lit. They do not look like it, but they do. Buy a gas ignighter (BBQ igniter) from Walmart then open the range top and turn off all 4 top pilot lights. Light the burners by hand and you will be surprised at how much gas you will save. Sniffing around the burners will allow you to detect faint leaks after you turn the pilots off, but most rarely, if ever, leak.
If you are in snow territory, come winter, when gas prices get obnoxious, you’ll appreciate it.
Coppertop: we did try adjusting the flame, it might have been done wrong though.
Larry Mudd: I believe the pilot stays lit as long as the burner isn’t on. I couldn’t swear by it, but I seem to remember turning the pilot light on and letting it heat for quite a while (until it was red hot atleast). I have a feeling they replaced the thermocouple and the rest of the pilot light unit. I haven’t asked though, so pehaps not. I need to get on that.