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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > April 2006 > Gas range pilot lights smell like gas
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Gas range pilot lights smell like gas
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| lerner@ka.net 2006-04-01, 3:21 am |
| I have four burners on top of my range, two pilot lights. It's not
always like this but when I walk by the oven I can smell gas a little.
The smell is at the pilot lights that are lit. I adjusted the flame as
low as they can be and still work. I can't find any gas leaks. Does
this give any clue
as to what might be wrong? It's an old Tappan range, not sure how old
but it's new enough that it has a black glass range door if that helps.
Thanks
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| New & Improved - N/F John 2006-04-01, 6:21 pm |
| Go and buy a new one. It'll bake better and your house will smell better.
Make sure you have the shutoff valve behind the stove. You may need to do
some plumbing.
<lerner@ka.net> wrote in message
news:1143873917.755039.65300@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> I have four burners on top of my range, two pilot lights. It's not
> always like this but when I walk by the oven I can smell gas a little.
> The smell is at the pilot lights that are lit. I adjusted the flame as
> low as they can be and still work. I can't find any gas leaks. Does
> this give any clue
> as to what might be wrong? It's an old Tappan range, not sure how old
> but it's new enough that it has a black glass range door if that helps.
> Thanks
>
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| hallerb@aol.com 2006-04-01, 6:21 pm |
| if the pilot is burning then thats not the cause, you can put soap in
water and apply with brush to find leaks.
check the line behind the stove if its a corrugated metal one its
likely leaking and some have been recalled
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| On 31 Mar 2006 22:45:17 -0800, lerner@ka.net wrote:
>I have four burners on top of my range, two pilot lights. It's not
>always like this but when I walk by the oven I can smell gas a little.
>The smell is at the pilot lights that are lit.
Maybe it's coming from somewhere else, anyhow.
> I adjusted the flame as
>low as they can be and still work. I can't find any gas leaks. Does
Have you tried brushing on soapy water?
>this give any clue
>as to what might be wrong? It's an old Tappan range, not sure how old
>but it's new enough that it has a black glass range door if that helps.
That makes it a new gas range by my standards. How are you supposed
to see if the cake is rising if the oven door is black?
>Thanks
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| On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 21:34:11 GMT, "New & Improved - N/F John"
<trompiano2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
><lerner@ka.net> wrote in message
>news:1143873917.755039.65300@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
>Go and buy a new one. It'll bake better and your house will smell better.
>Make sure you have the shutoff valve behind the stove. You may need to do
>some plumbing.
This is good advice. If you can afford to do so, buying a new gas
range would be your best move. You can buy a model with no pilot
light. The electronic igniters work very well.
The gas connection at the rear of the range is by far the most likely
location of a leak. Humans don't have great directional accuracy in
our olfactory sense, so it can be difficult for us to tell from which
direction a smell is coming. Beagles, however...
Last year, I did my homework and bought a Frigidaire Gallery Series
gas range. I have been very happy with the purchase ever since.
Luc
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| On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 11:49:03 -0400, Lucid <conciser@mail.invalid>
wrote:
>On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 21:34:11 GMT, "New & Improved - N/F John"
><trompiano2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>This is good advice. If you can afford to do so, buying a new gas
>range would be your best move. You can buy a model with no pilot
>light. The electronic igniters work very well.
>
>The gas connection at the rear of the range is by far the most likely
>location of a leak. Humans don't have great directional accuracy in
>our olfactory sense, so it can be difficult for us to tell from which
>direction a smell is coming. Beagles, however...
>
>Last year, I did my homework and bought a Frigidaire Gallery Series
>gas range. I have been very happy with the purchase ever since.
>
>Luc
Why are so many folks on this newsgroup so anxious to tell folks to
scrap the old and buy new, especially when his range requires a minor
leak repair, at worse?
I don't believe in filling landfills with useable stuff.
Buying a new range without any pilot lights will save only a minor
amount of energy and certainly won't save money. Why would a new range
automatically bake better?
My 38 year old range bakes fine and the oven thermostat is accurate.
It's a big old 36" gas range that has FOUR pilot lights. The pilots
barely move my gas meter during the summer months and my gas bill is
the customer service minimum during those months with no other
consumption.
Plus the old Yankee in me says:
"Use it up, wear it out.
Make it do or do without."
I suppose the above is an archaic concept in our over-indulgent
society...
Doug
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| On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 05:44:13 GMT, Doug <sparks06524nospam@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 11:49:03 -0400, Lucid <conciser@mail.invalid>
>wrote:
>
So even if he gets a new stove, he may still have a problem.
[color=darkred]
> Humans don't have great directional accuracy in
>
>Why are so many folks on this newsgroup so anxious to tell folks to
>scrap the old and buy new, especially when his range requires a minor
>leak repair, at worse?
You got me. You'd think this group was called alt.home.replace .
>I don't believe in filling landfills with useable stuff.
>
>Buying a new range without any pilot lights will save only a minor
>amount of energy and certainly won't save money. Why would a new range
>automatically bake better?
Don't know. A simple gas range can last forever, I think.
>My 38 year old range bakes fine and the oven thermostat is accurate.
>It's a big old 36" gas range that has FOUR pilot lights. The pilots
>barely move my gas meter during the summer months and my gas bill is
>the customer service minimum during those months with no other
>consumption.
>
>Plus the old Yankee in me says:
>
>"Use it up, wear it out.
>Make it do or do without."
Absolutely.
>I suppose the above is an archaic concept in our over-indulgent
>society...
And then when it's time to retire, will there be enough money?
When I was in my 20's in the 70's and lived near a college, I made a
small bit of money fixing things for students. One customer in the
girl's dorm wanted me to fix a sewing machine and something else.
When I went to look at her stuff, she had a 12" B&W tv on the table
not far from the window with a very bad picture. I lived about 4
blocks away, and had a perfect picture. But I was using an abandoned
tv antenna on the roof and I had line of sight with the Empire State
Building (before the WTC was built)
I told her, for free  , that if she wanted a good picture she should
get some lamp cord or other wire and connect it to one or two of these
two screws and throw about 3 or 4 feet of it out the window. (She was
in a 10-story steel frame building, and maybe next to another building
the same height. But I'm pretty sure she would find some signal if
she put the wire outside of the building.
When I came back, I hadn't been able to fix the sewing machine iirc,
but I had fixed the other thing.
And she had a new 12" B&W tv on the table not far from the window with
a very bad picture. Instead of taking my advice, she had bought a new
tv. And the picture was no better.
For the work I had done, she offered me the old tv. And I thought it
was at least the price I had quoted her, 10 or 15 dollars. So I gave
her the same advice I'd given her the first time about how to get a
good picture, (she said nothing about having tried that the first
time) and I took the old tv home, where I got a perfect picture, just
using the rabbit ears.
P&M for some reason.
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| On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 05:44:13 GMT, Doug <sparks06524nospam@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>Why are so many folks on this newsgroup so anxious to tell folks to
>scrap the old and buy new, especially when his range requires a minor
>leak repair, at worse?
>
>I don't believe in filling landfills with useable stuff.
>
>Buying a new range without any pilot lights will save only a minor
>amount of energy and certainly won't save money. Why would a new range
>automatically bake better?
>
>My 38 year old range bakes fine and the oven thermostat is accurate.
>It's a big old 36" gas range that has FOUR pilot lights. The pilots
>barely move my gas meter during the summer months and my gas bill is
>the customer service minimum during those months with no other
>consumption.
>
>Plus the old Yankee in me says:
>
>"Use it up, wear it out.
>Make it do or do without."
>
>I suppose the above is an archaic concept in our over-indulgent
>society...
>
>Doug
>
While I hate to ruin a perfectly good mindless rant, you do realize
that it is possible to sell an old range, rather than putting it into
the landfill? Also, places like Goodwill and the Salvation Army take
such donations, if they are in reasonable condition.
If most people held on to their old appliances as long as you do,
there wouldn't be much of a used appliance market. When I was just
starting out on my own, new appliances were out of my reach. The used
appliances were the only things that I could afford. There will always
be members of our society who will benefit from that segment of the
market, or from such donations.
So, it is not so much of a crime against humanity for someone who
considers his range to be 'old' (or insufficient in some way) to
replace the unit with a new model, if they can afford to do so. In
fact, such a practice is a vital part of our economy.
Luc
| |
| hallerb@aol.com 2006-04-03, 9:21 am |
| Today sadly seemingly everyone says just buy a new one it will fix
everything.
I fix office machines for a living, often the old models were way
better than todays...
plus the cost of the pilot gas will never even equal a fraction of the
cost of a new range...
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| On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 07:02:01 -0400, Lucid <conciser@mail.invalid>
wrote:
>On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 05:44:13 GMT, Doug <sparks06524nospam@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>
>While I hate to ruin a perfectly good mindless rant, you do realize
>that it is possible to sell an old range, rather than putting it into
>the landfill? Also, places like Goodwill and the Salvation Army take
>such donations, if they are in reasonable condition.
>
>If most people held on to their old appliances as long as you do,
>there wouldn't be much of a used appliance market. When I was just
>starting out on my own, new appliances were out of my reach. The used
>appliances were the only things that I could afford. There will always
>be members of our society who will benefit from that segment of the
>market, or from such donations.
>
>So, it is not so much of a crime against humanity for someone who
>considers his range to be 'old' (or insufficient in some way) to
>replace the unit with a new model, if they can afford to do so. In
>fact, such a practice is a vital part of our economy.
>
>Luc
I hardly said that the above was a "crime against humanity".
Perhaps your arguement is valid IF most used appliances are resold.
Most aren't in my area.
Sears and other retailers contract with a trucking/disposal company
who pick up the old units and bring them to a storage area near a
local Sears wharehouse. They contract with a local guy who picks a few
parts off of them and the carcasses are then disposed of. For a time
the carcasses were sold off to a scrap metal company. Lately, scrap
prices are apparently so low that most are simply hauled off to a
landfill.
In another town where I have property, "white goods" must be taken to
the local recycling center. Again, scrap prices are so low that it
costs the town money to have them hauled away by a recycler.
Most folks who buy new appliances don't bother to sell their old ones.
They simply have the new appliance dealer arrange for disposal as
mentioned above.
Doug
| |
| Ted Mittelstaedt 2006-04-05, 10:21 am |
|
"Doug" <sparks06524nospam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7mm6329urforkr83d1nphn791b2jrodhbl@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 07:02:01 -0400, Lucid <conciser@mail.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>
> I hardly said that the above was a "crime against humanity".
> Perhaps your arguement is valid IF most used appliances are resold.
> Most aren't in my area.
>
> Sears and other retailers contract with a trucking/disposal company
> who pick up the old units and bring them to a storage area near a
> local Sears wharehouse. They contract with a local guy who picks a few
> parts off of them and the carcasses are then disposed of. For a time
> the carcasses were sold off to a scrap metal company. Lately, scrap
> prices are apparently so low that most are simply hauled off to a
> landfill.
>
I find that hard to believe since steel prices are at an all time hight
right now. Perhaps the ones that are landfilled are mostly plastic
construction?
Ted
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| On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 05:59:13 GMT, Doug <sparks06524nospam@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 07:02:01 -0400, Lucid <conciser@mail.invalid>
>wrote:
>
>
>I hardly said that the above was a "crime against humanity".
>Perhaps your arguement is valid IF most used appliances are resold.
>Most aren't in my area.
>
>Sears and other retailers contract with a trucking/disposal company
>who pick up the old units and bring them to a storage area near a
>local Sears wharehouse. They contract with a local guy who picks a few
>parts off of them and the carcasses are then disposed of. For a time
>the carcasses were sold off to a scrap metal company. Lately, scrap
>prices are apparently so low that most are simply hauled off to a
>landfill.
>
>In another town where I have property, "white goods" must be taken to
>the local recycling center. Again, scrap prices are so low that it
>costs the town money to have them hauled away by a recycler.
>
>Most folks who buy new appliances don't bother to sell their old ones.
>They simply have the new appliance dealer arrange for disposal as
>mentioned above.
>
>Doug
Your community is very different from mine. Most people have their old
appliances hauled away by the same company that delivers their new
appliances. Sears and many smaller shops contract with one of several
companies who salvage working appliances for resale, use at the local
community college, Salvation Army, Goodwill and for parts. The
remainder, consisting of valuable steel, get sold for scrap at good
profit. I don't know where you got the idea that scrap prices are low.
Steel is at a premium.
A portion of the material certainly goes to the landfill, but there
are enough used appliance outlets in the area for folks to know that a
major portion does not go to the landfill. Since we were focusing on
WORKING appliances, it is certain that the vast majority of them go to
resale or non-profit donation.
So, upgrading ranges is still a reasonable option for responsible
citizens.
Luc
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