gas stove issue

[Donald]

I have a pretty normal modern gas stove (propane). Four burners and an oven. All electronic ignition.

Today I had the back burner on boiling some pasta and I turned the knob to turn the burner off. In this stove when the knob moves past the just on or almost off position, the electronic igniters come on. So as I was turning off the burner and the igniter came on there was kind of a "wosh" of flame near the front of the stove. Happened very quickly, so not 100 sure. It blew the drawer under the oven open a few inches and I could smell burning hair. I assume some dog hair that was under or near the stove burned quickly.

I tried another burner after for a few minutes and it worked OK.

I am not sure what to think. I turned off the propane at the tank.

The oven was not being used.

 

[Nick1994]

I have to experience with gas stoves, but it sounds like there's a gas leak in the oven/broiler area and the igniter lit it. I'd replace the stove to eliminate the chance of an explosion.

 

[Wolf359]

The standard stoves have igniters on all four burners so that when you turn one on, they all come on. Either one of the burners was slightly on, or you have a small gas leak. The flame from one burner probably wasn't enough to set it off, but when the igniters lit, it was enough to set off whatever was left. I believe propane is heavier than air so it tends to sink so that's why you have the flame at the front of the stove, maybe one of the front burners was slightly on or again there's a leak somewhere.

 

[JHZR2]

Gas stoves can last decades. I know folks who have refurbished 1940s stoves even.

There are many piping points for gas to leak, but not that many that can leak gas when the burners are off. There's also little reason for the connections to just start leaking without some impetus.

So my first thought is user error. An inadvertent cracking of a valve or an anomaly in the pressure that prevented the stove for lighting. Then the gases built up and settled in a non-turbulent area until an ignition source occurred.

Do you have a combustible gas sensor in your kitchen?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

There's a small gas leak. When the ignitor fires it fires for all the burners, and in your case it sounds like it also fires the ignitor for the oven. Unless you somehow managed to open a valve without igniting a burner you either need to track it down or have a professional fix it.

 

[Donald]

Its hard to turn on a burner without lighting the burner. I suppose you could turn it on very fast, going quickly past where the igniter goes on. But that is not something I have ever tried and would be hard to do as a mistake. The over's igniter is more complex as it will not allow more gas until it detects a flame. I had that igniter replaced a few years ago.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
The standard stoves have igniters on all four burners so that when you turn one on, they all come on.


I am pretty sure that mine are all individually controlled. I.E. - I turn one on and only that one comes on.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
The standard stoves have igniters on all four burners so that when you turn one on, they all come on.


I am pretty sure that mine are all individually controlled. I.E. - I turn one on and only that one comes on.


Haven't really seen that in a while. Basically all 4 igniters come on, they all spark up because to wire each one separately would cost more. Of course only one burner comes on because the rest don't have any gas going through them when they're sparking.

 

[Donald]

I am pretty sure all 4 burners spark when any burner is turned on.

I am still not sure whether to call the propane company or the appliance company.

I ordered a propane leak detector tool.

 

[Donald]

I found one burner ignitor that is not working and another partially working. But I was not using either of those two burners.

 

[Donald]

OK, the Maytag repair man came today to do a safety check. After drilling out the screws for one of the burner heads, he found that the gas line going from the valve to the orifice holder was broken. That allowed gas to accumulate under the burners and flow down the back to the drawer area. When the igniter came on as I was turning off the burner it ignited the accumulated gas.