Amana gas stove - oven lights up only sporadically
 

We just got rid of a major pain in the ass tenant, well, my best client did. The top was covered in muck, but it looks OK and the four burners all light up fine with the Piezo thingy. The oven is a different story. The bottom door (for pans or warming, not sure what) gives a view of the glow element underneath the oven which does glow cherry red. I watched it for a long time, maneuvering the stove dial, no luck. Then as I turned it off, it lit up just before I had reached off and I couldn't stop myself.

Tried to light it again, no luck, so for the heck of it, I blew hard towards the element and it lit up. But just barely - no extra flame from dialing to higher temps.

I fixed a dryer once with glow element glowing but no flame, unless it was started from cold. Warmed up at all, like a restart after checking for moisture or dryness, no go. It was the electro magnets that open the gas valve when heat has been reached that had gotten old. Apparently they age. Anybody know if ovens are similar? I'd sure love to fix this for a $150 bill in two hours.

Probably a dumb question, but how long did you wait for it to light? Mine takes a minute or more to actually light the flame after the glowbar comes on. It's not instant like one with a standing pilot. Otherwise check the burner assembly for obstructions.

Pull the ignitor and check it for oxidation. You can try and gently sand it. Be very gentle with it because those things can snap in half with about a half pound of pressure. Yeah, I know. No, I've never gotten beyond sanding it because it's always broken on me when I tried. Replacement is around $50 from the hardware store.

2 or 3 minutes. The thing got cherry red and stayed at the same visible heat/redness level for some time. And then when it did light, no change in flame level from twisting oven temp dial.

I might just get a new one anyway. Much less than a new one. I'm doing some other searching. I'll return with news after my glorious victory in the realm of gas oven maintenance.

What flame level change were you expecting? I should only have a reduced flame once it has reached temperature.

Good point, I'm not that experienced with gas ovens. The flame level seemed pretty anemic, and it was definitely slow/difficult to come on. I'll get to the bottom of it somehow.

It was a bit weird that the element would be cherry red for a minute or two, and the flame would only come on when I blew a puff of air from my massive lungs in the direction of the element.

I've seen this a lot in gas ovens with gas pilots. It happens when the flame is not in quite the right position. I'm not very familiar with electronic ignitors.

The main gas valve will not open until the ignitor reaches full temperature. However, the valve cannot know the temperature of the ignitor, it simply functions based upon resistance. Once the resistance gets to a specific level, the valve will open and allow the gas to flow at the maximum rate.

The problem occurs when the ignitor ages and its resistance changes. You see an ignitor that appears to function properly, but the gas valve doesn't see the required resistance and it won't open.

The ignitor has to be changed in this situation and, apparently, there is quite a brisk business in these devices because they fail with an unacceptable frequency. On one stove I had, they would fail every two years. At $50., it gets a bit expensive.

If you replace the ignitor, the stove will function properly.

That's why I'm always on the lookout for functional vintage gas stoves which are lit with a match:)

Not advisable with a tenant.................:eek:

Hey buddy! Thanks for checking in. That's what I was coming around to, just replacing the element and going from there. The stove is in good shape, and the landlady has plenty of other large $$ going out the window at this point - $50 is a reasonable investment.

Our dryer years ago was fixed with just the new magnetic switch - the element was getting hot enough but the magnets wouldn't open the switch unless they were cold. It was a pain - you'd checks your clothes but if they needed a bit more time, it wouldn't light up til about 8 hours later.

That's pretty much the deal with my furnace. Mine is every four winters. Note winter here is six months.

Google "gas oven repair". Look through the resulting articles until you get enough info to attack it with malice aforethought and cold-blooded violence.

Then report back with a detail of your adventures.

Or have your survivors do so if you happen to mess up.:D

^ ^ Good point. I'll leave my screen name and password in a makeshift will for the occasion so as to alert the gang about what kind of mistakes to avoid should I meet with misfortune.