oven doesn't want to reignite

[rblass]

Have a hardwick gas oven. The problem is the oven does no seem to relight itself immediatly anywhere below a temp setting of 400. You can hear the gas come back on but the oven will not relight. If you open the broiler door on the bottom and blow inside, it will ignite. At a setting of 400+ there is no problem with the oven reigniting itself. Any ideas. Maybe remove the gas disperser and make sure all the hole are clean near the igniter?

[16x80]

Welcome rblass


Your on the right track, In the past I have found that a lonely Ole spider will make a web in there and divert the gas from hitting the igniter. It cant hurt! Just remember where the screws came from and make sure its seated properly and working as expected before you button it up.

16x80

[LazyPup]

Does the oven have an electric igniter or a constant pilot?

Electric igniter systems us a thermocouple bypass to permit initial ignition from a cold startup, but once the burner is lit it has a pilot to permit the thermostat to cycle the burner on and off to regulate temperature. Once ignition has occurred the pilot must keep the thermocouple hot until the gas control is turned to the off position to reset the igniter system.

Begin by checking the orifices on the burner as you suggested in your post. You should be able to easily slip the burner out and you can use a needle or fine drill bit to check all the holes on the burner. Just make sure that you do not enlarge the holes while checking them.

Although it is a bit more difficult to pull out, there is another very small gas orifice on the pilot burner assembly that should be checked.

Once you are sure that all the ports are open, reassemble the burner and pilot assemblies then turn the oven on and visually inspect the flame. During proper combustion the flame should be light blue with just the occassional wisp of yellow tips.

During initial constructon the burners are set for proper fuel/air mix to support complete combustion at standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. When professionally installed, the field installer is supposed to then make a minor adjustment in the fuel/air mixture rate to compensate for variations in gas line pressure or for the altitude at the point of installation. Often homeowners purchase a range and are not aware of the requirement to tweak up the settings.

Adjusting a gas burner should always be referred to a trained technician, however, for the purposes of education I will explain the procedure.

If you pull the knob off the oven thermostate regulator you should see two small screw heads in recessed ports, one on either side of the shaft to the control knob. Those screws are the burner adjustments. One will regulate the height of the flame on the burner and the other one regulates the height of the pilot flame. (There may be a P or B embossed on the valve body to indicate pilot or burner) On most, the screw on the right side is the burner and the one on the left side is the pilot flame adjustment.

While watching the flame,use a fine instrument screwdriver to turn the screw clockwise and you will see the flame height increase. Turn the flame up until you start seeing yellow tips on the flame, then back it down to the point where the yellow tips of the flame disappear.

Once you have the burner flame set, visually locate the pilot flame and repeat the process.

Replace the knob on the gas control and turn the temperature down to a lower setting (150 or 200deg.F)but not off. You should see the burner flame extinguish but the pilot should remain on. Now turn the gas control to the OFF position.If you have a constant plot the pilot flame should remain burning.

If you have an electronic igniter Once the control is turned to the off position the pilot flame should extinguish and the burner will not re-ignite until the thermocouple has had time to cool.

If the pilot flame does not continue to burn while the oven gas control is in the on position the problem is most likely a defective thermocouple.

[ApplianceTech2]

rblass

Suspect that oven has a constant burning pilot flame. Constant meaning the pilot flame is always on even when the oven is turned off. If that is the case, look at the burner where the pilot flame is. Your likely to see a white powery residue in that area. If so, clean it off.

To do this cleaning, it is not necessary to remove the burner. Simply use a small brush, thin piece of cloth or pipe smoking cleaner or similar to clear away the white powdery stuff. Than clean the pilot assembly. Canned air used to clean computer keyboards works well fot thses purposes also.

Once everything is cleaned, relight pilot and retest. problem should be fixed. If only one side of burner lights, there is a restriction in the cross over port on the burner. Cross over port may be a slot cut into burner or holes. Slot or holes are there so burner flames can get to the other side of the burner, opposite from where the pilot flame is at. That slot or those holes also have to be clean or cleared out so burner can light on the opoosite side from where the pilot flame is at.

Cross overs are used on almost all burners which are not made of iron. All aluminum burners have cross overs. Check for them on that oven. Clean or clear as needed. May not even have to remove the burner to do so but on some burner removal is required. Cross over ports are usually on the underside of the burner but can also be on top of the burner tube. Look closely for them. They are there somewhere.

Good Luck.
ApplianceTech2
Natural & Propane Gas Appliance Service Rep.