Why is my stove working?

[Project_Mayhem]

My Hillerange/Seaward stove has never worked before. I've played with it a few times in the past without luck. Today I heated up the thermocouplers until they were glowing red and it fired up. I let them cool down and fired them back up a few times. Now it's working perfect. I took one of the thermocoupler valves out and I was able to push it in without issues so I don't think they were stuck. Why would the thermocoupler come into play if the valve has an "ignite" setting on the knob? I'm really curious what the issue could have been

 

[PaulK]

Did you go to church last Sunday? That might be it!

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Did you go to church last Sunday? That might be it!

Perhaps I should go next Sunday with a prayer along the lines of, "Please don't let this stove blow up on me! Please don't let this stove blow up on me!"

 

[Will Gilmore]

When you heated up the thermocouplers, you burned out the buildup of bad humors from the previous owner's sins, and opened up the gas flow again.
Seaward HILLERANGE Series Owner's Manual (Page 10 of 12) | ManualsLib

-Will

 

[Project_Mayhem]

When you heated up the thermocouplers, you burned out the buildup of bad humors from the previous owner's sins, and opened up the gas flow again.
Seaward HILLERANGE Series Owner's Manual (Page 10 of 12) | ManualsLib
View attachment 235804

-Will

Isn't the point of the "ignite" position on the knob to bypass the thermocoupler? Kind of like a pilot light button? BTW I let it cool cool for 30-45 minutes before re-testing again. It felt like it was at room temperature

 

[DaveJ]

Not sure of this stove, but when you heated the thermocouple, then this allowed the main valve to open, and not rely on the pilot valve. There would be full gas pressure and maybe this moved the spider web or dust or gremlin out of the burner tube. I could just be blowing smoke with this answer
sometimes vacuuming out the tubes at the beginning of the season helps alleviate issues.
Good luck

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Not sure of this stove, but when you heated the thermocouple, then this allowed the main valve to open, and not rely on the pilot valve. There would be full gas pressure and maybe this moved the spider web or dust or gremlin out of the burner tube. I could just be blowing smoke with this answer
sometimes vacuuming out the tubes at the beginning of the season helps alleviate issues.
Good luck

It sounds plausible. I was actually looking into removing the burner tube for cleaning but realized it required a bit more work than expected. That's when I tried heating up the thermocoupler. I have a wall mounted heater at home that wont light unless you give it gas for a few days (with the device's knob in the off position but supply line valve open).

There's an opening in the tube between the burner and valve with holes to suck in air. It would be quite easy to pull some air through that hole with a vacuum. Thank you for the idea!

 

[Foswick]

All I can say is that I HATE when things fix themselves. At least when they don't work, I can trust that they don't work. If something unexpectedly starts working, I will NEVER trust that system again. I will lay in bed, sure that it is watching me and just waiting ... for some nefarious purpose. I suggest an exorcism before returning to the boat.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

All I can say is that I HATE when things fix themselves. At least when they don't work, I can trust that they don't work. If something unexpectedly starts working, I will NEVER trust that system again. I will lay in bed, sure that it is watching me and just waiting ... for some nefarious purpose. I suggest an exorcism before returning to the boat.

I find that's often part of the path to total failure. Kind of like little warnings along the way. I'm blaming this one on the witch that lives in the bilge. The weather turned cold and now she wants some heat without having to cast spells.

I'm under the impression that the ignite position on the knob bypasses the thermocoupler for intial lighting. It sounds like the logical thing to do when the thermocoupler is cold. I'll see if the stove is still working today. If not, perhaps there is a clog and heating up the thermocoupler allowed extra gas to flow to get it lit for the first time. I'm really curious what's going on.

 

[JamesG161]

how many burners? One bad one can be the issue.

Jim...

 

[Project_Mayhem]

how many burners? One bad one can be the issue.

Jim...

Two burners both with the same behavior. I was originally thinking it was a fuel supply issue because nothing was working and I didn't smell any gas. I havent tried heating up the thermocoupler for the oven. The burners have push button piezo ignition while the oven has a pilot light.

 

[JamesG161]

I didn't smell any gas.

you won't with Propane, until the Tank is almost empty.

the oven has a pilot light.

Can you manually light it? Or a burner?

Jim...

 

[Project_Mayhem]

you won't with Propane, until the Tank is almost empty.


Can you manually light it? Or a burner?

Jim...

I got the stove working by heating up the thermocoupler. Gas started flowing. I could hear and smell it. I turned off the stove to let the thermocoupler cool down before testing it again. I'll be there tomorrow to see if it's still working. Now I'm wondering why this worked since the "light" position on the knob is supposed to bypass the thermocoupler valve

 

[JamesG161]

You must PUSH down on the Knob and hold it down. That will bypass the Safety of the Thermocouple till it is lit.

Then is may take 15 seconds or more to heat up the Thermocouple.

Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

for more info

 

[Project_Mayhem]

You must PUSH down on the Knob and hold it down. That will bypass the Safety of the Thermocouple till it is lit.

Then is may take 15 seconds or more to heat up the Thermocouple.

Jim...

Correct. The question is why the stove wasn't working before I heated up the thermocouplers with a torch. Now that I did that, the stove is working as expected. I can turn and push in the knob, hit the igniter and release the knob within seconds of the burner firing up. Seems like something changed

for more info

I had a supplier install a new OPD valve, clean and fill the tank. Pressure is reading 60PSI due to the cold but that's still higher than the device needs.

 

[JamesG161]

but that's still higher than the device needs.

ok you may have found the issue.

You should have pressure regulator near the tank.
On my H430 boat, I have a bypass on my Regulator pressure to start gas flow.

Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

My boat.

Jim...

 

[Project_Mayhem]

ok you may have found the issue.

You should have pressure regulator near the tank.
On my H430 boat, I have a bypass on my Regulator pressure to start gas flow.

Jim...

I have a pressure regulator. The gauge is on the tank side. I have not measured the pressure on the stove side of the regulator. Part of my diagnostic process involved trying a different one which didn't make a difference. I have not tried switching back to the cheap one since I got the stove working. Neither regulator has a bypass valve. I do have a solenoid which is currently bypassed to figure out what's going on.

The only theory that seems plausible is that something was clogged and the combination of heating the thermocouler and pushing the knob was enough to clear the clog. I'm still very suspicious of that theory

 

[Tally Ho]

you won't with Propane, until the Tank is almost empty.

What is the reason for that? I have a gas leak in my gas grill, and I smell it every time I turn on the gas valve (new hose on order).

Greg