Surprises just keep coming ... new 5er

wa8yxm wrote:
Mine needs a match/lighter but Yes no reason they can not extend the sparker down to the oven .. except on most RV's the OVEN and teh stove top are different assemblies. only the valve for the oven is common to both.

I just ran the igniter line down alongside the gas line from the stovetop to the oven. No reason it couldn't be done at the factory, in fact it would probably be easier.

Mine needs a match/lighter but Yes no reason they can not extend the sparker down to the oven .. except on most RV's the OVEN and teh stove top are different assemblies. only the valve for the oven is common to both.

Isn't it nice to see that our RV stoves now have electric starters just like my backyard BBQ has had for decades?

fj12ryder wrote:
Let's face it, there's no downside to the battery operated igniters, stove top or oven.

Except, of course, the obvious downside of having to replace batteries every once in a while or worse scrape corrosion out if you don't use it for a while and the battery rots. I'm fine with clack-clack ones.

K Charles wrote:
I added one to our last TT and it worked better then getting on my knees. We only turn the pilot off when we buy propane so we don't need to light it that often.

If you installed one on water heater, put it on Youtube and with enough clicks you'll get many advertisers and make you rich, lol.

I have to wait for 5 minutes for gas to flow and ignite the pilot on my water heater.

pnichols wrote:
... Then I wonder why spark igniters haven't been on RV propane ovens for years?

I wonder if there isn't something we're all missing? Sometimes folks do DIY things that seem to be OK ... and sometimes there's negative stuff in the background that they may have all missed and still has not come back to bite them. :h

(However, the igniter on our RV's stovetop does have an unused sparker line port on it - for some reason.)

when we upgraded our RV oven to a bigger one in 2011 suburban, atwood, and magic chef all offered offered ovens with electronic batter powered spark ignitors for the burners and oven. Cost was about an extra $100 IIRC and "special order". I think that answers why RV mfg don't include them.

And home gas ovens have had either a spark or hot surface ignitor standard or optional for the pilot for decades and decades. It's not a new feature by any means. Hot surface ignitors aren't really viable for an RV since the common hot surface ignitors are designed to run off 120VAC, not 12V.

It's good to see that at least a few RV mfg are finally adding these features to the ovens.

"... Then I wonder why spark igniters haven't been on RV propane ovens for years?"

Why are most of the spark igniters the "CLACK CLACK CLACK" manual igniters rather than the battery powered ones? I'm sure there's no safety issues, just cost and "That's the way we've always done it" mindset.

Let's face it, there's no downside to the battery operated igniters, stove top or oven.

... Then I wonder why spark igniters haven't been on RV propane ovens for years?

I wonder if there isn't something we're all missing? Sometimes folks do DIY things that seem to be OK ... and sometimes there's negative stuff in the background that they may have all missed and still has not come back to bite them. :h

(However, the igniter on our RV's stovetop does have an unused sparker line port on it - for some reason.)

^^^^^^^Couldn't have said it better myself. :) I did get the BBQ igniter and it does have the hi-temp insulation. I've had zero issues with it for over 5 years. Works for me.

pnichols wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
My Suburban oven works that way, but only because I installed a sparker of my own.

Hmmm (see my post above) ... where did you find sparker line with insulation that can take oven temperatures hour after hour for years?

(A sparker lighting a burner is entirely different - as a cooktop burner's flame goes straight up carrying the heat with it so as to not heat the sparker wire's insulation down below where the burner's gas comes out.)

how to find a spark ignitor with insulation that can take oven temps? NOT a problem at all.

go to lowes/home depot etc. and get a 4 spark ignitor replacement for a BBQ. It will have at least one ignitor with high temp insulation since most BBQ have a rear rotisseri or similar spot that requires a high temp insulation. The ones with a high temp insulation will even often give a temp rating, mine was over 700F, well above even the broiler temp. and only a few inches of insulation is exposed to oven temps. most of the wire goes directly out the back of the oven up the oven air vent which drops in temp quite rapidly as it mixes with inside air. Install the whole system, 3 for the burners and the high temp ignitor for the oven.

Got that, installed it in the oven. DW loves it. and with a battery ignitor no pushing continually, turn the oven to pilot, push in the thermostat, push on the ignitor, let it spark for 5 seconds or so, 99% of the time, pilot is on.

and no worry about gas coming on without a pilot. if pilot goes out, pilot gas is shut off by the thermocouple cooling down, and main gas can't come on until the pilot runs long enough to get the thermocouple up to temp to provide enough voltage to allow the main gas line to come on.

Actually much safer than the burners on many cooktops which will come on w/o a pilot and don't have a shutdown system in case the flame goes out other than YOU turning off the burner.


The failsafe system with the thermopile providing power to gas valve has been around for decades, probably 50 or 75 years and has been shown to be very reliable. About the only failure mode is the thermocouple failing, and if it fails it will NOT provide enough voltage to keep the pilot lit let alone turn on the gas valve.

I've had ours installed since 2011, we camp close to 90 days/year and probably use the oven on 1/2 those days. DW says it's the best mod I did for her on the trailer.