Forum Discussion

BobsYourUncle's avatar
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Dec 04, 2013

I smell Propane. Oven thermocouple shot?

I have been on the road since Nov.12 and so along with that comes the usual stuff - cooking and using things in the TT.

I use my oven often to bake fish & chicken for dinner. So I lit the pilot light and never gave it another thought. That is until I ran out of propane.

No big deal, go out and switch to the other tank and I'm good to go. I came back in, switched things back on, except the oven pilot and went back to work.

Couple hours later I come in for a potty break or something and Whoa! Stinks in here of propane! Quickly take evasive action, shut things down to evaluate the situation. Aired the place out well and carried on.

Anyhow long story short, I didn't relight my oven pilot, no need to, thermocouple should shut off the flow to the pilot.

I turned the oven to pilot, and WITHOUT pressing the button I reached in with the lighter thingy and it lit! Hmmmm crumbs! that ain't supposed to happen!

Now correct me if I'm wrong but I assume the oven is supposed to have a thermocouple in there to prevent what just happened to me.

Should be a nice pain in the a... adams apple to change the thermocouple, if it has one. It should have one.... Shouldn't it?

1997 Wedgewood stove.

Solution for now is to turn the pilot off after every use to be safe.

Oh, and my gas detector didn't utter a peep...... Hmmmmm, maybe it's toast too. It's a newer unit, replaced by the previous owner.
  • DryCamper11's avatar
    DryCamper11
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2013
    BobsYourUncle wrote:
    I was pushing the same button / knob that you turn for the oven pilot and temperature setting.

    That explains it, and I agree - it's working as designed.
  • BobsYourUncle's avatar
    BobsYourUncle
    Nomad
    Dec 06, 2013
    DryCamper11 wrote:
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    On most of those mercury safety systems you do have to push to turn from the off position, but that is a simple mechanical lock to keep the knob from being bumped to the pilot on position, so you can push the knob in and it will move, it just doesn't do anything other than pass the lock.

    Got it. From reading his post, I thought he had an actual separate button that had to be pressed before lighting the pilot.


    I was pushing the same button / knob that you turn for the oven pilot and temperature setting.

    Yes it has a lock that you have to push in to turn. I was thinking it is the same as one you have to push to light the pilot in a conventional hot water tank or similar. I just assumed that I was pushing to feed gas for the pilot until the non existent thermocouple held the flow.
  • DryCamper11's avatar
    DryCamper11
    Explorer
    Dec 05, 2013
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    On most of those mercury safety systems you do have to push to turn from the off position, but that is a simple mechanical lock to keep the knob from being bumped to the pilot on position, so you can push the knob in and it will move, it just doesn't do anything other than pass the lock.

    Got it. From reading his post, I thought he had an actual separate button that had to be pressed before lighting the pilot.
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    Dec 05, 2013
    DryCamper11 wrote:
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    2 RV Techs have posted that the OP's oven is working as designed.
    The pilot flows gas anytime oven knob is turned on.
    So when OP ran out of propane the pilot flame went out and then when OP valved in other propane tank gas flowed from unlit pilot because oven knob was on when pilot flame was burning.

    Older model oven......working as designed.


    I'm not disagreeing - just trying to learn how it works - but what does the pilot button do that he said he didn't push? I'm familiar with designs that flow gas to the pilot immediately when the thermostat control knob is turned to the pilot position, but I haven't seen one that does that and also has a button that the manual tells you to press before lighting the pilot. What is the purpose of that button if gas flows to the pilot immediately?


    On most of those mercury safety systems you do have to push to turn from the off position, but that is a simple mechanical lock to keep the knob from being bumped to the pilot on position, so you can push the knob in and it will move, it just doesn't do anything other than pass the lock.
  • DryCamper11's avatar
    DryCamper11
    Explorer
    Dec 05, 2013
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    2 RV Techs have posted that the OP's oven is working as designed.
    The pilot flows gas anytime oven knob is turned on.
    So when OP ran out of propane the pilot flame went out and then when OP valved in other propane tank gas flowed from unlit pilot because oven knob was on when pilot flame was burning.

    Older model oven......working as designed.


    I'm not disagreeing - just trying to learn how it works - but what does the pilot button do that he said he didn't push? I'm familiar with designs that flow gas to the pilot immediately when the thermostat control knob is turned to the pilot position, but I haven't seen one that does that and also has a button that the manual tells you to press before lighting the pilot. What is the purpose of that button if gas flows to the pilot immediately?
  • BobsYourUncle's avatar
    BobsYourUncle
    Nomad
    Dec 05, 2013
    Thanks again Chris.
    It is an old trailer and I am not about to do any retrofitting of the oven.
    A lot easier to use it knowing that the pilot flows when on, lit or not. I'll just turn it off when done using the oven.
    I have a super sensitive sniffer on me - I always have so I can smell even the tiniest bit of gas.
    Good to know the level from the pilot is that small.
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    Dec 05, 2013
    BobsYourUncle wrote:
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    1997 model does not use a thermocouple, it uses a mercury safety valve, but no safety on the pilot, so it is working as designed.


    Really? Wow, not a safe design at all is it?

    But now that I know, I can govern myself accordingly.

    Thanks Chris


    It actually is reasonably safe - a pilot has such a small flame that it is near impossible to get an actual combustible mixture from an open, unlit pilot. Yes, you can smell it, but that's the point in the odorant, that you can smell it at many times under a dangerous concentration.

    And- yes, thermocouple systems can and do fail catastrophically, and no, it is not practical to convert a range. You must change everything to the oven- thermostat, lines, orifice block, burner...
  • BobsYourUncle's avatar
    BobsYourUncle
    Nomad
    Dec 05, 2013
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    1997 model does not use a thermocouple, it uses a mercury safety valve, but no safety on the pilot, so it is working as designed.


    Really? Wow, not a safe design at all is it?

    But now that I know, I can govern myself accordingly.

    Thanks Chris
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Dec 04, 2013
    And to change the design so you need a thermocouple.. and so the pilot will be shut off if it goes out.. YOu MUST change teh control valve

    That and the Thermocouple (S) are the entire job.

    For those who do not know how thermocouples work.....

    They generate a voltage when hot, this voltage is applied to either a solid state device or to a magnet (causing current to flow) depending on the appliance,

    The magnet is not strong enough to pull itself in (The button you push does that) but it is strong enough to hold.

    There is now way a THERMOCOUPLE can fail allowing gas to flow. Absolutly nonn. Can not happen.

    However the control valve CAN fail dangerous.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Dec 04, 2013
    Guess folks don't read all the posts........

    2 RV Techs have posted that the OP's oven is working as designed.
    The pilot flows gas anytime oven knob is turned on.
    So when OP ran out of propane the pilot flame went out and then when OP valved in other propane tank gas flowed from unlit pilot because oven knob was on when pilot flame was burning.

    Older model oven......working as designed.

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