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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,719 Likes: 5
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 14,719 Likes: 5 |
Did the 'technician' have size 13 shoes and mention anything about suckerpunches and Thanksgiving Sunday house fires? Just asking...
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Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 868
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 868 |
Ever consider hooking your own schitt up and doing your own maintenance? Lowes and Homer Despot sell everything you need. Leaks are easily enough found with a Zippo and only at connections. There should only be three connections at most. One at the tank, and two at the stove inside IF you add flex tubing between the main line and stove. The only money you're really out of is cost of materials. Just helped install a spankin' new Samsung range for a friend and neighbor this past fall. Not rocket surgery. The most difficult task was contorting to reach and swap out the orifices from NG to LPG. Planning on installing the same make and model of my own and building an insulated and electrified hut for a pair of 100# tanks next year at my "Up North" place. When it drops down below 0* F, I'll put a drop light in to keep them warm and if the power goes out a modified Dietz Jr No.20 kerosene lantern.
Of course we bushkins do tend to be a bit more independent and self-sufficient than most. The zippo method is not good for two reasons. The first is obvious, the second is this: a tiny leak may not ignite, but the odor from the leak will still be noticeable. Sometimes leak detector bubbles will not show a leak especially in hard to see places where the solution might not flow all around the fitting. Sometimes the leak is from the regulator or the gas valve, and could be the stove just doesn't shut off completely. Sometimes it is a pinhole in a casting. An electronic gas sniffer will find leaks better than any other method. If you inhale the odorant that is added to gas for a period of time, your ability to smell the odorant is diminished. So you could be purging the air from a long gas line and wondering when the gas odor is going to show up long after it already got there (also a bad technique).
Last edited by Plumdog; 03/03/21.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146 |
Check the regulator. I had a persistent ng gas smell from the range - they claimed I had no leak. I only called em out once- and it wasn't that bad -1 hour service call
so I went after it myself - found an almost invisible hairline crack in factory regulator - manufacturing defect looked like, new reg., self installed, fixed it. That was a good catch. If it's not a connection on the main line coming in, one of the most common leaks I have found would be on the gas tube to the oven main burner at the nut on top of the oven control. A gas range being what it is though, There are a number of places it could be.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146 |
Check the regulator. I had a persistent ng gas smell from the range - they claimed I had no leak. I only called em out once- and it wasn't that bad -1 hour service call
so I went after it myself - found an almost invisible hairline crack in factory regulator - manufacturing defect looked like, new reg., self installed, fixed it. That was a good catch. If it's not a connection on the main line coming in, one of the most common leaks I have found would be on the gas tube to the oven main burner at the nut on top of the oven control. A gas range being what it is though, There are a number of places it could be. They suck They have bought up several small gas companies in our area. Whittling down competition. I called them and they have call center females *try* to answer your questions. They stay on script and cannot reason anything out. Amerigas was my first thought also. That company really does suck balls and people that work for them are lower than pond scum. That seems rather harsh. Most of those I worked with were good people. Some jerks sure, but most just trying to do the best job they could. Part of the reason I left though was because I could see trouble coming, and I think it has been happening with a lot of the larger corporations. The loss of the personal touch? Too many levels where you don't get to interact with someone in person. That and I felt like Amerigas got too big and too arrogant. They didn't seem to care to be competitive. To be fair, the woman who has been delivering propane to my shop is very pleasant, and a hard worker. She’s expressed her frustration with how things are going over there. But her hands are tied unfortunately. I made the decision to swap over to natural gas heat to avoid having to deal with their bullchit. As they are the only game in town. Yeah, I had a feeling. The people you deal with in the office are not like those in the old days that could have been raised in the field. The "secretary" was the most likely to be off the street. Local manager on up would have been likely to have been raised out in the field. Now days they hire them straight out of school as far as I'm concerned raised on a mixture of bullschidt and business theory. No practical field experience at all. I'm know it makes for some interesting conversations for the consume.
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 19,262 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 19,262 Likes: 2 |
My propane supplier filled my tank, and for a day or so afterwards, I was smelling something around the tank. My first thought was that the dog had drug up something dead. Finally came to the conclusion it was leaking at the tank. Called company, and they can right out and fixed it. Turns out that when they refilled it, they didn't turn a valve completely off. They gave me a credit for the gas that leaked out. Also, this past fall, when I started using my gas logs, they were smelling. Called the company to come out and look, and they called me back asking if we'd done any painting recently. I told them we had, and the guy said that the paint fumes would stick to the logs like glue, and to open the doors, and turn the logs on high and let the odor burn off. He said that should fix it, and if not, he would come out. Problem was fixed. I am very happy with my service.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,146 |
Ever consider hooking your own schitt up and doing your own maintenance? Lowes and Homer Despot sell everything you need. Leaks are easily enough found with a Zippo and only at connections. There should only be three connections at most. One at the tank, and two at the stove inside IF you add flex tubing between the main line and stove. The only money you're really out of is cost of materials. Just helped install a spankin' new Samsung range for a friend and neighbor this past fall. Not rocket surgery. The most difficult task was contorting to reach and swap out the orifices from NG to LPG. Planning on installing the same make and model of my own and building an insulated and electrified hut for a pair of 100# tanks next year at my "Up North" place. When it drops down below 0* F, I'll put a drop light in to keep them warm and if the power goes out a modified Dietz Jr No.20 kerosene lantern.
Of course we bushkins do tend to be a bit more independent and self-sufficient than most. The zippo method is not good for two reasons. The first is obvious, the second is this: a tiny leak may not ignite, but the odor from the leak will still be noticeable. Sometimes leak detector bubbles will not show a leak especially in hard to see places where the solution might not flow all around the fitting. Sometimes the leak is from the regulator or the gas valve, and could be the stove just doesn't shut off completely. Sometimes it is a pinhole in a casting. An electronic gas sniffer will find leaks better than any other method. If you inhale the odorant that is added to gas for a period of time, your ability to smell the odorant is diminished. So you could be purging the air from a long gas line and wondering when the gas odor is going to show up long after it already got there (also a bad technique). ^^^^^ Always makes me smh when people start talking about checking for a leak with a match or zippo. Most don't know to avoid soap solutions containing ammonia either.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,898 Likes: 2
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,898 Likes: 2 |
My Bonnie looked into a gas tank
The heart of its contents to see
She lit a small match to assist her
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me!
Some mornings, it just does not feel worth it to chew through the straps!~
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,053 Likes: 9
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,053 Likes: 9 |
We heat our deer camp with propane. Last year we were smelling it outside the house and our usage seemed high. I disconnected the line on both ends. Purged it with air then capped it and aired it up. None of the connections bubbled. But it wouldn't hold a pressure test. I aired it up to 80 pounds and one of the young guys at camp could hear the leak. I couldn't hear it. We soaped it and it bubbled like crazy had a tiny pinhole between the tank and house. I ordered a new flexible LP line. I think it cost 60 bucks for a 65 foot line. Problem solved.
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Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,382
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,382 |
I would go a little slowly on totally replacing the gas stove with electric. You will never see an electric in a restaurant kitchen and the good cooks all prefer gas for better control on the range top. We got rid of a perfectly good electric when Sweetness said we should get a gas stove top or she might stop cooking. It turns out that GE makes a really nice one with a gas top but with two electric ovens. Kind of the best of both worlds.
A tenant called me two months back and said that her glass top “just broke” and a new stove was needed because that model was obsolete. Another one said that one of the glass top elements wasn’t heating up the outer coil. Okay, so I order a new coil and how much could that be? Gulp, $450.00 for that model. Electric glass top stoves are not trouble free.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,462 Likes: 63
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 67,462 Likes: 63 |
I would go a little slowly on totally replacing the gas stove with electric. You will never see an electric in a restaurant kitchen and the good cooks all prefer gas for better control on the range top. We got rid of a perfectly good electric when Sweetness said we should get a gas stove top or she might stop cooking. It turns out that GE makes a really nice one with a gas top but with two electric ovens. Kind of the best of both worlds.
I will only heat my Chef Boyardee mini ravioli with the blue flame of excellence.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28 |
I would go a little slowly on totally replacing the gas stove with electric. You will never see an electric in a restaurant kitchen and the good cooks all prefer gas for better control on the range top. We got rid of a perfectly good electric when Sweetness said we should get a gas stove top or she might stop cooking. It turns out that GE makes a really nice one with a gas top but with two electric ovens. Kind of the best of both worlds.
I will only heat my Chef Boyardee mini ravioli with the blue flame of excellence. rene's Cici's farts blue flame????
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
(Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28 |
It sounds like you need a better electric range. The one in my old house was from the 70's, spiral plug in burners. It's a beast. The spiral ones I can kinda deal with. When there's enough electrons going thru them I can kinda see how hot they are. But, when this glass top goes, it's the last one I want in our house. Of course, it's 15 or so years old now, assuming it came with the house when built. Maybe that's part of the problem? With the $450 element fix noted in that post above though, I'm not likely to start exploring why a medium setting one on burner is just that, but the other is more like a medium low and won't heat up my pancake griddle. First world problem though. I'm not cooking over some rocks with scavenged cow dung for a fuel source.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
(Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,387 Likes: 28 |
Can anyone explain these things in terms of our family gas (natural) stove that lasted 30+ years and for all I know may still be in the house that was sold around 2005? All the years we had it I can never remember a leak. And with five kids, two adults, a single earner family at that, it cooked a whole bunch of meals and pre Mr Coffee boiled a whole lot of percolator pots of coffee. All day every day.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
(Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 838 Likes: 1 |
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,333 Likes: 32
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,333 Likes: 32 |
Can anyone explain these things in terms of our family gas (natural) stove that lasted 30+ years and for all I know may still be in the house that was sold around 2005? All the years we had it I can never remember a leak. And with five kids, two adults, a single earner family at that, it cooked a whole bunch of meals and pre Mr Coffee boiled a whole lot of percolator pots of coffee. All day every day. Explanation: they don’t make them like they used to.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,219 Likes: 10
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 8,219 Likes: 10 |
$450 for an element would be a huge no go for me. I just bought a brand new GE gas range, granted it’s pretty plain, for $545. I put another $40 in materials for the line I ran off the main and presto we’re literally cooking with gas.
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,926 Likes: 8
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,926 Likes: 8 |
Is your stove a Cafe?
Was poking around Lowe's, and the appliance guy just had to talk to me.
Liked a stove and asked if it was dual fuel?
"No, but it's GE Cafe, and we can get them in dual fuel.
And that's exactly what we have at home. I love it."
So I come home and Google fu.
Hmmm, Lowe's must be paying pretty well these days!
Figured I'd splurge on this, $1500! Damn I'm a big spender.
Except, these things go $2500!
If it were commercial, and I knew it would be the last stove I would
ever buy. And probably never need to repair? Ok.
But it's not.
It just a really fu99ing expensive residential appliance.
The type several salespeople have told me have a 5-7 year lifespan.
Last edited by Dillonbuck; 03/03/21.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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