Kitchen Gas Appliances - oven broiler problem

Hello,

I have a small gas oven/stove.

No electricity, gas and pilot lights.

It was working fine a few months ago, but we don't use it much, and now it doesn't work. I recently cleaned the stovetop area and put some aluminum foil on the stovetop area, then the next day my wife noticed a gas smell and I found the broiler/oven pilot light is out, then I light the pilot and it seems OK.

But....
I turn the oven to broil and open the bottom broiler drawer and the flame ignites from the pilot, but then after staying lit for a minute, the flame on the broiler element distributing the gas dies out - like it is runing out of gas and then you can hear a valve let some gas in and the flame grows and then it slows again and almost goes out. When I close the broiler door the flame goes out quickley and the pilot goes out too. I have to then relight the pilot.

I had not noticed any problems, I have just finished cleaning the top of the stove and I put some aluminum foil on the stovetop area, I can't imagine how that could affect the broiler area, but the pilot light went out first after I cleaned the stove and added the foil. Can there be a connection there, or is it just a coincidence?

Best Regards,
Robert

Hello Robert and Welcome to the Do It Yourself Web Site and my Gas Appliances topic.

First a compliment to you. For providing a well described problem description. Well described problems help to provide clues which can most likely cause a problem and for me to determine a likely cause.

This advice might sound strange, but the clue may be the addition of the foil. The assumption is the problem was not prsent prior. Therefore, the foil may have caused the problem.

No foil should be used anywhere in the baking or broiling compartments. Foil causes heating distribution and air circulation problems. The foil may be restricting air flow.

Remove it all and note what happens. Be sure the foil on the outside top of the appliance does not cover nor restrict the ovens heat exhaustion vents. Doing that causes air flow restrictions or blockages.

The intent here is to avoid suspecting problems with parts until it can be determined if the foil is causing the problem. Replacing parts would not solve any problems if none existed and if the foil caused them. Try this first.

Remove all foil, test the oven, note any changes and post back the results. Use the reply button to update this question. Doing so will automatically move the question back to the top of the list of questions, if it is not already there when you reply back.

Sharp Advice.
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You Got It!

Thanks so much, I had a feeling it might be the foil, but I could not see any ventilation holes, so I did not want to go thru the trouble of removing the foil just to check.

I removed the foil and found the covered ventilation holes and now everything works perfect.

Thanks again,
Robert

Hello: Robert

Glad I was able to help and you solved the problem. Thanks for posting back the results too. In doing so everyone else reading this question learns more, what foil does when used in ovens and used incorrectly in ovens, etc.

Oh Yeah! Thanks to your accurately and detailed worded problem description, it made it possible to determine the cause and solve the problem this quickly.

Ever have any other appliance problems, ask. Be glad to help.

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