possible prob with gas

[VicS]

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I couldn't find a picture of one online

[/ QUOTE ] Here then is a picture of an ODS together with an FSD.

 

[misterg]

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Here then is a picture of an ODS together with an FSD

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Thanks /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The ones I am familiar with were a straight, machined brass tube with a ceramic lining where the flame comes out (as fitted to Super Ser gas heaters in the early '80s). I'm sure it's the same thing though, but after a bit of 'value engineering' has occurred.

Andy

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent post, very useful - could be the case with his fridge. However...

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Please don't go sticking anything through jets to clean them - the ODS pilot lights that I'm aware of have a precisely drilled jet made out of industrial ruby which passes just enough gas to burn at 'safe' oxygen levels, but not so much that it stays lit at lower levels. Sticking something through it to 'clean' it (you can barely see the hole!) will let more gas through, and seem to cure the problem, but you won't have an ODS any more, you'll have a pilot light.

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You're not saying that ordinary burner jets shouldn't be cleaned? I know of no other way and they have to be pricked every so often otherwise the burner power falls. You (or another poster) pointed out that blocked jets won't cause yellow flame and smoke - quite correct, it is crud in the airways that does that - but when you are servicing a burner assembly you should prick the jets. Cookers, of course, don't have pilots.

 

[misterg]

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You're not saying that ordinary burner jets shouldn't be cleaned? I know of no other way and they have to be pricked every so often otherwise the burner power falls.

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Personally, I don't think that it should ever be necessary to 'prick' a jet on an LPG appliance - I think there's some other problem if you keep having to to this (dirt in the gas pipe? Over-greased cooker taps??) - The actual gas that flows from the cylinder is boil-off, so will be very clean, even if there is contamination in the bulk liquid. If I thought a jet did need cleaning, I would take it out and look through it, and if there was something in it, I would try and blow it out - maybe use a nylon brush bristle if it's a blob of tap-grease that's stuck there, and won't be blown out. I think that even this is considered a bit of a bodge. Certainly I wouldn't use wire, even fuse wire unless I was in "downed aviator" status [1]. By 'pricking' the jet, all you're doing is pushing any blockage back into the pipe, ready to block the jet again at any time.

We had the same LPG cooker at home for 10+ years, and despite daily use, there was never any need to do anything to it. My father was a CORGI LPG installer, & fitted / maintained hundreds of LPG cookers & heaters in caravans and houses, and didn't have to go in to 'prick' the jets - Apart from water heaters, the main faults were thermocouples (FSDs), Flame failure solenoids, and 'faulty' portable room heaters which usually turned out to be the 'oxygen sensor' shutting down due to the heater being lit for hours in a room without ventilation (usually 'Little Old Ladies' trying to keep one room warm, sadly).

I wouldn't rule out a partially blocked jet causing a yellow flame because cooker burners rely on the stream of gas to draw in sufficient air (like a bunsen burner). If the flow isn't coming out straight, or is otherwise disrupted by a partial blockage, chances are that it won't be as effective at drawing the air in. However, provided the installation was done properly, without leaving debris in the pipes, there just shouldn't be anything in the stream to block the jets - there is no 'coking up' type mechanism that I know of.

I speak only from experience of UK sourced LPG & appliances, and mostly from domestic usage, so experiences elsewhere may be different. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Andy

[1] "Useful for mine mechanics and downed aviators" is a phrase used by Carol Smith in "Engineer to Win" to describe dubious engineering practices.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

If both appliances are giving trouble then the most likely cause is the regulator. It could be as simple as a little water in the reg. It does not sound as though this equipment has been maintained for years. Fit a new regulator, but then fit a new hose and a bubble tester. That is cheap and easy to do at about £20. The date the hose was made is embossed on the hose, if it's more than 5 years old change it. The fridge could be as simple as a cobweb or rust in the chimney. The trouble is that when you check for obstructions in the chimney, which is done by removing the bend at the top of the chimney and pulling the swirl strip out, the muck falls onto the pilot and it will need blowing out to clear it, which in turn means removing the fridge to get at it. It is a simple job to do. However if that does not cure things then the next thing is either the thermocouple or the magnet in the shutdown valve. If the pilot stays alight but goes out after a while then it is not likely to be the thermocouple, but the magnet in the shutdown valve. A new shutdown valve is £34-£55 depending on who you get it from, or £8 for the magnet.