smokey cooker burner

wotayottie

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cooker is a plastimo neptune 2000 and between seasons it has developed a smokey burner which has a yellow topped flame and leaves soot on the bottom of pans. Maybe even three smokey burners ( two hob and oven) but it is more obvious on the left hob burner. Obviously the air / gas ratio is wrong, but what controls that ratio ie where do I look to see if something is part blocked?

And could it be the gas regulator letting too much gas through? The flames seem higher and without a pan on the gas, the flame is more inclined to leave the burner. The bulkhead regulator is 16 years old.

In the off season I replaced the flexible gas pipe and gave the cooker a good clean at home but didnt dissemble anything so I cant see it being my actions which have caused the problem
 
We had this is a big way last year on an Eno stove.

The cause was not at all what I expected. I thought the jet was blocked.

The problem was that the aluminium casting that the gas/air mixture exits thru had warped with heat. Replacement was required.
 
Sorry, but actually it is most likely your cleaning that caused the problem! The hob burners sit in "cups" which have small pips in them to create a narrow air gap for secondary aeration of the mix. When you wash all the accumulated grease off the tray, some of it runs down into this gap and over a number of cleans it will close the gap, leaving the flame burning yellow, with a tendency to stand off - the distance being that required to achieve the required secondary aeration.

The cure is to unscrew the burners and clean them thoroughly to re-establish the gap. I have been told that in very advanced cases of corrosion causing the same problem, strands of wire can be arranged radially between cup and burner will work til you can buy replacement parts.

The tricky bit of the repair is to get the screw out! This can get so established that more recent Plastimo manuals advise you to disassemble the burners annually - before they get burnt in!

Rob.
 
The tricky bit of the repair is to get the screw out!
Rob.

I had to drill them out. I found several other screws that were seized.

Eventually I took the whole cooker to bits and re-assembled it using Duralac on all the screw threads. If I ever bought a new one I would do that before using it.
 
Glad it helped. Once cleaned up it should work for many more years - add it to the annual service schedule!

Rob.

P.S. Plastimo stoves are actually made in the UK by Leisure Products, Bolton. Sometimes they can be really helpful if you phone them.
 
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