We have a Roper Propane stove. It is AFAIK, jetted for LP.
Here’s the beef. It won’t get HOT. I have flame, and it’s yellow/blue..but to boil 2 qts of water it takes forever and if not covered, it won’t reach a rolling boil..no kiddin.
Heat a skillet and get it going to sautee the oil will smoke, add food and it just barely simmers.
This model has a broiler in the top of the oven, not in a lower drawer like i have become used to. Also one burner won’t light at all.
Now, when we bought the house, it was included, the PO ( previous Owner) had a son that worked at Lowes, he scored everything he could that was damaged or returned, like the bath vanities, and PH doors ( look like they fell outta a truck) and such..so I KNEW to expect some suprises, but this has me baffled still.
4 yrs and the DW is getting short tempered and screwing up cooking times…what can I do to try to find out what to do?
TIA
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
“Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire”
Replies
There is a good chance that he did not install the right jets or change out the regulator or only did have the job.
Try asking in the fourm here.
http://www.appliance411.com/
Dan Also answers questions here.
http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/Appliances-1-C18.html
He seems to really know what is going on and has a number of like to FAQ and trouble shooting info and parts.
But save some time and get the model number before you post.
Also here.
http://www.repairclinic.com/0047_13.asp
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks Bill.
I really have no clue about the jetting or anything. I DID relocate the line and move the stove across the room, but thats all. Just drilled a new hole in the floor and pulled the Cu flex line down and pushed it up in the new location..no kinks or nothing.
Now that I type this, I wonder if a 3/8th Cu. gas feed is too small?
I'll gather my numbers and try the links. I'm lost .Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
After 4 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could be so many things I don't know where to start. I'm assuming that you had the same problem before you moved the stove. Pipe size depends on the longest run from the tank, total number of BTU's of all gas appliances etc etc. 3/8 seems awfully small but even it is wayyyyyyyyyyyundersized you should have at least one burner working alone be okay. I hope you don't mean the line from the tank is only 3/8! How far away is your tank to the appliance? A yellow/blue flame isn't right. Should be blue with a little orange maybe on the very top. Maybe it is set for natural gas but things would be sooty. Your burgers would taste like a Mac truck instead of a Big Mac. Some stoves need orifices changed as well as the regulator adjusted when changing from natural gas to propane. Maybe you have a faulty regulator on the main tank. If you have any other gas appliances, how are they working?
All in all get someone in who can check pressures.
roger
No other stuff on gas, just the stove. I think the feed from the tank to a regulater on the side of the house is maybe 20'-25' tops, then it's no more than 20' to the stove.
It MAY be 1/2" Cu. OD not 3/8th, this is a grey area for me..I know water pipes, well enough but this soft shid is unfamiliar to me.
No soot, but right after oven ignition, yup a stink of burnt propane is pretty strong.
Thanks for the info.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
The pipe should get larger this side of the outside pressure regulator.
How is the flame color on a low setting? If it's blue on a low setting but gets yellow as you turn the heat up, then likely there is some sort of flow restriction.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Wife just checked and hollered up, no yellow. The line definitly does NOT get bigger after the outside mounted doo-hicky, that I do know for sure.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Obviously, you can get away with a smaller line on the outside, before the regulator. The inside line may be too small.
Another thing to try is to turn on a burner, just to the point where it starts to yellow. Then turn on another burner while watching the first. If flow is not restricted the first burner should remain essentially unchanged as the second is turned slowly all the way up.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Wife says there is NEVER any yellow, it stays blue and maybe a touch of pink when turned all the way up..she's the one using the stove the most.
Now I have an outdoor Turkey cooker that was acting horrible, same deal ( but running off a 25lb tank) and it WAS way yellow and Sooty..turned out to be a mud dauber in the air mixing doo-dad. Made my first batch of canning a horrible day.
If dirt was in the line would that be a cause? But again, no yellow ( oxygen present I presume) or sooty fire, just "cool" flame.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
OK, I misunderstood your original post to mean that the flame was obviously too yellow. Run the experiment and see if the flame in the first burner stays essentially the same size as the second and third burners are turned on.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Will do, shortly. Thank for the leads offered up so far.
I might add, this whole house was done by complete amatures, I would not be suprised if the piping is totally wrong.
I guess what I was getting at in my head, but didn't post..is there a BTU rating or similar heat output scale for various Gas Ranges ? like is Roper a "smaller" out put than say a Whirlpool or Kenmore..( I am sure a Viking would be way up there on both gas consumed and heat produced).Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
The total BTU input is likely on a nameplate somewhere on the unit, and likely there are tables on the net somewhere that give pipe size vs BTUs.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Ok, I just checked the flames. There is no noticable change when lighting additional burners.
Actually, the dead one lit slightly too ( we had written that one off and never used it) but it had a less than LOW whimper of a flame, when turned up full blast.
I'll gather up the info from whatever is behind it a little later today and see what it says. I might add that when I relocated the stove, I re-used the existing piping, I know, I didn't add or subtract any thing, size wise or total length of run..but if it was screwy to begin with,I just repeated the issue.
Thanks for everything..one more honey do getting attn.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
It's sounding to me like the problem is in the stove; likely that it's not set (fully) up for propane, or the internal pressure regulator is shot.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
For what little I know, I'd have to say that that was my first impression, being as everything here was scatch and dent or returns for defects.
It ought not take 30-40 mins to broil a Halibut steak.
I think I'll see what the deal is before we just pull the trigger on a new unit, which either way, is in the plans, just not the budget.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
For some strange reason in history pipe is defined by the ID and tubing by the OD.The only one that I know off hand is 1/2".1/2" copper pipe is 1/2 ID.But the matching tubing is 5/8" OD.If you use a stop vavle with a compression fitting to attach to 1/2 copper pipe it with be a 5/8 fitting.But if you want to solder that 5/8" tubing to copper pipe you use a 1/2 pipe coupling..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Sphere,
I don't know about your gas supplier but here there are a couple of suppliers that have full time service people on staff.
When I run into problems with gas appliances on jobs I cannot solve then I have them come out and diagnose and repair.
We use at most 150 gallons a year, so service is not high on the suppliers list for us..or anyone for that matter. Lucky to get them out to add gas when it gets low.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I've noticed similar phenomona and wondered about the fuel itself - how pure is that expensive propane? - just like cutting gasoline with 10-15% ethanol, I wonder if propane suppliers could be stretching the fuel with something cheaper...
dunno -
This is my third 100 gallon delivery in 4 yrs, its either been the same or getting ever so slightly worse.
There was 2 huge tanks ( one I bought with the house, one rented) they were hooked together..I sold the extra one and have to rent the suppliers tank, in order to have them deliver.
There were 3 gas heaters plumbed in here..and we abandoned them quickly..so just the range is on the line now.
Outta my area of expertise for sure.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Sphere,
I'm gonna take a guess and say the regulator wasn't switched to propane.
On the regulator (on stove) is a dime sized screw cap. Take that off and flip the little button in there over. Recap.
Natural gas should be about 5" WC. Propane should be about 11" WC.
KK
I will diddle around and see if I can locate that and flip it to what ever it isn't flipped to, and see if it makes a difference.
The one dead burner is not a problem, but the low heat is annoying.
As I said earlier, getting a service person may be problematic, if I can wheedle enough info out of someone, I probably can fix it my self..
She has been wanting a new stove because of this, well, I do too..but if it is indeed a gasline or regulater problem, then a new stove will just be a new stove, that works as bad as the old stove.
So it sounds like I have 3 areas that could be the issue..tank has a regulater or just a vent, there is a regulater or vent on the side of the house with a T for abandoned lines to heaters, and the stove regulater of which you speak..sound about right?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
My nephew is a propane rep. Delivers and does customer service, I've heard some stories. I'm sure the propane company would look at it for you. But the thing is, it would have a huge flame if it has natural gas jets. My guess is a wrong or defective regulator. They will check all that out, probably for free.
Edit: Spiders love propane! Go figure? Anyway, you may have some spider blockage somewhere.
Edited 1/5/2008 8:36 am ET by MarkH
You be talkin about the regulater out side where the tank line meets the house line? Or the one that may exist on the stove itself?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Either or. I don't know beans about propane. But you may have low pressure at the burners if it just a small flame. If it's sooty, it seems like you may have a air /fuel mixture problem. Spiders will block the air vents. Aaron fixes those problems all the time. They are not allowed to do certain things to appliances, but they will at least verify the supply to the stove is correct.
You probably have 3 regulators. One on the tank, then that other one on the house and one inside your range. Usually the one on the tank is a two stage but it sounds yours is a single stage. The pressure is dropped from the tank then dropped again at the house then again inside your range. There are airvents on each regulator. There is usually a screen over the vent. The vent hole is I think about 3/4 inch in diameter and faces down to prevent water getting in the regulator. The vents might be plugged. I doubt the one inthe range is plugged at its vent.
I would suspect either the regulator on the house or at the tank is wonky. I've replaced many regs but then again I've checked the pressure on either side of the reg . Easy to do if you have the equipment because there are two taps on each reg for that purpose.
You rent the tanks but who own the reg on the tank and the one on the house?
roger
I don't know who owns the regs, never gave it any thought.
UPDATE: I pulled it out and found a schematic paper that shows the electronics for a keypad only and dial type bake settings.
Here is what I found and did..to adjust the bake temp ( and broil) press and hold clock button for 5 seconds..it then displays offset temps. it showed -30, that would explain the oven and broiler being slow!! So, I pressed the ^ until it was at O ( other choices are +10,+20, and +30 ,0,-10,-20,-30...) OK?
Then looking at the range burner that never worked, I figgured poke the orifice ( easy now, be nice) and I used 12" length of .029 wound bronze guitar string ( I have miles of almost every gauge, .029 was just a interferenc fit) and reamed out the lil hole and about 6" went into the feed. The burner IS WORKING!!!
So, I reamed the other three out as well, now just gotta put a pot of water on and see if that made a difference.
I gotta run out to town anyway, so maybe while I am out I will look for a regulator if any place has one, and replace the one on the house..I will get a pic of it and check it over well before I go.
I think we are on to something here..it obviously was the oven Fix (electronically reverted to -30) but if the orifices were plugged or hindered, I may have fixed it.
Oh, the TUBING is def. no more than 1/2" O.D. so I assume that is called 3/8th. the tube (corregated to the stove from the shut off) is not much bigger if at all. The Reg. on the back of the stove is totally sealed..no adjustments or anything I can see.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
edit: Christ, this may be a real good time to be changing my signature line..LOL
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Edited 1/5/2008 9:42 am ET by Sphere
http://fixitnow.com/wp/2004/12/18/appliance-repair-revelation-converting-a-gas-range/
Try to get the surface burners working first because there is nothing electronic about those except the ignition. The one thing thet tell you in service school is NOT to put wires into orifices but to be honest I don't think you have found an orifice. An orifice is a piece of brass/bronze about the diamter of a pencil and about 1/2 inch long with a tiny hole at one end.
Those touch pad settings is for the oven and should have nothing to do with the surface burners. Even inside the oven, depending on the model, there usually is some elctronic stuff that must work in a specific sequence.
Top burners very simple: gas comes into the range, goes through tiny regulator (smaller than a hockey puck) and drops pressure to about 1/8 psi, through some pipes to a manifold where there are on/off valves, sometimes the orifice is in the valve or nearby, the gas then goes to the burner where is distributed into a ring of flame.
I've seen pipe connections where someone had used teflon tape and covered up most of the pipe. I've seen crud in the pipes (don't know how it got here, didn't care) I've seen so much old burned food because some people NEVER, EVER, cleaned their range, and this old food plugged the gas. I've seen flexible rubber lines that look okay on the outside but have collapsed on the inside .
Spend the money and get it fixed and tell the wife it's her birthday present before SHE gets it fixed and say's it's your birthday AND christmas present.
roger
Well, it may not have been an orifice but it is a little round thing with a littler round hole in the middle of the burner and about 2" below the surface of the igniter. And what ever poking a string ( wire) did to it , it helped..LOL
Just got back a bit ago, no dice on a reg , got side tracked after my meeting and never got to Lowes or any place that might have one.
Gonna boil some pasta water and try it out shortly.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
There are special reamers just for the cleaning of orifices. Ones I have seen come in small kits and have a size for all the common orifice sizes. The danger of using something other than the correct reamer is that you will alter the size of the orifice, or create a burr that impedes gas flow. Many stoves also have air inlet adjusters for the burners, see if you can find a maintenance PDF for your range, failing that any PDF on gas range maintenance will give you some idea of what the air controller looks like and some idea of how to adjust them and what to look for in terms of color/height of flame. Here save ya some looking. http://www.roperappliances.com/data/98014964.pdf
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Looks like the air shutter is my next move..thanks !!!!!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I'm serious, check the shutters for spiders, they will get in there.
I didn't know I HAD shutters till a few hours ago...LOL
Will do..I'm catching the ball game for the moment.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
I'd have shutters if I was poking around looking for spiders.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Caught in another thread that your stove doesn't have air shutters. figured out the problem yet? I do have one thought to share. If it is a recent problem and your weather has been cold you may simply be low on gas. Propane doesn't change state to gas in the tank well at low temperatures if the weather is really cold. Might check your fuel supply.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Just had gas delivered last month. 100 gals. tank reads 60%.
Cold, yes ( was) but actually I remember back in Aug. canning season, getting the pot to boil was an all day event..so new prob. ? Nope.
I opened the only cap on the house reg. inside is a wierd screw cap with a spring behind it..wife watched while gently advanced and retreated the screw thing and the sping sorta did something but no noticable effect. So back to where it was.
Tank reg has a bolt head that wants a socket type key ( that is usually where the visegrips come out) to turn, but I'm not gonna dink with it.
Oven temps are at least better matched to the dial temps.
I guess a call to gas co. is in order, or just bite it, and get her a new 6 gazillion $$$ Viking range.
Thanks for all the help.
OH, one other place that smacks of suspicion is the abandoned gas heater line that is T-eed off the reg. It is a good 30' to the spot where the old heater was..maybe it still being there affects the line pressure..I need to cap it off at the Tee. Removing the line may be a problem..it runs under the log parts floor structure..with all the snakes. Visualize a 6'' crawl space.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
The old line shouldn't have any effect on gas pressure.
Since you played around with the reg, you now have no way of telling what the pressure is. Mind you, you didn't know what the pressure WAS. When you took the cap off the reg and looked down, how did you get the spring out? By screwing the spring out you lowered the pressure and by taking the spring out of the reg I'm not sure if you would have any pressure at all. Screwing the spring down (tighter) increases the gas pressure.
You realize of course you are playing with fire. Big time.
roger
No..I did NOT take the spring out OR change the reg in ANY Way. I did turn it approx a 1/4 turn IN and OUT, no change so I turned it BACK to where it was and left it at that.
Of course I know what I am playing with, but a 1/4 turn and back isn't going to blow up the sun. I know when to quit.
The stove is working as well/poorly as it was before I did anything..the oven temp is accurate now, and I cleaned out a few mouse turds from under the burner surface.
BTW, the orifices are just at the end of the line from the knob valve, brass mounted in an alum holder, no shutter on any of them. They are clear and free of any grease or dirt.
If you say the added line is no cause to worry, then the most likely cause is one of the two regs outdoors or the stove itself..Maybe, it is just a POS of a stove.?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Just out of curiosity, what's the BTU rating on those burners?
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
No info on that. part of what I was wondering myself. And how much LP = how much BTU.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Should be on the info plate inside the top. It could be that your stove is fine -- just designed to be crappy. I've seen ranges with really low BTU burners that wouldn't fry an egg.
If so, just build her a wood-burner! (I'm kinda lovin' mine.)
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Like everything else that was done/was left in this house, sub-par is the name.
Stove hunting here I come. I am sure its just a junker that either was a return to Lowes, or it fell off the truck on someones delivery ( the front panel of the Oven door WAS a glass insert, now gone) and took a thumping.
I never hooked up the Dishwasher that I removed when I re-plumbed...I am sure it has "issues" as well. Makes for a mouse proof storage box!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
"Makes a mouse proof storage box!"'aint no such thing... as mouse proof.Garett
Well, if they git in, I'm hooking it and makeing REALLY clean..or very dead.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Have you considered that Roper is one of the worst rated stoves there is? It's a lower model from Whirlpool, which by itself doesn't break the top seventeen with Consumer Reports. Ropers are traditional "contractor" appliances in less expensive homes, which should tell the story. Whirlpool may make great washers, but their stoves suck. An easy fix is to get a GE or Hotpoint replacement (both the same company) and not that expensive.
We had a Roper electric which was an excellent stove. Got rid of it mainly because the timer quit after 25 years.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Ayup..you are preachin to the choir there. Just trying to see WHY it sucks.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Have you tried embracing it? Sometimes they will share their reasons afterwards. or so i have been told
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.