Answers to questions about RV Repair and Maintenance from RV expert Dave Solberg, author of the “RV Handbook” and the managing editor of the RV Repair Club. This column appears Monday through Saturday in the RV Travel and RV Daily Tips newsletters. (Sign up for an email reminder for each new issue if you do not already receive one.) Today Dave discusses a gas range which only works intermittently.
Dear Dave,
I have an Advent gas range with oven that won’t light, at least consistently. We just got back from a 10-day camping trip and it failed to respond. Removed the top, cleaned everything, put it back and, yay, all 3 burners and the oven fired right up. It sat overnight and again failed this morning. Could this be a failing kit range regulator? —Leon
Dear Leon,
Here are the steps I recommend to diagnose the issue with your gas range:
- Lighting the burners: When the unit won’t light, are you trying to ignite it with a piezo spark or an actual flame? Since you didn’t mention if you hear a hiss from the burners, try using a butane fire stick at one of the burners to check if LP gas is coming out. It may seem simple, but the spark could be tracing back through a crack in the ceramic insulation and not reaching the burner tube.
- Check for LP gas flow: If no LP gas is coming out, test another appliance that uses LP, like the water heater or furnace. This will help you determine whether the issue is specific to the stove/oven or a broader LP problem.
- LP mode troubleshooting: If nothing works on the LP mode, the problem could be the regulator at the tank or cylinder, or it could be low 12-volt power. Low 12-volt power is common with lead-acid batteries, which can become sulfated. Even if the battery shows a charge (12.6 volts), it can drop drastically under load, much like a hole in a 5-gallon bucket. As long as water flows in, the bucket stays full, but once the flow stops, it drains quickly. Sulfated batteries behave similarly.
What to check on your gas range:
- Check power: First, ensure the unit is plugged in, then connect a 12-volt battery booster to the house batteries. If it lights, the batteries are likely sulfated and need replacing, as they can’t provide enough power to the module board to open the gas valve.
- Regulator check: If the lighting issue persists, the regulator may be the next culprit.
Turn off all appliances in the rig and try lighting one stove burner. If it lights, turn on the other burners and something else in the rig, like the furnace, which draws a larger volume of LP gas. Observe what happens to the flame on the stove. If the flame weakens or goes out, the regulator is likely weak and unable to provide enough pressure under higher volume demand.
Here’s what might be happening:
While camping, if you were connected to shoreline power and receiving a full 30 amps, everything worked fine. Your converter charged the house batteries with a full 13.6-volt charge until they reached 12.6 volts, then switched to a 13.2-volt trickle charge. However, when you plugged into the garage outlet, it only provided 10-15 amps and was likely “ganged” with other outlets, so your charger may not have had enough power to keep the batteries fully charged.
Another factor could be what appliances were running after you cleaned everything and what was still running the next morning when the system failed to work.
The three main variables that cause what we call “gremlins” are: house battery condition/charge, voltage to the distribution center/converter and charging voltage to the batteries, and the draw from other appliances at specific times. Keep in mind that the refrigerator doesn’t run continuously, so it intermittently draws LP and 12-volt power. The same goes for the water heater and furnace. That’s why it’s important to isolate everything and boost the house batteries to track down the gremlin.
Read more from Dave here.
Dave is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook” as well as the Managing Editor of the RV Repair Club.
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All good advice if the stove uses 12 volt.
My 5 trailers and MH’s have never needed 12 volts to operate the stove.
I have made my coffee & toast many times after draining my crappy batteries overnight ☹️ but didn’t want to wake the neighbors!
Also been a back up heat source in the same scenario. I do have self contained CO detectors, for this reason! It is usually the coach propane or CO detector that wakes me up when the coach battery fails.
I try not to kill my good batteries this way, but it happens… (Not so much anymore – newer RV’s better battery systems – and discipline). Oh that got off topic, 😲
Agree. The OP has a stove with a manual igniter, not powered. Even the posted picture shows this. All of a sudden house batteries were being blamed, instead of following a propane issue.
Checking the other gas appliances is a good start. It they work, it may be possible that the stove regulator is the culprit.
Plus, while connected to shore power, it makes no difference if the batteries are low, since the converter supplies the 12 volts.
Altitude? Didn’t say if flame is weak or non existent. I’d start by just listening. Do you hear gas? Most, including home appliances can be lite with a match rather than worrying about an igniter. Regulators go bad. Id start there. So many variables it’s hard to get a proper answer without seeing the problem and having proper test tools.
Are you handy. Can you loosen the flare nut where the stove connects? Can you do it safely ? Gas can be smelled and heard. Hissing, assume regulator good. BUT is pressure right?. Sometimes it’s just better to hire that work done. Propane is dangerous. Makes things go BOOM!
Another source of one burner failing to light from the ignitor is the cheap wires used to connect the ignitor on the front panel to each burner. On mine, one of the wires rubbed against metal while driving and shorted out.
I bought heat shrink electrical tubing and put it over the wires to all 4 burners. Buy a large enough size that the connectors at both ends can slide inside. It doesn’t need to fit tightly and I didn’t use a heat gun to shrink it.
For example:
2 Pcs 1/2 inch Heat Shrink Tubing, 3:1 Adhesive-Lined Heat Wire Shrinkable Tube by MILAPEAK (4 Feet, Black & Red)
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07QKX9XRJ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_DX6QP0Q4HW08QV5180TS
My igniter wires broke long ago. I prefer using a lighter anyway. My oven is another story. Because I don’t leave the pilot light on it can be stubborn to light. Once I do I let it burn for 5 minutes before turning the temp up. I guess dirt, dust (plenty of that) and crud will build up on the pilot light.