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homestead - Re: [Homestead] propane tank vapor locked

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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] propane tank vapor locked
  • Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:08:20 -0700


I wasn't home the last time it happened and that's the reason they gave my wife. The tank is for the kitchen stove only. I'll take a look at the pilots.

Knowing you are a homesteader I needn't have worried that you were being cold.

Kitchen stove pilots are notorious for not working. Especially if the stove is old. Make sure they are clean and adjusted big enough to do their job. Check to see if ignition tubes--some stoves have a central pilot and tubes run between the pilot and the burner; when the burner is turned on, some gas spurts toward the pilot, is ignited, and takes the flame back to the burner--are totally clean inside and positioned perfectly. I long ago turned off the pilot on our 1923 Wedgewood. I light the burners with a welders' sparker. Pilots use gas and create unwanted summer heat. And if they are not working properly they can, with a little human help, create a dangerous situation, namely, that if you turn on a burner and expect it to light and turn away for a bit and come back to see it not lit, propane can puddle in the pan below the burners and explode when someone applies a match. Natural gas moves upward and dispenses in air; propane is heavier than air and puddles at a low point. Propane water heaters should always be on a raised pedestal to keep them well off the floor. I use concrete blocks for the purpose, two high.






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