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.