Do-it-yourself gas stove repair: common malfunctions and how to fix them

Vasily Borutsky
Checked by a specialist: Vasily Borutsky
Author: Karen molko
Last update: October 2019

Even if you purchased the most expensive gas stove, the manufacturer makes absolutely no guarantees that it will not break after several years of operation. Agree, it will be somewhat inexpedient to spend additional money on repairs that can be done with your own hands.

Unlike the repair of the same washing machine or refrigerator, you can fix the breakdown of the gas stove yourself, having previously understood the device. Since working with gas equipment always implies extreme caution, all safety measures should be taken before starting to repair a gas stove with your own hands.

Damage to the gas stove can be associated not only with the contamination of the nozzles, which means that in some cases it will be necessary to replace the defective parts. During operation, the oven door mounting may break down or electric ignition may fail, so later in the article you will be able to familiarize yourself with the most common breakdowns of the gas stove, and consider in more detail the sequence for their elimination.

Common gas stove breakdowns

According to the rules for the safe use of gas appliances, all repairs must be carried out by a qualified gas service specialist. In case of serious breakdowns of the gas stove, the consumer must contact the company with which he concluded maintenance contract gas equipment.

However, this applies to extremely difficult situations where any unauthorized interference in the operation of gas equipment can endanger all residents of the house.

Gasman repairs the stove
In the event of a gas leak, do not try to fix the breakdown yourself, but urgently need to call the gas service specialists for repair work

If the malfunction of the gas stove did not occur due to a leak of blue fuel, then there are very real chances of repairing without the help of a master.

Some of the most common malfunctions you can handle with your own hands include:

  • lack of flame when igniting individual burners;
  • failure or clogging of electric ignition;
  • unstable functioning of gas control;
  • damage to the oven door mounts;
  • tight turning of the gas cock.

Before repairing a gas stove, be sure to block the gas access to the room, even if the breakdown is not connected in any way with the problem of fuel intake. As an additional reinsurance, it is better to open the window or the front door.

Gas workers strongly recommend that the piezoelectric ignition be completely switched off during repairs so as not to provoke an explosion in the event of accidental damage to gas equipment.

Gas stove repair

Before proceeding with the repair of a gas stove, you should familiarize yourself with its structure and principle of operation. If the problem is a blockage in the burner nozzle or a malfunction in the piezo, you will need to remove the top panel to carry out repairs. Before disassembling a gas stove, it is necessary to completely turn off the gas system by shutting off the corresponding valve on the pipe and cutting off the power supply.

Next, we remove all the bolts connecting the top panel to the control panel. They are under the burners, so first you need to remove all four rings. To remove the top panel, you will have to make some efforts to release it from the clamps.

Removing the top plate
To gain access to the gas burners, you will need to remove all the grids that cover the burners and located in the upper part of the stove

Having successfully removed the top panel, we proceed to dismantle the control panel. First of all, we remove all the handles from the stove and unscrew the bolts. Often, such bolts are located below, although depending on the model, they can be in different places.

If all the connecting elements have been safely removed, we begin to pull the panel, simultaneously pulling out the buttons and pressing the clamps to the case. With very little effort, you can quickly remove both panels, and proceed directly to the diagnosis of the device.

Failure No. 1 - burner clogging

Interruptions in the operation of the burners is the most common breakdown of the gas stove with which it is quite possible to handle it yourself. In this case, when the burner is ignited, the flame may burn very weakly or disappear altogether.

Similar situations arise due to clogging of the divider or nozzle, which occurs as a result of inaccurate operation of the equipment. During the cooking process, food or grease residues may get inside the nozzle, which may cause the burner to not burn at all.

Preparing nozzles for cleaning
It is not recommended to use metal objects (needles or knitting needles) to clean the nozzle, as this may damage the part

In this case, the only option is to clean the nozzle with a wooden toothpick, after grinding it with a conventional stationery knife.

If you want to clean the nozzles as best as possible, then the best option would be to unscrew all the bolts and open the gas stove cover, but this must be done very carefully so as not to damage the device. For a more efficient cleaning of the nozzle, it is recommended to unscrew it first.

Another problem that owners of gas stoves may encounter is the noise emitted by the burner during operation. How to be in this situation, read Further.

Breakdown number 2 - problems with electric ignition

The electric ignition function in gas stoves greatly simplifies the life of a modern user, but it does not always work properly. To identify the exact cause of the breakdown of the piezoelectric element, it is necessary first of all to find out whether the cause of the lack of a burner flame is really a malfunction of the piezo.

Check for contamination on the surface of the ignition elements. Even if a small drop of water gets inside the nozzle, the burner will no longer ignite.

In the event that only one burner does not work, it makes sense to check its ignition electrode. If there is a crack on its surface, then the problem of the absence of flame lies precisely in it. The spark simply breaks to the side, not reaching the burner divider.

Auto ignition wire test
Electric ignition may not work both on one burner and all at once, therefore, to identify the cause, it is important to carefully examine each ignition element

Before proceeding with the repair, it is necessary to remove all burners and open the stove lid. If, when you press the electric ignition button, the spark does not slip in only one burner, then the cause is a malfunction of the candle (electrode), on which a crack has formed. And only if all burners are not set on fire, most likely the problem lies in the damaged wire connecting the piezo and the electric ignition unit.

After removing the top panel of the gas stove, press the ignition button, which will help determine the cause of the electric ignition failure. If the wire is actually damaged in some place, then you will see a sparking spark in the place of damage.

Regardless of how the breakdown occurred, due to a crack on the electrode or damage to the wire, there is only one way to fix the automatic ignition of a gas stove - replace a broken part with a working one.

Failure No. 3 - gas control does not work

Any gas stove is equipped with a special gas control system, which provides control over gas leakage during operation of the equipment. This system is called a thermocouple, and looks like a small metal pin located near each burner.

Even if the flame dies out for some reason, the thermocouple prevents the gas from spreading, which means it prevents an emergency.

Gas burner thermocouple
The first sign that the thermocouple is out of order is characterized by a sharp flame attenuation immediately after ignition of the burner

The gas control element may fail due to the banal blockage that may form during the operation of the equipment. In this case, it is enough to clean the thermocouple from the accumulated grease and dust with a simple sandpaper.

If even after cleaning the element the burner of the gas stove still fades, you will have to independently repair the gas control by disassembling the panel and installing a new thermocouple.

Failure number 4 - failure of the door

The most common oven problem is the inability to completely cover its door. Such a malfunction can occur as a result of excessive load on the door itself, which is why it is not recommended to put heavy objects on it, for example, pans, baking sheets.

Over time, the brackets needed to hold the door simply become deformed, which is why they can no longer fulfill their function.

Carefully inspect the brackets of the gas stove, and assess the degree of their deformation, it is possible only after the door is completely disassembled. To do this, you need to open the door, and bend the hinges on both sides, then carefully close it until it stops. Next, you need to slowly pull the door toward yourself, while moving it upward, and disconnect it from the stove.

Oven door brackets
You can fix the deformed places of the brackets with a simple hammer and pliers, however, in case of a complete breakdown of the part, it will be more advisable to replace the part

Next, remove the side panels of the oven, under which the brackets responsible for holding the door are just “hidden”. If the part is deformed in different places, then it is better not to waste time restoring its shape, but simply to purchase a suitable bracket for the corresponding model of gas stove.

Today, on the numerous websites of specialized online stores, you can easily pick up the necessary part for any gas stove, including outdated models of domestic manufacturers.In the case of self-correction of a deformed bracket, there is no guarantee that the part will not break in the near future after repair.

Failure No. 5 - the crane is tightly turned

If the gas stove faucet rotates poorly, then it can be returned to its normal working condition by lubrication with simple graphite grease. The first thing you need to do is to shut off the central gas supply tap to the stove, and then remove the top panel to provide access to the taps.

At the faulty crane, unscrew the two shank screws, and get the bronze plug, which must be wiped with a soft rag.

Heat Resistant Graphite Grease
For lack of graphite lubricant, you can do it yourself by using a grated pencil lead of a simple pencil, and mixing it with lithol

Next, lower your finger into graphite grease and apply it to the valve plug, however, you will have to do this with extreme caution so that excess grease does not enter the valve hole.

If the gas stove faucet is not damaged, but simply turns tight, then in addition to the usual lubrication of the plug, serious repairs will not be needed.

We also recommend that you read our other article, where we talked in detail about how increase the power of the gas burner.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

You can find out how to solve the problem with interruptions in the operation of the thermocouple of a gas stove from this video:

A step-by-step repair of the oven door is presented in the following video:

Damage to a gas stove usually brings a lot of inconvenience, but it does not always require the help of a qualified specialist. If the device is completely disconnected from gas supply and electricity, then any owner can independently repair the gas stove.

The article presented the most common malfunctions of a gas device, as well as ways to resolve them without the help of a wizard. In this case, it is important to diagnose the equipment, and only after that proceed with the repair work. But if you are not sure that you can cope with the breakdown yourself, it is better to turn to specialists for help.

If you have already encountered the presented breakdowns of the gas stove, and at the same time you had to repair the broken parts yourself, share your experience with our readers by leaving a comment immediately after the article. Tell us about the difficulties that arose in the process of repairing equipment, and whether you managed to cope with them.

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