# By-passing electric igniter on gas stove



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Probably not a good idea but with this new gas stove we have is there a way to by-pass the electric igniter if the power goes out? Like how my grandma used to do it with a lit match? Of course, only if we lose power. I'm not planning to make a habit out of it.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

For the stovetop burners I do it all the time. A match fires the burners right up, no problem.

The oven? No. Mine has a little coil that heats up enough to catch the gas. There is a big whoosh! when it catches. I have done it, but it is not my favorite. & there is no way to regulate the temp. Everytime it gets hot enough (according to the gauge) the oven shuts off...then you have to relight it. No thanks.

During power outages here I can do stovetop stuff, or use my outdoor grill as an oven. It is so much easier to light than that gas oven in the house.


As long as I can make coffee, I'm golden.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Our gas stove, the electric igniter is a push-button. We can bypass it by not pushing it - just using a match instead. As simple as that.

Unfortunately, it only works for the gas rings, not the oven. The oven is super-clever enough (bah! ptooie!) to use electricity to control the temperature, and they've built it (for safety's sake) so you can't get in at the gas jets to light them with a match.

It may be worth getting some long matches (barbecue matches?) to light the jets; or twisting up a long spill of waste-paper or having some wax tapers, lighting it with a match, then using the long thing to light the gas.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I've heard that whoosh with the oven. Not sure I have to courage to stick my head in there with a match, long or not!  I've made enough soup and chili that can be heated on the stove (or on the wood burning stove in the den) to last us several days so we'll do just fine without an oven if we lose power. We'll just have to skip brownies and eat snow ice cream instead! 

Thanks!


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## Wildwood Flower (Aug 26, 2006)

Half the time my igniter doesn't work anyway. I have one of those stick lighters you use for BarBQues right next to the stove and generally just turn on the gas and fire up the burner.

The oven works fine, so I don't have to even try. I would be wary of lighting an oven, could be more of an explosion.


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## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

You can usually light the top burners of a gas stove with a match during a power outage, but the oven won't light with a match.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

That info should be covered in the user's guide that goes with it. I've been shopping for one too, and when it gets serious, I'll be sure to look. But, no,on the oven part.

geo


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Many people arent aware, but antique gas stoves BEFORE pilot lights and the off/on cycling of ovens, they had oven control much like stove top burner where you just adjusted flame height to change temperature. Long ago when I lived up north I salvaged an old stove from dump to use. Looked nice, but oven control was bad. I replaced the modern oven control (pilot light) with a valve off an antique stove I also found at dump. It worked fine. I didnt want to spend on a new oven control. But also I was running it off 100# tank and pilot lights waste a LOT of gas.

Have to remember with such a setup, if the flame goes out for any reason, it wont relight nor shut down gas supply. It will act like the antique gas stoves where you'd hear of people committing suicide by sticking their head in oven and turning on the gas without lighting it.

I am NOT suggesting anybody do this, but just saying if push came to shove and you needed to make a modern gas oven functional, you could just go to hardware store and buy a gas shut off valve plus any adapters and tubing and you could do an emergency retrofit. This would not be something you would want to do just for few hours or days, but in a long term emergency assuming you had supply of gas.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Our new gas range has a computer chip that detects power outage, and it completely shuts down the gas supply if the power is out. There is NO lighting the stove top burners.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Our new gas range has a computer chip that detects power outage, and it completely shuts down the gas supply if the power is out. There is NO lighting the stove top burners.


What?!
How thoughtful. :indif:
I think that would make me really mad.
Safety first, huh? pfft.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I asked about this at the appliance store before buying my last gas range. They said that the high end units couldn't be lit with a match. I asked them to show me which ones COULD be lit with a match, and chose from those models. We lose power at the ranch several times per year. Last winter there was one stretch of nearly two weeks without power. Having a stove that can't be used in a power outage is a bad idea.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Our new gas range has a computer chip that detects power outage, and it completely shuts down the gas supply if the power is out. There is NO lighting the stove top burners.


Oh no. Our's is brand new. I hope it doesn't means our's will do this.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I hope it doesn't means our's will do this


Unplug it and see


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Unplug it and see


Well what a good idea. DUH! ound: Sometimes it's the little things :hammer:


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Our new gas range has a computer chip that detects power outage, and it completely shuts down the gas supply if the power is out. There is NO lighting the stove top burners.


I was just informed the same thing the other day at Lowe's. I've been thinking about switching over to gas and was in Lowe's checking the prices out on the new gas range/ovens. According to Lowes all new ranges have this feature. 

Best thing to do is to buy yourself a nice generator and have a transfer switch box installed so that when power goes out you can turn your generator on and still be able to cook with your gas range. 

I have a 5500 watt generator to use but it's not big enough to power the 220v well house, 220 v. water heater, and a 220v electric range. So I was thinking of converting back to a gas range just incase of future power outages.


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

For the range top, yes, for the oven, no.

The range top, you light it with a match or lighter, and leave it on. The oven gets up to the set temp and then turns off, only turning on after the temperature dips down again. The electric ignition not working would have unburned gas flooding your kitchen.

BTDT -- the stove (with the lemon ignition which was replaced four times and never did work properly) is currently residing in my garage, waiting for the summer kitchen to be built where it will be used for the range-top, only.


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## Fat Charlie (Sep 9, 2010)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Our new gas range has a computer chip that detects power outage, and it completely shuts down the gas supply if the power is out. There is NO lighting the stove top burners.


See, when some guy turned the dial for the stove and "nothing happened" (except for the gas coming out) and walked away with it still on, it was somehow the stove manufacturer's fault when the gas reached the candle in the next room. So now you can't cook. For your own good, apparently.


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## maddy (Oct 30, 2010)

I was told by the propane guy who services my property that ALL modern appliances are equipped with the chip that senses when the power goes out and shuts off the gas. It's a safety feature.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

this company makes a gas range that is able to use with no power, including the oven

http://www.premierrange.com/gasrangechart.htm


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

farminghandyman said:


> this company makes a gas range that is able to use with no power, including the oven
> 
> http://www.premierrange.com/gasrangechart.htm


Oh, yeah -- mine was a Premier. How do you spell that? L-E-M-O-N. That's another way of saying that I had more service calls on that single unit than I have ever had on all of my appliances -- including my furnace -- TOTAL over the course of my entire home-owning life.

I wouldn't have another Premier product in my home if THEY paid ME. The oven was an explosion waiting to happen, with the way the gas continued to run even if the oven ignitor didn't ignite. And it never fully burnt off, either, so even when it DID ignite, you could smell gas. The temperature was NEVER accurate, and the finish (supposedly heat proof) inside the broiler on the bottom flaked off within weeks -- regardless of the fact that I never used the broiler!

Maybe I got a dud, but I've been told by others since that they've had similar experiences. NEVER again!


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## ryanthomas (Dec 10, 2009)

I would imagine the chip that shuts off gas flow isn't really a chip, but just a simple solenoid valve that is held open by electricity. I don't know if this is the case because this is the first I've heard about this, but if it is that simple it shouldn't be too difficult to bypass. Certainly would void the warranty and probably illegal, but not difficult unless it's buried somewhere deep inside. Anyone know anything about the mechanism involved in these new appliances?


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

Hi

Just thinking out loud. Would it be possible to get a battery and a 500 watt converter the kind you plug into a cigarette lighter. And plug the stove into it.

I wonder how long it would work for.

Dave


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Has anybody looked into travel trailer stoves? Doubt you would find full size one, but imagine most still use pilot light system rather than electronic controls.

Its a shame we are all now locked into products engineered with 'nanny thinking'. And built for super short lifespan. Old school appliances were simple and built to last decades. Most got replaced only because people wanted new and shiny. Now stuff is built to last less than ten years no matter what and made super complex so too expensive to repair. Just like modern cars.


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

Well my oven is only two years old and we have a LOT of power outages where we live. I can light the top gas burners without a problem, but not the oven. For me it's not a problem. 

You can get stoves that use NO electricity at all, but I would steer clear of Premier stoves as they have very bad ratings.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

don't use the oven much, but our stove top can be lit with match or lighter.

I said it before a inverter is a handy thing to have, you do not need a battery 
bank though a couple of large deep cells kept on a trickle charger is nice.

if you have the money a few different sized inverters are nice. bigger the inverter the larger the draw. you will not need to draw a larger load all the time. those cfls don't take a lot of power. 

but to the question at hand, power source for inverter, auto/battery bank, extension cord, you want your inverter as close to the power source as possible to prevent system loss, run the cord to your load. 

what I started doing is throwing the main off <--very important.! and any loads that the inverter will not handle and plug a pig tail (double male plug) between the inverter and a house hold plug.

then you can use all your lights and switches,plugs as normal. save it is within the power supplied by the inverter.


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## ryanthomas (Dec 10, 2009)

davel745 said:


> Hi
> 
> Just thinking out loud. Would it be possible to get a battery and a 500 watt converter the kind you plug into a cigarette lighter. And plug the stove into it.
> 
> ...


I think that would probably work pretty well. Probably wouldn't even need 500 watts. Just a complete guess, but I would imagine a cheapo RV/marine battery would probably be enough for cooking for a week or so without recharging, if you turn off the inverter when you're not using it so the stove clock and electronics aren't constantly drawing on it.


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## ryanthomas (Dec 10, 2009)

||Downhome|| said:


> what I started doing is throwing the main off <--very important.! and any loads that the inverter will not handle and plug a pig tail (double male plug) between the inverter and a house hold plug.


A lot of people do this, but it is illegal everywhere in the United States. For good reason. It is possible to forget to shut off the main and then you're backfeeding power into the grid, which can kill a linesman working to restore power. I think people have been convicted of manslaughter for this. You need a transfer switch to make it legal and fool-proof.

ETA: Not necessarily illegal everywhere in the U.S. It is against the National Electrical Code, which is law in most places, including all of Michigan.


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

You can get a manual disconnect switch from 

http://www.interlockkit.com


Dave


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## RebelDigger (Aug 5, 2010)

Wow, hubby was planning to buy me a new gas stove when we finish the farm house remodel (we are currently living in a mobile home next door). I think I will pass now. The stove I have I bought about 8 years ago, it is a Crosley and it cost about $300.00 new. I went in the store and told them I wanted a Plain Jane gas stove without all the electronic carp and this is what they showed me. It has pilot lights for the top burners as well as the stove but, half the time, they don't stay lit. It is common practice for me to light the burners as well as the oven with a match. The oven pilot light gets blown out from time to time, to light it, I have to get in the floor and reach up inside the broiler section, the pilot light is at the back above the broiler pan. So, guess I should keep this one and be happy. It has served us well during power outages with the ability to still cook.
Ya know, it is really irritating to have someone fark something up to keep us "safe". Coffee pots that turn off after a preset time really ticked me off. Make a pot, go do some chores, come back looking forward to a cuppa and then the whole pot is cold because the stupid machine turned off. My solution--I purchased a vintage percolator. Still have not figured out what to do about the heating pad that turns off after an hour. Good old days when you could go to bed with a heating pad and doze with it on whatever body part that ailed you. I am really getting tired of having other people decide what is for my own good. In my opinion, the last people who had the legitimate right to that job were my parents when I was under 18 and that has been 30 years ago.


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## DavidUnderwood (Jul 5, 2007)

We been cooking with gas for 34 years.
Our first stove used no electricity. Only
pilot lights. Never ever had a problen with
pilots going out (blowing out). 
The one we have now has igniters, which
give some trouble, not much. The top works 
fine to light with a match. Not the oven.
BTW, when the oven pilot goes out, it DOES
cut off the gas to it.
Same for our water heater.


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## Trixie (Aug 25, 2006)

Good idea about the RV stove. Our RV stove has a pilot, but we never light it. Somehow a pilot light in an RV just didn't seem too smart.

Way back when stoves had pilots, I always turned mine off. It seemed like a waste of gas.

I was just thinking this morning if we had a power outage, we could cook in the RV. WE do have a fireplace, though, and I'd probably just try to remember how to cook on a fireplace.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Trixie said:


> Good idea about the RV stove. Our RV stove has a pilot, but we never light it. Somehow a pilot light in an RV just didn't seem too smart.
> 
> Way back when stoves had pilots, I always turned mine off. It seemed like a waste of gas.
> 
> I was just thinking this morning if we had a power outage, we could cook in the RV. WE do have a fireplace, though, and I'd probably just try to remember how to cook on a fireplace.


Stoves with pilots had the oven control that turns burner on full blast until it reaches set temp, then shuts it down and turns on again full blast to maintain temp. This requires a pilot be on. 

The only gas ovens that didnt do the on/off cycling were the pre WWII ancient ones where you regulated the oven burner like you do the stove top burners and just lowered flame for lower temp, the burner stayed lit through whole baking process. Those ancient stoves were no where near as safe cause if flame blew out for whatever reason, the gas kept flowing. But if you were there in kitchen and keeping eye on it, then not big deal.

As to pilot in RV, I think you are supposed to have gas OFF at the tanks when you are driving down the hiway. Then turn gas back on and relight the pilots when you are parked. And yes when I have had pilot light stove, always turned the pilots off on stove top burners and lit them with match as needed. The oven, it just depended if I was into baking. If not, then I turned pilot off for it, if I wanted to bake, I relit pilot. If you use oven everyday, then worth keeping pilot lit all time. If just use oven once in a blue moon, then light the pilot when you want to use the oven.


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## Nature Man (Nov 5, 2009)

My General Electric gas stove, purchased new four years ago, is totally non electric. The stove has pilot lights for the top burners and the oven. The oven temperature is regulated by the knob on the front of the stove

Bill


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## Fat Charlie (Sep 9, 2010)

RebelDigger said:


> Ya know, it is really irritating to have someone fark something up to keep us "safe".... Still have not figured out what to do about the heating pad that turns off after an hour. Good old days when you could go to bed with a heating pad and doze with it on whatever body part that ailed you.


Bit of a drift, but look for a heated mattress pad. They're not as adjustable as a heating pad, but they're toasty and stay on until you turn them off.


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

Fat Charlie said:


> Bit of a drift, but look for a heated mattress pad. They're not as adjustable as a heating pad, but they're toasty and stay on until you turn them off.



Mine turns itself off after 10 hours.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> Oh, yeah -- mine was a Premier. How do you spell that? L-E-M-O-N. That's another way of saying that I had more service calls on that single unit than I have ever had on all of my appliances -- including my furnace -- TOTAL over the course of my entire home-owning life.
> 
> I wouldn't have another Premier product in my home if THEY paid ME. The oven was an explosion waiting to happen, with the way the gas continued to run even if the oven ignitor didn't ignite. And it never fully burnt off, either, so even when it DID ignite, you could smell gas. The temperature was NEVER accurate, and the finish (supposedly heat proof) inside the broiler on the bottom flaked off within weeks -- regardless of the fact that I never used the broiler!
> 
> Maybe I got a dud, but I've been told by others since that they've had similar experiences. NEVER again!


sorry to hear that you were not happy with your unit, 

we have had ours for 5 years now and it has been trouble free and very reliable, the only problem I had was there is a burner cover on the center of every burner and the screw became loose on a few of them and the nut dropped into the bottom inside of the burner, (which cause a problem on how it burnt and smelled) once I got them tight, I have not had that problem for a number of years, wife like the sealed burners on the gas range, 

with my experience with the unit we have I would recommend it, may be were lucky,


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## Gianni (Dec 9, 2009)

A back-up UPS sized for a computer should work to power the top burners on a new range. THe oven might work also in a power outage with this set up.


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## majik (Feb 23, 2005)

Since we also lose power regularly, we are looking for a propane stove suitable for dealing with that. I want to be able to bake as well as stove top cook. I am looking at a Brown. http://brownstoveworksinc.com/ Lehman's has them.


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

Thanks to PrettyPaisley/Shannon for posting the question. I wish we'd thought of this when I ordered our range, darn it. That glow bar is annoying. It took me a year to get used to the " whump" sound and now the youngest grandbaby looks alarmed when he hears it. AND the glow bar uses a LOT of electricity. Maybe we could sell it and get one with a reliable oven?


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## Itilley (Jul 29, 2008)

We recently bought a wood combo gas stove. It is from the 1930's no electric ignition for the gas just a pilot light. Thos pilot lights use a lot of gas so we had them blocked. The stove is lit by a match. The stove needs work on it. But I like it and we can have the rest fixed.

RenieB


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