Amana Range ARG7301WW, replaced bake igniter, now I smell gas and feel sick

[Brian Wade]

Model Number

ARG7301WW

Brand

Amana

Age

More than 10 years

Re: Amana oven model ARG7301WW MFG P1143324NWW sn 9712194410, propane. After years of slow starts, "boom" starts, and slow heats, but no other problems, I decided finally to replace the bake igniter. I bought igniter 31940001 and installed it. I now have no booms, and rapid starts, and rapid heats, which is great. But the oven is now making me sick: nausea, headache, heart pounding, and stupor. I start feeling it after the oven has run for only a few minutes. Because of a hobby of mine I have an industrial CO detector such as what a factory worker would wear on his belt as PPE. I am seeing 10 PPM in the kitchen at tabletop level after not too long. I called my propane company. They sent a tech with a propane sniffer. He measured 180 PPM at eye level in the vicinity of the oven after a few minutes of operation. The propane tech also checked the gas pressure at the appliance inlet and said it is OK. The flame on the oven burner bar is very light pale blue, not the deep blue we see in pictures on the web. Also there is soot buildup on the topside of the igniter cage, right above the igniter tip, but nowhere else along the length of the igniter cage. The bake burner air shutter is open only halfway. Why is the oven making me sick? Here is my theory. I think the new igniter is drawing more current through the gas valve than the old one did, and so the valve is opening more, and so it is sending more gas to the burner, maybe too much, and so the mixture is too rich and the combustion is incomplete. Oh, I checked the orifices on the burner bar. They are all clear, no obstructions, no buildup. Is this problem something I can fix by opening the burner air shutter more? Or, rather, has the gas valve failed? I hope it's not a failed valve because the parts suppliers are telling me valve Y0316220 is discontinued. Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[rickgburton]

Use a wire brush and clean the burner assembly, especially the holes near the igniter.

 

[Brian Wade]

Hello Mr. Burton, and thank you so much for helping me. I removed the burner bar from the oven. I used the wire brush wheel on my bench grinder to clean the burner holes. Before starting cleaning I noticed there is damage to a pair of holes near the igniter. Find attached "before" and "after" photos of that section of the burner, near the igniter. Are those damaged holes repairable or rather is the burner scrap? The rest of the holes look terrific. Also I am attaching a photo of the underside of the flame spreader, showing soot streaks I found there too. That information might help you. Thanks for your help so far.
Before

After

Underside of flame spreader

 

[rickgburton]

Open the air shutter more. Are you doing any remodeling or painting in your home?

 

[Brian Wade]

Thank you, I'll try opening the air shutter more.

No, I am not doing any remodeling or painting, nothing at all.

 

[Brian Wade]

Mr. Burton, thanks for your help so far.

I very carefully used a very small, very sharp hand tool to open those two damaged burner holes near the igniter to the same size and shape as the other rectangular holes. I opened the burner air shutter to 3/4. I cleaned all the soot off the igniter cage. I put everything back together except for installing the oven bottom. I closed the oven door and selected 375 F. The oven started easily. I could see under the flame spreader that the flame is dark blue and is very even. The oven reached the selected temperature quickly. I let it sit at 375 F for 20 minutes. The oven cycled on and off a few times. The CO detector on the kitchen island went to only 2 PPM. But it still smells in here. Everything is now shut off and the house is ventilating.

Tomorrow I will check the igniter cage for soot. I will also try opening the air shutter completely.

When the propane tech was here on Friday he checked the oven supply line and its fittings. He found no leaks.

I also priced a new oven. I would like to make my current one work correctly. It seems like we are very close.

Thanks for your help so far. More tomorrow.

Brian

 

[rickgburton]

I will also try opening the air shutter completely.

Good idea

 

[Brian Wade]

Thank you for all your help. Sunday night the oven leaked gas when the oven was off and all stove burners were off. The propane tech had previously validated the flexible gas line that runs from the kitchen wall to the appliance. This leaves me with some kind of internal leak. Because the manufacturer has discontinued the parts I would likely have to replace -- a gas valve, a regulator, a hard line, etc. -- I have stopped work and have scrapped the oven. I bought a new one today. If the manufacturer had still been supporting the unit, my decision would have been different. Thank you so much for all the help you gave me. Brian

 

[rickgburton]

Thanks for the update Brian.