Magic Chef 60's stove small gas smell

[cbrown000000]

Hi All,

Our trailer has a very old Magic Chef stove that works absolutely fine. Everything is based on propane lighters that stay on all the time. There is 3 of them 1 for the oven and two for each set of two burners. Everything just works fine and we have no issues aside from a very faint propane smell from the two font burners when everything is off. I thought it was the valves that were feeding them but then I sprayed soap water in to the valves and there was no bubble at all. I did even check my soap verification method and when I open the valves the bulbs do appear quite easily.

The only way you notice the VERY VERY faint leak is by sticking your nose into the burner when it is off and just sniffing around. Then you can smell it. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I will post pictures and photos soon.

Thanks a lot any help would be very much appreciated.

[AWCHIEF]

Sounds like you do have a leak somewhere in the system. Might be worth contacting a professional and having them check the systems for leaks using the proper equipment.

[HowieE]

if you can take the valve apart they generally have a wax or grease on the valve body. Go to a propane dealer and ask what to use and recoat the valve seat.

[Gregsch]

Not clear on what you are saying here. The old stoves have a standing pilot light. If your pilot lights are not lit a very small amount of gas is being released and will cause an odor if the trailer is closed up. If a window is open you probably would never notice an odor. Are you sure your pilot lights are lit??

[perryg114]

Gregsch is correct. If you have the knob set to pilot the stove will release a small amount of gas unless the pilot is lit. This is true on older units. I hope they have a thermocouple on the newer ones to will not allow the pilot gas supply to stay on without it being lit.

Perry

Originally Posted by Gregsch

Not clear on what you are saying here. The old stoves have a standing pilot light. If your pilot lights are not lit a very small amount of gas is being released and will cause an odor if the trailer is closed up. If a window is open you probably would never notice an odor. Are you sure your pilot lights are lit??

[cbrown000000]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

The pilots are all lit. The ones for the burners and the oven. I have checked and when one turns the valves on the burners start up on their own (via the pilots obviously).

I have checked to see if the valves are leaking. That is what I was referring to when I said I sprayed soap in the exit points of the valves and checked to see if any bubbles form. No bubbles whatsoever. Hence, that is also fine.

Only two burners make the smell (you can only smell it if the stove is put together and you sniff directly on top of the burner when it is off). I cannot use any soap for the burners because the holes seem to be to big to hold a bubble. It is only the two front burners. That make this smell. They make them at the same level also. The back burners do not produce any smell. One issue is that smell is so faint that even using the bubble solution makes it hard to detect it afterwards and one has to wait a week to be able to smell things again. As you said if the doors are open nothing is ever noticed. Even with closed doors you do not notice it until you go right to the stove area and again get very close to the burners.

I did not check the seating of the valves. Could the grease in the valve cause the seating to leak? Also any ideas on what to use for that?

Thanks again for all the help and replies.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The sense of smell varies from person to person. In general your ability to smell a leak is better than your ability to detect it with soap and water. The unfortunate result is that your next step is shotgun fixes.

Bob

[cbrown000000]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The sense of smell varies from person to person. In general your ability to smell a leak is better than your ability to detect it with soap and water. The unfortunate result is that your next step is shotgun fixes.

Bob

Hi Bob, can you suggest some shotgun solutions? Do I just go around and try to fix valves and other things? Do you mean I give on diagnosis? Thanks

Chris

[WayneG]

Try the sniff test with the gas bottle(s) shut off, and then light the burners until the gas is depleted and shut them off.
If you still get the odor after a few hours, you may just have residual odorant stuck to the plumbing of those burners.
I have found that to happen to other gas appliances.

[xrvr]

If your oven control has an off setting and a pilot setting, it must be off.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by cbrown000000

The only way you notice the VERY VERY faint leak is by sticking your nose into the burner when it is off and just sniffing around. Then you can smell it. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I will post pictures and photos soon.

The burner valves are tapered plug valves that require grease to seal. Over time and with use the grease works its way out of the valve or hardens or otherwise breaks down, leading to a leak.

If you soap the burner valves carefully, you'll probably see the bubbles. It could be leaking from either the control side of the valve stem or from the (probably) spring-loaded back of the valve stem.

The solution is to disassemble the valve (with gas shut off) and clean and re-grease the plug. They make special valve grease you're supposed to use.

[perryg114]

I expect silicon grease with fix the problem. You will have to take the valve apart then clean all the old grease out then put new grease on the tapered plugs.

Perry

[rucos]

in mine I had the same issue and finally discovered it was the main shut off for the oven ....sprayed everything several times until i finally found it.....replaced the valve and no more smell

[HiHoAgRV]

Use this stuff to rebuild the valves. I've had good luck with a elcheapo Lowes propane sniffer in locating slow leaks.
My 63 stove/oven is designed so the pilots are always on unless you close the small needle screw used to adjust the flame height or shut off the main line to the appliance. No other way to shut them off. Not a problem for the stove, I light each burner as needed. The oven is a PITA because when it gets up to temp and shuts off, the pilot is needed to relight the main burner. I added a 1/8" shut off valve just for the oven pilot.

[cbrown000000]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The burner valves are tapered plug valves that require grease to seal. Over time and with use the grease works its way out of the valve or hardens or otherwise breaks down, leading to a leak.

If you soap the burner valves carefully, you'll probably see the bubbles. It could be leaking from either the control side of the valve stem or from the (probably) spring-loaded back of the valve stem.

The solution is to disassemble the valve (with gas shut off) and clean and re-grease the plug. They make special valve grease you're supposed to use.

Thank you all I do think the valves are leaking upon further inspection. It is such a small leak that I have to leave the soap there and come back after 5 minutes and then I see a tiny bubble. Human nose is amazing. Anyway, Does anyone have a youtube video of how to disassemble these valves? I don't want to screw anything up more. Thanks.

[harryk]

Don't forget to check the coupling that is behind the stove...mine had a "T" that was originally for a catalytic heater that had been removed and had a shutoff valve but no plug & was only finger tight & I would sometimes get a slight wiff of odor. PS Really a dangerous situation !