Phantom Sparks [RE-wrenches]

[Allan Sindelar]

Phantom SparksWrenches,
Forwarded at the request of John Wiles, here is some very good info on the issue of the erratic Peerless stove ignitors.



Phantom Sparks (previously Piezo Sparking Stove)


I have been in contact with Peerless-Premier Appliance Company about the random sparks being generated by these stoves when they are off and even when they are on.


These stoves are designed to be used on a grounded electrical system.  The high-voltage ignition system uses only a single-conductor high-voltage insulated cable to each burner and to the oven pilot.  The stove chassis and the burners are the return path.  All bolts and the several green grounding wires on the stove must be tight and securely fastened.


The pilot has a single conductor that serves as both the high-voltage ignition conductor and the conductor that senses the presence of a lit pilot and turns off the spark.  This is pretty cool as the sensor can detect the difference between unlit gas and burning gas.  There is some sort of impedance measurement being made by the device and the impedance being measured is between that single conductor and the frame around the pilot.  Apparently the sensor is so sensitive that it can be fooled by stray grounding currents and electrical noise on the ac line.


The factory service people tell me that poor or improper grounding of the ac circuit to the wall outlet can produce phantom (random) sparks even when the range is off and sometimes even when the oven is lit and burning.   Having a poor or no equipment ground is one problem, and even a reversed hot and neutral connection either at the outlet or in the load center can also cause problems.


I suggest that the outlet be tested using a 60-100 watt bulb to verify good and proper contacts and polarity.  Hot (the small slot)-to-Neutral (the wider slot), and Hot-to-Ground (the round hole) connections should light the bulb.  Neutral-to-Ground should not light the bulb.  Small LED or neon circuit testers or DVMs may not verify a low-resistance contact.


Also examine the pilot light in the "standby mode" (very small-and visible with the oven just above the off position) and examine it in the "burner mode" (at any temperature setting above he minimum).  In the burner mode the pilot should fully envelop the safety thermocouple probe.  In both modes the pilot should fully envelop the sparking electrode.  If there are drafts under and around the stove, the flame sensor may not sense the flame and trigger additional sparks even though the over is being used.


Another area that may cause problems (and is mentioned in the manual) is excessive use of water or cleaning solutions around the controls.  This may cause the ignition system to start sparking when the controls are all off.


I know of two Premier-Peerless Pro 30 ranges that have very poor ignition performance on the rear burners.  Lighting reliability is less than 20%.  If anyone else has similar problems with these sealed burner units, please let me know and I'll pass the information on to the factory.
JohnJohn C. Wiles,  Program ManagerSouthwest Technology Development Institute, New Mexico State University505-646-6105      505-646-3841 (FAX)   http://www.NMSU.Edu/~tdi/pv.htmSWTDI/NMSUCor Research Drive and Sam Steel WayBox 30001/MSC 3 SOLARLas Cruces, NM 88003
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9.bWljaGFl
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html
--^----------------------------------------------------------------