PDQ OWNERS FORUM

I have the standard Princess two burner stove and it's having issues. It lights easily but won't stay lit sometimes it's one burner sometimes it's the other and sometimes both. I imagine it has something to do with the safety valve and heat sensor. Has someone else worked through this before?


Tom

Check to see if any air has entered the propane lines. Turn the burners on full and listen for the crackling of air in the flame. You'll probably have to manually hold in the burn knobs. If it is present, back off the burner valves until the crackling stops to bleed the air out of the line. Also, if there is air in the line, you'll want to check all connections for leaks (use a spray bottle filled with a water/soap mixture).

Hmmm, I don't remember any crackling sounds; will double check later this week. Could I also use a pressure bleed down test to verify the system is sealed? Open the bottle, open the solenoid, close the bottle, leave the water heater and stove off and measure the bleed down over 1/2 hour? What would I expect to see for a bleed down rate? I know less is better but what is realistic?

The pressure should remain constant, but air can enter the line before the solenoid. For example, I installed a Y-valve on my tank, allowing the BBQ grill and boat system to be connected at the same time from one tank. My system held pressure after the solenoid, but I kept getting air in the lines. Turns out the air was entering somewhere between the BBQ grill and the Y-valve, forcing us to bleed our lines every time we turned on the stove or oven (and water heater).

Hope this helps. Let us know what you figure out, especially If it turns out to be something else.

Hey tom, in the past we have seen a " mystery oil " contaminating the lpg system. The symptoms are as you described. If it is the oil, you can usually find evidence of it in the solenoid. James

Found one of the pigtails leaking at the bottle fitting. Also found that, using the other bottle, if I held down the knob for upwards of 15 minutes it would stay running on it's own. Did a pressure check and 150psi bled down to 0 with the solenoid on within an hour. Looking at the fixture in the propane locker it is very corroded so I will probably replace. One thought, is anyone using two low pressure solenoids? One for the stove and one for the Excel water heater? That would allow "half splitting" the system if there is a leak.

Installed new regulater, solenoid, and pigtail. Did a quick pressure check then ran inside and still didn't work right. Plus I was cussing the new knob that didn't fit right. Did a one hour leakback test and went from 150 to 140psi with the solenoid on. Tried the stove again and remembered reading about pushing in on the knobs but I had thought, "not my issue as my striker is clicking and the flames is there." Well, this time I removed the knob (both are cracked) and pushed down on the brass post. What do you now, it worked!!
Time for new knobs now, perferably knobs with a taller footprint.
Still glad I did the job on the regulater though, I was definately leaking before.

I've had to replace the solenoid/regulator at least twice in 10 years - the 36 allows too much water into the locker, but that's obviously good for drainage. This year the solenoid was disintegrating when I touched it - the regulator might have been OK for a few more years but its just as easy to do it all at once.

This year I go shopping for 'glass propane tanks.

I called Seaward and they mailed me two new knobs free of charge. They came in on Friday and I used them this weekend. Problem solved.