i might die!
So last night I was boiling some water on my gas stove and I spilled water into the burner. The burner went out ad would not reignite. The burners on the right side of the range are fine and work normally. The left side–not so much. When I turn them on, gas comes out but they do not light. I turned them all off and thought I would just wait until it dried itself off. Now I sort of smell gas once in a while. Is this paranoia, or is there any possible way a gas stove completely shut off would exhibit this behavior? It seems illogical to me. I called the gas company and they agreed with me, but I am freaked.
EDITED TO ADD
Let me rephrase. The nonlighting of half of my burners is not the concern. The fact that my house smells like gas a day after I spilled water inside is. I have aired it out. I have looked under the hood and nothing is lit, but it doesn’t appear anything should be–I am pretty sure this oven has an electric ignitor. I am not lighting anything until it doesn’t smell like gas anymore. Also the oven and other burners are still lit, so I don’t think the pilot light would be out anyway.
I called and asked the gas man, but he said it would be fine after it dries out, though he didn’t address the fact that it smells like gas. If it still does so tonight I will call again. But I guess my direct question is, if I get water inside the range is there any reason it should smell like gas for a day later? It seems like there’s nothing that spilling water in should trigger to let gas leak.
Thanks for the help!
5 Comments so far
1. Jen wrote on May 2nd, 2008 at 2:35 am
Lift the top of the stove up. The pilot for the left hand side is probably under the top, between the two left-hand burners. And don’t die. That would suck. Big time.
2. Sarah Shreeves wrote on May 2nd, 2008 at 6:05 am
I agree with Jen - lift up the stove top and you should find the pilot light. Light it again and you should be all set!
3. MsMolly wrote on May 2nd, 2008 at 6:26 am
They didn’t send someone out to look at it right away? Last summer when I couldn’t get my stove to light I called Ameren, and told them I smelled gas but couldn’t get my stove to light and they said if they got a call where someone smelled gas they had to come out and turn it off, no exceptions.
4. Heidi wrote on May 2nd, 2008 at 6:55 am
It’s easy to relight the pilot light. A little scary the first time but you can do it!!
Get a match, light it, and hold it over the burner that’s out. Then turn on the burner, and it should light right up. Usually that makes the pilot light turn back on and then you’re done.
Stoves have a constant and very tiny stream of gas going at all times so the flames can be “on demand”. Usually you can see it inside the oven, way in the back or at the bottom, and also under the top of the stove, one for the right side and one for the left. The gas you smell is just what’s intended for the little pilot light and it’s not enough to kill you. However, if you turned on a burner that won’t light and just left it on, that might be another story if the room wasn’t ventilated etc. You could open a window or turn on a fan for a while before trying to relight the burner, if that makes you feel better.
5. jennybento wrote on May 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 am
Let me rephrase. The nonlighting of half of my burners is not the concern. The fact that my house smells like gas after I spilled water inside is. I have aired it out. I have looked under the hood and nothing is lit, but it doesn’t appear anything should be–I am pretty sure this oven has an electric ignitor. I am not lighting anything until it doesn’t smell like gas anymore.
I called and asked the guy, but he said it would be fine after it dries out, though he didn’t address the fact that it smells like gas. If it still does so tonight I will call again. But I guess my direct question is, if I get water inside the range is there any reason it should smell like gas for a day later. It seems like there’s nothing that spilling water in should trigger to let gas loose.
Thanks for the help!