Force 10 Oven Troubleshoot

[wrwakefield]

We sometimes need to disconnect an individual thermocouple near the control valves and gently clean [I use a fine Scotchbrite pad] the mating surfaces per the following excerpt from our stove manual:

Burner Control Valve Fails to Stay Open When Valve Control Knob is Released and Burner Flame Extinguishes [page 18]

Remember: The Burner Control Knob must be held all the way in for twenty (20) seconds after ignition in order to heat the thermocouple and allow the gas valve to stay open.

There could be a problem with the thermocouple. The small upright attachment next to the burner on the range top is one end of the thermocouple. Test operation of thermocouple.

A simple way of testing the thermocouple is to ignite the burner with the control knob removed from the valve stem. Using your fingers directly on the valve stem, depress, turn to high, and light the burner. If it stays lit after 20 seconds the thermocouple is working properly. If the burner does not stay lit when using the control knob, it is possible that the knob is contacting the face plate before the valve stem is fully depressed. Remedy this by adjusting the position of the knob on the valve stem.

A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar metals joined together at the sensing end.
These metals are in contact with each other only at the point that is exposed to the burner flame. When this point is heated by the burner flame a small amount of electricity is generated. This electric current flows to the other end of the thermocouple that is connected to the gas valve. Here it activates an electromagnet that keeps the valve open.
Should the burner accidentally be extinguished electricity will no longer be generated and the valve will be snapped back to the closed position by a stainless steel spring. This is normally an isolated problem as all thermocouples and ranges are tested at the factory. If necessary, however, remove the thermocouple following the instructions 1 through 14 below. Lightly sand the end that has been removed from the valve with very fine sandpaper. Replace in the valve and test. If this does not work the thermocouple must have failed and will have to be replaced.

You can also test the thermocouple by removing the end from the valve. Heat up the other end with a torch or another burner on your stove. By using a good quality voltmeter, put one lead on the outside of the thermocouple and the other one on the far cold end. If the thermocouple is okay, it will show a reading on your meter.

If the thermocouple appears to be operating properly after testing, the electromagnet (solenoid) inside the valve which contains a stainless steel spring may be defective and require replacement.

In case this is relevant.

Cheers! Bill

[Cpt Mark]

I had this problem on a different gas stove/range. Replaced the battery still no joy. Burners were erratic at best on staying lit.
Solution: After many years of pushing the knob in the metal behind the knob actually got bent inward thus causing the problem of the knob hitting the SS frame and stopping short.. Apparently this is very common. Took the plastic knob off and lit the burner pushing in the brass where the knob had been inserted. Yep. Worked fine, every time. Took some tin foil and wadded it up and stuffed it inside to act as filler piece. End of problem and then that also solved the piezo igniter issue. Kind techs at Sure Marine in Seattle WA told me how to do this.

[Cadence]

Move the thermocouple closer the burner.

[jhulmer]

I worked on mine this weekend. If you remove the screws from the top pan that hold the knob panel on and remove all the knobs, you can rotate the panel out to access the switches.

There are springs on the brass stems that push in on the electric arc switches. Sometimes these get depressed and need to be stretched out a little to make it easier to operate the arc switch.
my problem turned out to be the ground for the arc generator on the back of the stove. The factory used a pop-rivit to install the ground wire to the case and it, over time, gets oil and grim on it and looses it's connection. I fixed this and added the new style (sealed) battery holder and the arc lighter is working again.
lastly, I cleaned the gunk out from under the burners that had accumulated over the last nine years and the burners work much better now.
The two tiny screws that hold the burner tops on are a bad design. If you don't remove them once a year or more they seize. I had to drill the flat head tops off to remove the burner top.