T&T: seaward princess propane cooktop

[Albin43SDtr]

'Lo All,

>The tip cleaners used on acetylene torches will work just fine for 
>cleaning a stove orifice... The set has a number of different 
>diameter rods... A few bucks at any tractor store, welding supply 
>shop, or the internet... It ain't rocket science..

All very true, BUT be sure not to use a cleaner that is larger than 
the orifice. They can very easily make a larger hole which will cause 
a much larger flame - to the point it can be very dangerous. These 
cleaners (usually) have a solid wire tip that is smaller than the 
'file' part. Try to find out what the orifice size is and use a 
cleaner that size ONLY. The sizes (in thousandths of an inch) are 
stamped on the holder in the order they are placed in the holder (the 
wires are too small to be stamped for size). Remember, you are only 
trying to remove the carbon and possibly rust deposits - not virgin metal.

I used to regularly service the two natural gas furnaces at a lodge 
building. For convenience sake, I had purchased a set of cleaners as 
mentioned above and left it in the furnace room. A friend wanted to 
help as the furnaces needed their fall cleaning and I was out of 
town, so he cleaned one of them. I had written down the 
orifice/cleaner size on the furnace door panel, but he didn't see it, 
so just used the cleaner that seemed to work best. When he 
reassembled the furnace and lit it, it made a decidedly louder noise 
than it should have, so he shut it down and waited for my return. 
Using a wire-type spark plug gap tester, we measured the orifice size 
- it was now two sizes larger than it should have been. When we 
bought a new orifice, he asked the salesman/technician what the 
effect would have been if he had just left the old one in. He was 
told that the BTU output could be as much as twice what the furnace 
and its duct system was rated for if the air supply had been properly 
adjusted for that orifice size. It was an old, old wooden building...


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL