frig hard to light, tiny pilot light Causes?

[RogerR]

My refrigerator is very hard to light and takes 5 to 10 minutes of holding the pilot light button in and clicking it. (line was purged to the stove prior to lighting.)

I have cleaned it and have notice the pilot light is tiny, maybe 1/8 inch tall.

Could it be the regulator?

By the way, the little white plastic regulator covers literally disintegrated this spring. I have not had an opportunity to replace them.

Could the cheap chinese Hong Shen regulator be the cause? My flames on the stove aren't terribly large either.

[GHen]

I have a two propane tank system and once I had an issue where the regulator was confused, for lack of a better term, lol. Furnace would only turn on for a couple minutes, fridge would not light, stove provided only half the normal flame. I had to unhook both tanks, then hook them back up again. I was also told to open the tank valves up very slowly and after that the regulator worked fine again. No problems since then.

It’s worth a try on yours.

[RogerR]

Got a fresh tank of LP, turned on very slowly and went through the long lightup procedure. (repeated twice) Still only a tiny pilot light flame. Less than 1/2 inch long. It has blown out while traveling resulting in a warm fridge at our destination.

I have cleaned it with air blast and a plastic toothpick with no change.

Compared to my home water heater and space heater the pilot is less than half the size of the pilot lights at home. (Also LP)

[Grumpy]

Is there an adjusting screw for the pilot at the gas valve?

[shrpshtr]

I have probably owned 30+ LP cylinders in my life and only ever had one go bad. Something inside the valve stem was actually restricting flow from the tank pretty severely (even when fully opened) and it had very low flames. I'd try hooking that tank up to a grill, or other LP device, and see if it performs poorly there also. If so, the tank's your culprit. If not, and given your range flames are reduced also, it probably is your regulator. Either that or you have a bad hose/connection, or a leak, somewhere in your system that is preventing it from pressurizing. Likely though, it's the regulator but I'd check the tank 1st. HTH!

shrp

[ttavasc]

You don't per chance have one of these on your tank do you:

Camco Propane Gauge/Leak Detector

We had one of these that went bad after particularly hot trip to the southwest and caused the same symptoms you are describing. Soon as it was removed things went back to normal. I was interested in it mainly as a leak detector and not a tank gauge. Now I just carry a small bottle of leak detector solution in the tool kit.

[RogerR]

Originally Posted by shrpshtr

I have probably owned 30+ LP cylinders in my life and only ever had one go bad. Something inside the valve stem was actually restricting flow from the tank pretty severely (even when fully opened) and it had very low flames. I'd try hooking that tank up to a grill, or other LP device, and see if it performs poorly there also. If so, the tank's your culprit. If not, and given your range flames are reduced also, it probably is your regulator. Either that or you have a bad hose/connection, or a leak, somewhere in your system that is preventing it from pressurizing. Likely though, it's the regulator but I'd check the tank 1st. HTH!

shrp

I don't have a grill but will put a spare tank I have on and see if there is a difference, I will also check for a pilot light adjustment screw and report the results.

Checked, no adjustment screw, raining, will delay switching tanks till later