Home Improvement : Relighting Pilot Lights Not Difficult but Use Caution

Sometimes the gas pilot light on the kitchen range, water heater, furnace or boiler goes out. When that happens, it’s easy to relight it. But first, some words of caution:

--Don’t relight the pilot light if there is a strong gas odor. Close the main gas shut-off valve for your house or for the appliance with the leak and call the gas company immediately. Get everyone out of the house until the problem is corrected by gas company technicians. Don’t strike a match or turn on an electric switch until the room is fully cleared of gas fumes.

--Before relighting any pilot light--even when no gas odor is present--ventilate the room by opening windows and doors for at least five minutes.

--Check your owner’s manual for instructions about relighting the pilot light. Or look for instructions printed on the appliance. These are usually to be found on or near the burner control unit.

In fact, it’s a good idea to become familiar in advance with the owner’s manual for any gas appliance in your home. You should also become familiar with the location of the main gas shut-off valve for your house and the shut-off valve for each appliance and how they work. A gas valve is usually open when its handle points in the same direction as the pipe and closed when the handle is at an angle to the pipe.

Range and Oven

A gas kitchen range generally has two or more pilot lights: one or two ignite the surface burners and another ignites the burners that heat the oven.

To relight a surface burner pilot light, lift the cook top and hold a lighted match to the pilot.

If the oven pilot has been extinguished, first turn off the oven and air it out thoroughly before relighting the pilot. To reach the oven pilot, you may have to remove the oven bottom and the heat baffle located beneath it. If the oven pilot is difficult to reach with a lighted match, use a lighted piece of paper that has been twisted into a thin wick. Extinguish the paper immediately after the pilot is relighted.

Furnace, Boiler and Water Heater

The burner control unit in a furnace, boiler or water heater usually has a gas cock--a device that regulates the flow of gas to the pilot--with off, on and pilot settings.

--If the pilot light goes out, remove the access panel, turn the gas cock to off, and air out the burner chamber for several minutes.

--Check the unit’s circuit breaker or fuse, as well as its emergency switch, to make sure it has electric power.

--Set the gas cock on pilot. Hold a lighted match to the pilot and depress the cock for 30 seconds. If the control unit has a reset button instead of a gas cock, close the appliance’s main shut-off valve but leave open the smaller pilot valve located adjacent to it. Depress the reset button while you relight the pilot.

--If the pilot lights, turn the gas cock to on or reopen the shut-off valve. If it doesn’t, let the gas thoroughly dissipate, then repeat the procedure, depressing the gas cock or reset button for one minute. Don’t try to relight the pilot a third time. Call the gas company for assistance.

A gas burner may not light if the pilot flame is too low. Check your owner’s manual for the location of a pilot light adjustment screw.

Turn it counterclockwise to raise the flame, or clockwise to lower it.

If you can’t find the screw, or if the pilot flame is yellow rather than blue-green, call the gas company to have a technician make the necessary adjustments.

Need help on a home repair or improvement project? Write Reader’s Digest, P.O. Box 700, Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570-7000.