Cooktop gas ignitor repair

One thing about this country, people here are resourceful they can fix about anything. Sure it may break again, but they come back and fix it again.

So simple. In fact I just fixed mine.

In theory, the main burner ring gas flow is suppressed/reduced until the pilot light flame heat has triggered the gas flow valve.

The pilot flame has three areas. The main knob, which turns the gas on to the pilot as well as triggering the Hall effect device that makes a spark.

The second area is the orifice, or hole, through which the pilot flame gas flows.

Finally, there is the spark gap.

A very common defect is caused by spilled foods shorting out the spark gap (killing the igniter) or a blocked orifice (killing the gas feed).

IF you can't get it going through cleaning the solution is in your cell phone.

Call, or visit, the bottled gas supplier with the defective stove and explain, or hand sign your problem.

They all have service guys available/on call to fix stoves.

Your landlord is either lazy or a liar. Give the repair guy a good tip and get a receipt for the repair that includes the tip, then stick it to your LL.

BEFORE re-attaching the gas feed from the tank to your stove, cut off any tubing that looks rough, cracked, etc.

WHEN you re-attach the gas feed to your stove, please test for leaks. Bottled gas is heavier than air and can 'pool' on the floor, a bomb waiting to go bang.

Testing is done with soapy (dish washing liquid) water put all over the clamp and the feed area. If it bubbles you have a leak.

Jaitch,
Good advice, but the problem is, I don't use bottled gas - I have a natural gas line coming into the apartment, and pay for gas, water, and management fee combined, at the Phu My Hung office next to the new Mercedes dealership (which really isn't in Phu My Hung, right? )every month.

Also, I don't think there's a pilot flame in my burners. That's the purpose of the electrical ignitors. The one in question does not make the "tick-tick-tick-tick" sound like the others do, which prevents the burner from lighting.

No need for the harsh words about the LL - she's a working mother of 2 small kids, with #3 about to pop out any day now. Her husband is away in Hanoi most of the time. So I'll give her a little leeway.

Thanks for your reply. I expected you would be one of the first. I was actually going to just PM you instead, but wanted to share all the info with others here.

saigonmonkey wrote:

Jaitch,
Good advice, but the problem is, I don't use bottled gas - I have a natural gas line coming into the apartment, and pay for gas, water, and management fee combined, at the Phu My Hung office next to the new Mercedes dealership (which really isn't in Phu My Hung, right? )every month.

Ah, yes, the management racket ... you pay them for TV, too, TV that they bill for but isn't supplied. I helped someone with that problem.

Better not shatter the illusion, it's bad enough having Giants outside PMH!

Is the stove built-in, or can you remove it?

Natural gas? That I question, natural gas comes from long pipelines ... I suspect there's some large tanks somewhere around.

Natural gas also have pressure reducers, hopefully outside the building/ The make funny hissing, burping noises.

Two alternatives. Either remove the stove OR get the man to visit.

Make a note of the NAME of the stove and then SMS: 0907-615-968  and tell them you need a repair person ... and who to call.

Or you could call management, I am sure they have a commission arrangement with someone who can fix it - better to ask for a name.

Propane falls, natural gas rises. But don't go testing for it!

I have a 1,000 litre tank at my place, piped in to the house, which allows me to buy gas when it is cheapest.

I pay for TV at HTV, in the same building, different office.

I pay no utilites to the LL - pay everything myself. I know you are very outspoken on this.

Some (I gather yourself, included) consider the management fee a ripoff. I say you get what you pay for. What I'm paying for is access to a clean swimming pool, exercise facilities, continuous lighting of all common areas, and most of all, security - 3 guys watching the car park and one watching my front door at all times. Not to mention the guys sitting out at the street corners day and night. And I know from experience that they're actually watching. (Another don't ask me how I know that...)

Back to the task at hand....

Yes, the stove is built-in, with an oven. (chocolate-chip cookies, anyone?)

I say natural gas because in the US, if you don't have a big white tank out back, you've got natural. I don't see any tanks around my building, but this is Vietnam, so I don't know.

So if I can't fix it myself, I would need a guy to come over. Finding that guy is the problem. I'll try your phone number this evening and see what kind of response I get.

Thanks.

saigonmonkey wrote:

I know you are very outspoken on this.

There is a woman I know in that area who pays management. They have master contracts.

She was getting billed for TV service she never had and they wouldn't accept her word.

I took a cable test around - no signal.

I called the cable outfit, not going trough the office, and they identified the problem and fixed it.

They still would give her a refund. Unti I wrote the Ministry of Communications.

I understand natural gas, used it in Canada. Just that they hadn't any natgas pipelines in VN at least 4 years ago.

Anyway, I'll see if I can get another repairman as well.

Jaitch wrote:

.................................
Your landlord is either lazy or a liar. Give the repair guy a good tip and get a receipt for the repair that includes the tip, then stick it to your LL.
.....

[/b]

the 'or' I would replace with 'AND'

l3ully wrote:

the 'or' I would replace with 'AND'

Benefit of the doubt. OP says LL is a nice woman with 3 Kids.

SAIGONMONKEY

There is an appliance repair store on the right as you travel over the bridge from Quan 7 to Quan 4.

As soon as you leave the bridge they guy has a double front store on Khanh Hoa Street.

Other question: What is the make of your stove.

It's a Birillo.

Jaitch wrote:

l3ully wrote:

the 'or' I would replace with 'AND'

Benefit of the doubt. OP says LL is a nice woman with 3 Kids.

SAIGONMONKEY

There is an appliance repair store on the right as you travel over the bridge from Quan 7 to Quan 4.

As soon as you leave the bridge they guy has a double front store on [b]Khanh Hoa Street.[/b]

Other question: What is the make of your stove.

If she is 'nice' she will have that sorted, but like described here, she just fits the brush I am using.

saigonmonkey wrote:

It's a Birillo.

Can you recheck spelling, please, shows nothing on four trade search engines.

That's because the only valid searches come up in Vietnamese. Check this link, for example (one of many):

http://sieuthibepga.net/c2813/SanPham/.aspx

If you google "birillo", you get many products not related to gad stoves. If you google "birillo cooktop", you start getting the Vietnamese websites for "bep gas birillo".

Your gas supply is local to PMH. See: < http://en.pvgascity.com.vn/News/Pvgasci … 118/cbo.vn >.

The LNG comes by boat!

Jaitch,

So I do have LNG, as opposed to LPG, just that it's coming from some big central tank somewhere in Q7, as opposed to coming from a gas pipeline. OK by me.

Did you get my PM? No luck with that, yet.

I'm trying the hotline # posted on that website I linked. We'll see what happens with that.

Didn't see any PM's - been out travelling around with my Android and even though it has a huge screen I have to do things to see the PM. I'll be back in civilisation later today.

Asking for gas supplier, they can repair as well.

Hi Lucy,
Thanks for your suggestion. I don't use the bottle gas, so I never have anyone coming into my house who I could show the problem. However, I could ask the ladies who work in the office where I pay for my gas. I'm not very confident they will be able to help, though.

Last week I posted here and provided a link to a company which sells my brand of stove. I called the hotline number shown on that website, which was answered by a salesman. He had no idea who could repair, but said he would check and call me back. As of today, I've heard nothing. It seems that it's much easier to buy appliances here, than finding someone to repair them.

Jaitch wrote:

There is an appliance repair store on the right as you travel over the bridge from Quan 7 to Quan 4.

Jaitch,
I have not checked this place yet - meant to Saturday afternoon, but didn't get to it. Will check today if I can get back to HCMC early enough.

I've searching on google for you. I saw a name of repairer : Mr Ngo Thoi Khoa (tel: 08-62702012 - handphone: 0918444535 . You ask your housemaid help you to call him (I don't think he can speak English). Try and ask for the cost before he fix it. I don't think it's expensive.
Hope you can solve your problem soon.

and enjoy your life !

Thank you Lucy.

I finally had time to check the place mentioned by Jaitch yesterday. I think the name of it is Binh Minh. It's a yellow building at the end of the bridge in district 4, just as Jaitch said. They sell bottle gas, and a few countertop model cooktops. Two ladies working at the counter, one can speak OK English. She gave me a number to call for a repair guy who works the Phu My Hung area. I don't have a Vietnamese housekeeper to help with this stuff - just a Chinese wife who may look Vietnamese, but doesn't speak it. That's why this forum is a big help to me.

My plan is to use these leads I'm getting here, and present them to my landlord. I'll need to wait until maybe later next week because she's in the hospital having her baby now. Needless to say, I think she has a very good excuse not to help me right now.

Thanks for all the help from the folks here on EB.