Kenmore gas stove. Oven burns big flame which soots

If you are getting soot residue, it could be a number of things, First, is this a natural gas or propane oven? If you bought an oven to be used for propane, it may need to be converted from natural gas to propane or it will soot everything up. 2nd, have you recently spilled food/liquid onto the oven burner? If the burner holes are partially plugged, the remaining holes will burn large yellow flames and soot up the oven. Check the burner flames, they should be mostly blue with little to no yellow tips. Also make sure the oven burner flames are not too big. They should never exceed the width of the flame spreader pan directly above the burner, in fact they should be less than half the width. You could also have other issues like improper air shutter adjustment to the oven burner or very low regulator pressure, but most likely it has just been spilled on recently.

Normally soot is from a range that hasn't been converted for the gas type, like natural or propane. It may be set up for natural when you're on propane or visa versa. Has this range ever worked properly without sooting?

The original poster is asking if the size of the pilot flame can be adjusted because it is so big it can audibly be heard. His oven is working perfectly as he stated having replaced both the pilot assembly and the oven thermostat. So the question remains can the size of the pilot flame be adjusted? I am having the opposite problem with the pilot flame being too small so the gas valve opens but the gas will not ignite untill the volume of natural gas fills the chamber enough to be ignited by the pilot at which point flames can be seen shooting out from under the stove. I know the pilot flame can be adjusted for the stove burners it's reasonable to believe there is an adjustment for the oven pilot as well.

It shouldn't be burning yellow and emitting soot at all;sounds like on of these possible causes-
(a)blocked burner airways(this can lead to yellow tipping and sooting on LPG powered appliances because insufficient air is getting through to the burner causing it;you can also get this effect on LPG barbecues say if dead insects or spiderwebs are in the burner pipes and airways after a period of storage),
(b)incorrect aeration being set when the burner was converted using LPG jets(too much gas and not enough air causing yellow flames/smells and sooting),
or (c) if you use propane cylinder gas a dicky or faulty regulator. I would get it looked at investigating all the possibilities I mention and taking action to correct this where necessary ie clearing the burner airways(if this is causing your problem), adjusting the aeration in the burners until you get a clear noiseless blue flame without any excessive yellow and sooting(but even after good adjustment you may find still get a very slight yellow tip without sooting at the top of the flame;this does happen with propane gas and there is a slight tendancy for this to happen more often with butane-butane tends to display very slight yellow tips on ignition increasing slightly as the burner warms up to full temperature) or if you use propane cylinder gas replacing the regulator if that is necessary.

Have a Whirlpool Continuous Cleaning Oven It left soot on the top of the stove after baking the other night why ?

clean the orfices and tubes and then if possible adjust your air mixture setting also

First, the flame should be blue and without much visible yellow. You need to give the gas tube a good cleaning to get out any soot buildup and any partial obstuctions that might be causing the problem. Since you started with a yellow flame and soot, you need to get the burner tubes clean to see if you have resolved the problem after adjusting the regulator and burner valve(s).

You might need to install a different regulator to match the pressure of your gas supply source, as regulators have a specific working range of inlet (supply gas pressure) that they can operate properly at to "regulate" the supply pressure to the stove's needed pressure.

Check your manual and the installation guide to verify what the gas inlet pressure requirements are and check with your gas supplier to see what they are providing you.

To your 2nd question, yes, the gas will cycle on and off when you are using the oven, since the thermostat will call for more heat when needed and shut off the gas/flame once the temperature you set the control at, has been reached. The cycling is a result of the oven trying to maintain the desired temperature for baking.

One reason that you can smell gas when the oven is being used, is because all gas ovens have a surface vent to allow excess heat to escape from the oven compartment, however you should not be smelling raw gas (actually you're smelling the "rotten egg" additive that's put in the gas) all the time, since when the oven is turned on, a small electric ignitor is heated up VERY HOT glowing bright orange inside the oven compartment. Once it's hot enough a sensor opens the gas valve and lets gas into the burner tube to be ignited instantly by the VERY HOT ignitor. It is rare to smell raw gas with this system, but sometimes you'll get a stronger "rotten egg" smell at different times due to the gas company and their system, etc.

As to the gas smell, you should NOT be smelling gas every time the oven cycles on when baking, as a normal ongoing occurrence. During the first few uses, it is normal to smell some gas, but this should go away after a couple of uses. If it doesn't, you should look to make sure the regulator and oven controls are PROPERLY configured and set - Since you've already fiddled with these, it's probably a good idea to have someone from your gas company (or a gas appliance tech) come out and do this. Improper settings can cause some serious problems.

Hope this helps!

The adjustment you attempted was to make the regulator track the temperature setting on the knob.
The yellow flame is caused by poor combustion and could be producing carbon monoxide, an odorless, tasteless and very deadly gas.
It sounds like the path for air is blocked and causing the problem. 
For anyone, I recommend a carbon monoxide detector in the home if you have any gas appliances or even unused gas connections. They cost $30-$35 US but flowers for your funeral could run more.   A family near our town lost the father and the wife and 3 kids ended up in the hospital due to this only a few days ago. They had only moved into the house a week ago.

Al, you need to seat the needle valve on the bake. Remove the bottom drawer, right below the bake burner you will see the nut just below the air shutter adjustment. Turn this nut clockwise a few times, it might seem hard but just do it. Then try the bake again, you should have a nice bluel flame. Tenbears.

Inspect your flame tube to see if all the holes have a nice blue flame coming from them.
If the flame is not coming from all the holes or the flame is yellow or orange with some soot build up, then have a qualified technician service the unit immediately.
Do not use the oven until it has been inspected and certfied safe.


Dave E. (Illeagle)