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Advanco fryer shutting down
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I’ve found that just reloading the page by clicking the link in recent discussions and then reply helps. It’s always when I look around the post and then try to reply that I have problems.
Nice to hear from you Ectofix
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Hello again fella’s
Well, I’m still having trouble with this unit, I checked the millivoltage as suggested, the unit stayed stable, actually a slight 1 or 2 millivolts drop but less than the other fryer that works consistently.
I took it outside for a good cleaning and took it apart somewhat, I did not see any obvious issues, re cleaned and checked the wires again, look good.
It is still doing the same thing not holding “steady” temp all the time, drop food and the unit dose not always kick up timely. Then at times shutting down the pilot as well. Then just to mess with me seems to work ok for short time, however very short. not any different from first post so letting the issue develop has not changed anything.
After cleaning and boiling it out after tear down during the boil out it shut down pilot and all. Relit stayed on.
Next day cook stated same issue.
The pilot shutting off is not very often, but it has happened a few times.
This unit is the very end of the propane line for the whole kitchen and does not have its own regulator inside as I read on another thread of that issue being the, not needed regulator per unit in the kitchen. as well I had swapped its position it was originally the second to the end on the propane line.
They just recently added a second 500 Gl. propane tank, about a month ago we had a bad snow storm, and needed the propane generator for days, they added a dedicated regulator for the generator, however this was after the fryer issue and has not changed anything. the warmer trays, grill and char broiler as well as the second fryer work fine.
I thought tearing it down may show some propane crud in the valves however I didn’t have the correct torxhead to take the bottom off the valve body completely, but I did tear the top half off, was very clean.
I downloaded the manual and noticed that one of the only issues it suggests for shut down was banging on the unit could prematurely shut gas valve down. However as this has been an ongoing issue, I mentioned to all the cooks to be gentle with it and if they could remember/observe if there were a sequence of events to explain the shutting down… They got so frustrated that they pounded on it a couple times and one kicked it and boom it worked for a short time. The flame kicked right on a couple times… coincidence?
it is lighting, coming to temp 350 degrees, but does not maintain while frying most of the time and at times but not often shuts completely down including pilot.
Double checked the thermo lines in the tank to make sure they were not up against the baffles.
HUM?
Thanks Again For The Help!
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Forgot to mention Pilot is strong looks the same as the other fryer unit
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I see two different questions here. One is the temp regulation. The second is the pilot going out. First we have to find what makes the pilot go out. It comes down to the safety limit, valve, and thermopile. And of course oxygen. With the thermostat off, when you light the pilot the thermopile voltage should be above about 600 millivolts. Take a plastic handle screwdriver and tap the valve while watching the voltmeter. It should stay stabile. Wiggle the wires to the high limit as well. Now watch the voltage as you raise the thermostat. When the temp control clicks on, the voltage will drop a bit but should remain steady and above 350 to 400 mv. Again wiggle the wires and watch the voltage. Any deviation indicates a wire connection problem. Again tap the gas valve with the screwdriver handle. Deviation here means you may have a short inside the valve.
Look around at the staff and floor conditions. Boiling water makes steam. Steam is one of the most effective flame suppressors there is.
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I forgot to cover the second part. Watch the gas main valve for voltage as the fryer cycles with load as you monitor temperature. A good digital thermometer comes in best here with a “K” probe. Also listen for the click of the thermometer. You should see proper voltage at the valve simultaneous to the click. If the kitchen is loud, you can also feel it click by lightly keeping a finger on the knob. Now it should repeat at the same points. Also look at the mounting of the sensing bulb in the tank. It should be firmly mounted and protected from basket of user damage. It also needs to be in the oil and free from any touching except the mount clamp if there is one. Different manufacturers mount them in different places. Don’t confuse the thermostat with the high limit.
Hopefully I’ve given you enough to figure this out and not missed anything. Ectofix will let me know if I did. He’s great at this/
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Hello again and thank you FixBear.
So, on the pilot issue as I was thinking of your suggestions and the sequence of events the other day while working on this bugger, after I got done outside with it, I brought it in for the boil out cleaning. During the boil, the boil water level was not high enough and as it boils the water level down so fast, I had added more coolish water and solution to the already boiling water… After, This is when I noticed the pilot went out. As I was thinking of your reply, I wanted to make clear the event that the pilot went out. As I have not really seen that as the issue until then. One of the cooks had stated the pilot had gone out on them prior, however talking to the other cook he stated he had shut it off. So I’m not sure how much of an issue the pilot really is, because as I mentioned there was some confusion between the cooks as to the pilot actually shutting down on its own. Now that I was thinking about it I was thinking that Adding more cold’ish water might have shut the safety limit side down thus the pilot light going out?
However we know for a fact The main issue is not maintaining temps during frying. however as you stated to test it could be related and I will perform the tests as mentioned.
I also stopped by the local Propane Distributor yesterday and explained to them the not maintaining heat during frying/pilot, they stated they had worked on one of these units sometime ago, and suggested replacing the whole gas valve. Not much help really.
Thanks again.
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And the second half of your suggestions, other than the boil out I did, there is no water/steam near the units. the floors are always dry except at the end of the day cleaning/mopping, there’s no water/steam sources near the units, thank you for the suggestions and I will keep that in mind as well
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Gas valves either do or don’t work. More common is the contacts in the thermostat not making good electrical contact. That’s why I suggested using a voltmeter on the main valve terminals to monitor the input. Now if the input is a consistent voltage of over 500 mv, and the valve does not open, them yes, you will need to replace it.
The pivot points inside the temp control do wear and can cause a fluctuation of the cut it point. More often though, we see the sensing bulb to be out of place or damaged bulb or capillary tube.
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Thank you kindly fixbear for the explanations even a fella like me understood you.
Ok so I may have a problem, my tester only has 200MV or 2000MV so I do not get the readings you suggest 600MV… however I’ve used two testers and they both fluctuate while hooked up, neither one will stabilize steady climbing about one per second… so while testing today just hooking up the tester to the TP it shut down the pilot. wire was slightly loose pulled it out squeezed it so that it holds better. Relit the pilot, I have the tester hooked up for reading as I turn up the thermostat, Yes I hear it click but the burners did not kick on at all, shut it off at the thermostat again, turn it up and still nothing… took my Leatherman and taped on the gas valve housing and bang the burners kick on, let it run for a minute and again the tester fluctuates slowly increasing millivolt, shut it off again let cool some and same thing will not kick on until I tap on the gas valve housing. Now I never let it get up to temp 350 during this process. the tester on 200m was around 135m and climbing tap on gas valve housing until burners kick on voltage drops about half to around 70m and then again continues to climb about one MV per second.
I don’t get why the tester never stabilized on a reading. however, i do feel it must be the gas valve as tapping on it was the only way it kicked on after about 5 try’s in a row no matter how long I waited in between try’s. and only on the 5 times did it kick on while tapping on the gas valve body. the first couple times light tapping lit it, however the last three i had to tap a little harder… what is strange is before, a week or so back it did kick up just turning on the thermostat my next question is, is just to replace the gas valve not individual parts within it. I’m not sure replacement parts are even an options, I found a new Robert Shaw webrestraunt.com gas valve for around $150.00.
Thanks FixBear and I apologize for my incompetence.
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Ok, now your getting somewhere. Open curcuit with no load should be 750 Millivolts DC. If not, The pilot flame is not heating the thermopile hot enough. OR, the thermopile is bad. Check the pilot assembly to be holding the thermopile correctly and the pilot burning correctly. Often your find the gas orfice or air intake to be restricted. They get a lot of dust in them from foot traffic and cardboard box movement. Once you have open voltage correct, check it with the pilot safety to be above 500MV. Then again with the main valve load to be above 300 MV. Remember that any connection or broken wire causes a higher resistance and lower voltage to the coils. Also the with any electro magnet, Current is high to pull it the armature and then drop’s as the armature reaches center coil. Thats why you see the voltage go up after the valve opens. If has been on the verge of opening due to low voltage and when you tap it, it jar’s the armature enough to open.
Sometimes the gas valves over time if not perfectly perpendicular get a bit of wear inside the coil or foreign material from the insulation break down or diaphragm that makes them open hard and irregular. They are not field repairable.
Good luck.
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