Faulty air/gas flow in KitchenAid KGSA906 30" range, INNER ring of triple tier burner

[bingo]

Hi All -  I have a 12-year old 30" KitchenAid KGSA906 30" range which uses natural gas. The LFront TripleTier flame burner will not light using the electric igniter, although that burner's igniter will click and produce a spark when knob is in the LITE position. The smallest center burner of the 3 (the simmer burner) is what the igniter is supposed to ignite - however doesn't get gas flow enough to light. I can turn on gas and manually light the outer power burner rings on that burner with a match or by turning that knob to the power burner settings and then turning one of the other burner knobs to LITE. 

Also, once lit manually, turning the knob to the simmer" setting means the burner simply goes out yet there will be a very light smell of gas if the knob is left in simmer. The center/simmer burner does not work all.

What I have done: I have removed the cast iron burner caps and attempted to clean the burner base and the gas tube opening in the center of the simmer burner with a wet towel and paperclip etc. I have vacuumed the gas tube opening to try and pull out any loose debris. I removed the knob and turned the two brass screws that I can see behind the knob. Neither seem to have any effect on the flame. 

When the burner caps are off, I can hold a match over the center burner tube opening and the match will be blown out, but not light. I can smell gas, but it seems like there is too much air or too much volume in this simmer burner. 

Can anyone help me figure out how to get this inner simmer portion of the TripleTier to work properly and so that I can light it?
Thanks Steve

[Hiroshi]

The two flat bladed screws behind the knob are the simmer adjust screws on this "triple crown" burner. The screw in the 12 o'clock position is for the the center ring, the screw at 9 o'clock is for the outer. I would turn the inner adjustment screw counter-clockwise to open it and see if that increases your gas flow... if it does not you may have to replace the valve itself, or remove it and see if it is clogged- but most clogs occur in the gas orifice that feeds the burner from below...

[bingo]

18 hours ago, Hiroshi said:

 I would turn the inner adjustment screw counter-clockwise to open it and see if that increases your gas flow...

Hi Hiroshi, thanks for the reply.

I turned the brass screw at the 12 o clock position counter clockwise to it's end and it didn't seem to increase the flow.

Did you happen to notice that I mentioned that there is a flow of something strong enough to blow out a match (and one of those long clicker lighters)? I'm quite a newby to range repairs - where does the mixing of the air and gas take place in this range? 

That WP9760519 valve is expensive ($105) and I'd love for it to turn out to be some sort of adjustment outside of replacing that valve...

Steve

[Hiroshi]

Have you run the screw all the way in and seen if it restricts the flow?  In gas burners, there is an "air shutter," but it is just an opening with an adjustable shutter that allows air to drawn into the burner by the flowing gas- it does not force or impell the air in any way, the simmer adjustment should be very slight and gradual.

When did this change in the operation of the burner occur? It almost sounds as though the burner is missing its gas orifice... 

[Rhubarb Tau]

I've got to agree with Hiroshi; I'd look closer at the simmer orifice (or possible lack thereof). It's pretty common for simmer orifices to plug with gunk and prevent the burner from lighting. Not sure on this unit (not shown on parts breakdown), but simmer orifices are pretty commonly 7mm outside, and can be pulled for inspection with a nutdriver or socket. I like to fold a piece of masking tape into the nutdriver to hold the orifice in place.

This unit is also subject to Service Pointer  K4317380, "Simmer Goes Out", and recommends verifying and installing (if missing) p/n  9759453 Air Block Plate. Doesn't sound like this exactly fits your symptom, but may be worth a look.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Byj0KStPi2SXMUFyLVRmVlA2bEE

I wouldn't read too much into the simmer burner not lighting by hand with the cap removed. Without the cap to capture and slow the air/gas mixture, flow out of the orifice and venturi could be too turbulent to light.

 

[bingo]

On 1/24/2017 at 11:01 AM, Rhubarb Tau said:

I've got to agree with Hiroshi; I'd look closer at the simmer orifice (or possible lack thereof). It's pretty common for simmer orifices to plug with gunk and prevent the burner from lighting. Not sure on this unit (not shown on parts breakdown), but simmer orifices are pretty commonly 7mm outside, and can be pulled for inspection with a nutdriver or socket. I like to fold a piece of masking tape into the nutdriver to hold the orifice in place.

Hi Rhubarb and Hiroshi
Thanks for your help. The simmer orifice looks just like a hole, it doesn't seem to be a visible pipe when looking down from the top. The orifice looks very clean, and I ran a brush down into it and around the inside and it's clean. Unfortunately I can't pull the head off very easily as 2 out of 4 of the 7mm screws snapped when I tried unscrewing them. Looking down, what I'm calling the orifice is a round opening a nutdriver or socket has corners...when you say "pull" can you be more specific? Like is it threaded in, so am I unscrewing it? I can't post images, but I found this breakdown http://www.searspartsdirect.com/model-number/kgsa906pss02/0593/0124250.html . That is what mine looks like

On 1/24/2017 at 11:01 AM, Rhubarb Tau said:

This unit is also subject to Service Pointer  K4317380, "Simmer Goes Out", and recommends verifying and installing (if missing) p/n  9759453 Air Block Plate. Doesn't sound like this exactly fits your symptom, but may be worth a look.

I took a look and that "air block plate" is in place on my range. 

Steve

 

[bingo]

In looking around at other diagrams, I'm getting the idea that the orifice is down at the bottom of the hole I'm looking down into, and that it's a tiny hole, right? As I mentioned above, removing the head is difficult as the screws are snapped - is there a way to clean the hole with it in place? Like using a needle or a tiny brush?

[bingo]

Thank you folks! I am such a newbie. Yes, the tiny hole I was looking down at was clogged. I got a needle and cleaned it out and the simmer burner lights just fine now!

Steve

[Hiroshi]

Cha-Ching! thank you for keeping us posted!