Hello TV,

I have an gas oven ( Maybe 7 years old ) that has developed a problem with the gas/temperature regulator.

We had one service guy pop around this morning , had a quick looksee only to tell us "can Not be Fixed" too old, parts no longer available.

on requesting more information on the part and part # thinking maybe google might help in finding a replacement part his reply was I dont know , shrugged his shoulders and left.

I come across this a lot with the local service company's which can be very frustrating.

Anyway if anyone knows of a reliable ( knows what he's doing ) gas service engineer please PM me their contacts.

at the end of the day, all these big hotels have gas cookers an I cant see them binning their cookers every time a regulator decides to play up

Thanks in advance

If it is an International brand - you may be able to search make and model number. They sometimes have schematics showing the replacable parts etc.

Sadly on Samui - my own experience with faulty ovens has been similar to yours.

There are 2 types of gas valves, FFD and non FFD. If when you light the oven you have to hold the knob in for a few seconds before it can be released then this is the FFD type. If this is the case then the chances are the problem is with the flame failure detection rather than the valve itself and would need the thermocouple replacing.

This is normally a fairly straightforward job as you would not be disturbing the gas line and thermocouples are fairly standard. The big problem is the length so you would need to take the old one out and measure it.

If it is the valve then it is a different ball game as there are many different mounting arrangements even from the same manufacturer. Again the only real solution is to remove the old valve and identify manufacturer and part No. Seven years is not very old and in particular for valve manufacture, they make the same items for years on end.

Changing the valve is not really a job for the amateur but sometimes needs must. I have removed and cleaned the inlet valve on my washing machine and replaced the energy regulator on my cooker in the last couple of years. Washing machine came from UK so no spares in Thailand and the cooking hob no longer available in the same size. Changing the hole in the granite worktop was not an option.

If you do disturb the gas line you will need to do a leak check. The easiest way is to paint the connection with some washing up liquid, any leak and the bubbles will be quite obvious.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for these very helpful posts.

I "THINK" we have someone coming by today that knows what he is talking about.