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My burners have an inner ring and an outer ring of fire. When I turn the knob to reduce the heat, the outer ring eventually goes out and only the inner ring remains lit. Is it safe to use the burner with only the inner ring on? A concern that I have is that the outer ring may still be "leaking" gas even if it's not lit.

Thanks for your time!

Anonymous
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    I've used stoves that work in this manner, but I think the only way to know for sure is to consult the user manual. Can you identify the make and model? – moscafj Dec 21 '20 at 22:41
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    There's normally a channel to take a flame from the inner to the outer and light the outer. Do you get puffs of flame in /outside something like that? – Chris H Dec 22 '20 at 07:18
  • @moscafj Unfortunately the stove is so old that I have no chance of identifying the make or model. – Anonymous Jan 21 '21 at 23:12
  • @Chris H Hm, I don't think I've ever noticed a channel? It always seemed like simply two rings of flame to me. Is this channel "under the hood" so to speak? – Anonymous Jan 21 '21 at 23:12
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    @Anonymous, it's not always obvious, but on my current stove if you lift the outer cap there's a clear path. Once you know where to look , you can see the flame propagate from the inner to the outer – Chris H Jan 22 '21 at 08:57

1 Answers1

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This is almost certainly normal and how the ring is supposed to work, and it should be perfectly safe to use it this way as the gas is cut off when you turn the ring down. I have these types of ring myself, there can occasionally be a whiff of unburned gas when you turn it down past the single ring threshold and the outer ring cuts off, it's just a hint for a second and then it disappears.

The best way to tell if it is safe is to use your nose, mercaptan is added to natural gas to make it smell offensive, and your nose can detect trace amounts of it. If you don't smell any gas with the outer ring off then there isn't any unburned gas.

leftaroundabout
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GdD
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  • Thanks! I've smelled the brief puff of what I now know is mercaptan in the unburned gas, but you're right, it does disappear! – Anonymous Jan 21 '21 at 23:14