TheChief Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Good evening. A few weeks ago, I bought a 1984 Toyota Dolphin which is our family's first RV. After spending the last few weeks "moving in", fixing a few minor issues, getting it licensed, etc. we are almost ready for our first camping trip. My problem is that I have very limited experience operating L.P. gas appliances. Every place I've ever lived either had electric appliances or very late model natural gas appliances that had automatic igniters and were very user friendly. So far I've been able to successfully light my gas range (so I know my propane system works), but that's it. I've tried to get my water heater's pilot to light, but can't. As for my furnace and my oven, since I have no experience with gas furnaces or ovens, I don't know if I need to light a pilot for either of those nor do I know how to go about doing that. The manuals for both appliances are poorly written and aren't any help. Any advice would be of great assistance. I'm a little skittish around flammable gases and would like some expert advice before I jump right in and 'experiment' and run the risk of burning myself. Meanwhile, I have an awesome little RV sitting outside of my house but that I can't take camping. Thanks in advance for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 If you Google the make and model of the appliances, you'll usually be able to find downloadable Pdfs of the Owners Manuals. A good addition to the videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Good evening. A few weeks ago, I bought a 1984 Toyota Dolphin which is our family's first RV. After spending the last few weeks "moving in", fixing a few minor issues, getting it licensed, etc. we are almost ready for our first camping trip. My problem is that I have very limited experience operating L.P. gas appliances. Every place I've ever lived either had electric appliances or very late model natural gas appliances that had automatic igniters and were very user friendly. So far I've been able to successfully light my gas range (so I know my propane system works), but that's it. I've tried to get my water heater's pilot to light, but can't. As for my furnace and my oven, since I have no experience with gas furnaces or ovens, I don't know if I need to light a pilot for either of those nor do I know how to go about doing that. The manuals for both appliances are poorly written and aren't any help. Any advice would be of great assistance. I'm a little skittish around flammable gases and would like some expert advice before I jump right in and 'experiment' and run the risk of burning myself. Meanwhile, I have an awesome little RV sitting outside of my house but that I can't take camping. Thanks in advance for any advice. Post the model #s of what you have. Generally speaking - older furnaces, refrigerators, ovens, and hot-water heaters use pilot lights with thermocouples. A thermocouple is a device that senses the pilot light is on (by heat). Other then the stove-oven - it works like this. The gas valve has an "on', "off" and "pilot" position. You put it into "pilot." Then you must push in a thermocouple-over-ride knob and light the pilot. Then you must keep holding the knob down until the thermocouple gets hot enough for the pilot to stay lit on it's own. You MUST get to this point for anything to come "on" and work. Once the pilot is burning on it's own without you holding the button - you can then turn the knob to "on." Note some devices have a separate pilot button and some have it built into the knob itself and you just push the knob in. As far as actual lighting does - you can use a match, barbecue type butane lighter, or an on-board Piezo lighter IF any of the appliances have one. There is usually a little trap door you have to slide open to get to the pilot burner to light it manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 This is a pretty complete selection of manuals:- http://bryantrv.com/owners.html http://bryantrv.com/docs.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmowrey Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 If you know of a good, reliable RV repair shop (none exist is in Santa Fe…we have to go to Albuquerque 65 miles away..what a pain!) you might want to take your Dolphin to them and have them test and evaluate your propane system, including checking the functioning of all your propane appliances. The fact that you bought this from someone who didn't feel obliged to walk you through how things work would make me suspicious of the actual working condition of things. The propane system is the one that scares me the most in my 85 Dolphin. Big explosions make for terrible camping trips. It cost me $150 to have my propane system inspected when we first bought the Dolphin. The peace of mind was worth it. Good luck, and enjoy! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 To light my oven I have to follow this order: 1) turn on the lp gas tank - at this point I light on of my stove top burners to bleed any air from the gas line. It may take a few seconds for the gas to get to the burner 2) turn the oven temp knob to the on position 3) light the pilot light as fast as possible because it does have a very low flow of lp 4) turn the temp knob to the desired temp, it will take a while for the burner to come on because the thermocouple has to heat up When you light any lp item, remember that lp gas is heavier than air and you have to hold the match below the burner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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