Well one of the gas burners on my stove would not stay on after being lit and the knob (which has to be pushed in to start the gas flow) was released.

After a bit of swapping bits from the 2nd burner valve I came to the brilliant conclusion that the thermocouple was faulty. I didn't know it was called this. In my mind I referred to it as the flame detector/sensor.

Ordered a new thermocouple (waited the regulation 2 weeks plus a few reminder phone calls and emails) and fitted it today.

Still didn't work

Now in my past life, a thermocouple was a something we used to monitor temperature. These are manufactured on the principal that the junction of dissimilar metals will produce an electric voltage related to temperature. Now the flame sensor is exactly that (much to my surprise ). And what it does is connect to an electric (magnet) stopper/plunger inside the gas valve.

The outside of the thermocouple is one leg of the circuit and there is a second conductor in side the copper tube. Now the end of the tube screws into the back of the gas valve where there is an electro/magnet, which when activated, will allow gas to flow. The magnetic valve is housed in a small plastic (opaque) housing with a stopper/plunger arrangement on one end. When you look closely you can actually see windings inside it which are there to created a magnetic field.

Now the voltage/current created by the thermocouple is 5/5 of f#$k all so it does not produce a very strong magnetic field. Now as you would all have experienced, a magnet hangs on better once it has touched a metal plate and the force required to remove it is a lot more than what it would be if it was already 1mm off the metal plate.

So in the end, the reason my stove burner was not staying on was because when I pushed the knob (pushed hard up against the outside case of the stove) in to light the gas, the inside plunger was not travelling back to the face of the magnet. So I got a bit of alfoil and stuck it in the knob where the shaft for the valve fits in. The valve shaft now gets pushed in a bit further and hey presto, it all works.

Maybe you all knew this but I thought I would share. I have a broadwater stove and I would imagine there are a few others out there.

Cheers