Hello everyone, really happy to have found this community - would love to ask here before I go the tech route.
Model: Vermont Castings Stardance Direct Vent Heater SDV30 (at least that's what the manual says)
I inherited this gas stove when I bought my home in August 2024. No idea how long it's been here. My home inspector wasn't able to get it turned on, but I found that lighting the pilot and slowly turning the knob from Pilot to ON was effective. I did have to rock the switch between off and on a few times to get the thing to finally switch on, but it reliably did so. Since a gas sniffer was happy, so was I for the next 14 months.
Saturday morning I come out to find the stove and pilot are completely off. The spark and pilot are able to light fine, if a bit finicky, just as before. But turning the knob to on results in a click and the whole thing shutting off.
I've gone thru a bit of disassembly to get the following pictures:
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings SDV30 Pilot + Thermocouple Issues](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_20260222_175355_hdr-webp.346509/ "[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings SDV30 Pilot + Thermocouple Issues")
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings SDV30 Pilot + Thermocouple Issues](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_20260222_175452_hdr-webp.346510/ "[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings SDV30 Pilot + Thermocouple Issues")
The wiring seems to be fine overall, but the central pilot ring does seem awfully rusty. I've tried to give things a semblance of a clean + wipe-down (and in the process pull up some of the odd cotton lining on the bottom of the stove), and the pilot does light much more difficult and smaller than earlier... The spark does seem to be fine still, so it does seem to be an issue with parts?
I wouldn't consider myself super mechanically minded or handy, but I am an engineer by trade so do have a willingness to learn (and admit defeat). Am I heading int the right direction? A new pilot ring? I can provide some pictures of my switch and wiring upon request... the setup inside and out doesn't exactly match the manual, but if it's functioning well and not leaking gas I'll accept some orthodoxy.
Thank you for taking a look. 🌝
Model: Vermont Castings Stardance Direct Vent Heater SDV30 (at least that's what the manual says)
I inherited this gas stove when I bought my home in August 2024. No idea how long it's been here. My home inspector wasn't able to get it turned on, but I found that lighting the pilot and slowly turning the knob from Pilot to ON was effective. I did have to rock the switch between off and on a few times to get the thing to finally switch on, but it reliably did so. Since a gas sniffer was happy, so was I for the next 14 months.
Saturday morning I come out to find the stove and pilot are completely off. The spark and pilot are able to light fine, if a bit finicky, just as before. But turning the knob to on results in a click and the whole thing shutting off.
I've gone thru a bit of disassembly to get the following pictures:
The wiring seems to be fine overall, but the central pilot ring does seem awfully rusty. I've tried to give things a semblance of a clean + wipe-down (and in the process pull up some of the odd cotton lining on the bottom of the stove), and the pilot does light much more difficult and smaller than earlier... The spark does seem to be fine still, so it does seem to be an issue with parts?
I wouldn't consider myself super mechanically minded or handy, but I am an engineer by trade so do have a willingness to learn (and admit defeat). Am I heading int the right direction? A new pilot ring? I can provide some pictures of my switch and wiring upon request... the setup inside and out doesn't exactly match the manual, but if it's functioning well and not leaking gas I'll accept some orthodoxy.
Thank you for taking a look. 🌝
