Commonly Asked Questions: Testing Your Thermostat, Inconsistent Pilot Lights & more

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Service calls aren’t cheap, particularly when you absolutely need a technician to assist you. But instead of being on the hook for the cost of both parts and labor, try sourcing the part yourself from Tundra Restaurant Supply’s 22,500+ parts selection. You’ll find that accurately deducing the problem yourself, and already sourcing the part, could save you a few bucks. Unsure of what to buy? Give us a at 888-388-6372, live chat with us on the website, or contact us via email at https://www.etundra.com/about/contact-us/.

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Question #1 – Fryer temperature concerns
“My fryer temp goes through the roof and gets too hot. Is this a problem with the thermostat or the high limit? Thanks.” – Jeff

Answer: Test your thermostat
Typically, this would be the thermostat. Make sure you have a good thermometer (like this fryer thermometer).

Set the thermostat to 300 degrees and watch the thermometer. If the gas never turns off until the oil goes over 400 degrees, and the pilot and burners turn off, then the hi limit is doing it’s job and the thermostat is bad.

If you set it to 300 and the burners turn off at 325, then the thermostat just needs to be calibrated. This should be done by a service technician.

If you have more questions, feel free to give us a call at 1-888-388-6372 or contact us online

Question #2 – Inconsistent pilot light
“I have a Tristar not too sure how old it is but it is somewhat temperamental. The pilot light will stay lit sometimes for months and then we have days it doesn’t stay lit for longer than 10 minutes. Is this a thermocouple issue? Thank you in advance.” – Lisa

Answer: The thermocouple
It does sound like a thermocouple issue. With the low price of a replacement, it’s a good practice to just replace them every 6 months just to avoid any interruptions in service.Click here to order a thermocouple from Tundra Restaurant Supply

Question #3 – To repair or replace?
“I have a two year old American Range that has been used a total of 6mos. and now has a small tank leak. It is no longer under the manufacturer’s warranty. The manufacturer was willing to give me a deal on new tank but with shipping and labor I’m still looking at $600. Can the leak be successfully fixed another way? Or a new fryer.” – Ian

Answer: Repair
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to fix a tank leak on a fryer. I’m surprised it developed a leak so quickly, but in general, when a leak develops it is because of metal fatigue from constant heating and cooling and patching won’t change the fact that the metal is worn. I would suggest purchasing a new commercial fryer here

 

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2 comments

  1. Firstly, thanks for all the great info on this website.

    I am not sure if this is the spot to ask a question but here goes….
    We have a gas deep tank fryer on our food truck that continues to give us grief. The pilot light comes on but then the flames disperse rather than going only in the cylinder. If we see this happening we go back to the pilot setting (which stays on). Other times, the fryer turns itself off mid cooking. Either way – it is unusable.

    We have taken it back to the place of purchase many, many times to have them check it but whenever they do – everything works fine (we believe them – they are as exhausted as we are trying to fix it!!!).

    One suggestion has been that wind is possibly getting into the back exhaust area interfering with the job of sucking it out — could this possibly be it? Should we be looking at getting some kind of wind screen – but then, wind direction is unpredictable? If not the wind – any other ideas??? The pressure of the gas going into the fryer has been checked and rechecked and all ok there. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We have been going around in circles with this for 6months.

    We have used the fryer many times without any problems and then out of the blue – it doesn’t work. Since, the fryer always works when it is tested by the sellers – we wonder could it have something to do with our being outside or on the move? The fryer was bought new, is less than 1yr old and was an expensive purchase. When it works, it is brilliant but the unreliability is killing us (and our sales) Help!!!!!

    Thanks in advance.

  2. Kate,
    In all of my travels I’ve only dealt with a handful of trucks. One thing I came across once was a regulator that couldn’t handle the load. Try turning everything on like you’re working. Then, start turning one of the range top burners on and off. If the other burners are affected when you’re turning that one on and off, then you don’t have enough flow of fuel. It may not matter, or you may not even notice when you turn a burner on and the one you have under your stock pot goes down a little, but the thermopile on your fryer needs flame to generate electricity to hold the pilot valve open. If your have flow issues and the pilot is affected, it will do it’s job correctly by shutting the system down when it’s not getting a good flame. You can test the fryer by itself, but you need to take into account everything working together in those mobile applications.

    – Paul
    Tundra Team

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