Artisan baker

[ChefJeff1]

Hi, my name is Jeff. I'm head baker at Bigwood bread in ketchum, Idaho. We have an old oven that I think was converted from wood to gas via an aftermarket burner, thermostat, ignitor system. We have a new burner assembly for the next time it dies but we often have problems with i think the ignitor. It seems to be associated with the weather. The only marking on the oven is a small plate that reads "Thionville France" What can I do to keep this thing from going down every few months. Here is a pic

[sarah h]

That's a whole different beast than what we tend to deal with here - I'm not sure if anyone's going to have an answer for you ...

[Les]

Jeff,

A couple of questions; does it have a continuous pilot light (old school), pizeo electric igniter, or a heating element? Once it does fire up, are there problems with it maintaining heat? The unit looks solid - I'm sure it can be saved. I see you are in sin valley - is that close to Sun Valley? :-)

Les...

[ChefJeff1]

It has an electric ignitor, I think it's Honeywell. Sometimes when it's rainy or stormy it doesn't fire or if the all the windows are closed it doesn't fire as strong. The black on the hearth is where it caught fire when all the windows were closed and the exhaust ran was on and it pulled the flame outwards back onto itself. What a day that was! I'm in Sun Valley and not too good a typer. Some nice ovens on this site that's for sure. One day we'll build a new bakery and get a new oven. for now, this one stays.

[PizzaPolice]

Sounds like a venting problem.