Smart Woman, My Wife and Nurse

I already mentioned my great post-surgery look-see of my legs by my cardiologist’s nurse practitioner, and my surprisingly good dental check-up yesterday, but I failed to mention another series of events that started two days earlier and ended with good results.  I’ll start from the beginning.

Our water heater stopped making hot water a couple of nights ago after I took my shower.  It could have been sooner and I just used up all the hot water.  No matter, it was still a problem the following day.

So I went into the attic and checked it out.  I’ve been re-lighting gas water heaters all my life, but this one has an igniter built into the gas control valve.  No need for a long match or wire holding a match to get it lit.  It’s obviously an improved safety feature.

The only problem was I apparently could not fully understand all of the lighting instructions written on the side of the tank.  So when I turned the dial all the way back to ‘Ignite’ and turned and pressed the pilot light gas release, followed by pressing the igniter, I could not hear or see if the pilot light was lit.  I simply could not bend over that far to look into the glassed-over window into where the pilot light was.  Nor could I hear a ‘poof’ or ‘swish’ or small ‘boom’ saying it was lit.

By then I concluded that the valve was not working properly and I should call a plumber.

But Judy decided to ask Neighbor Scott to come see.  Next thing I know he and Neighbor Ron came walking up the driveway.  I told them what I had tried and they promptly started to pull down the ladder.  I told them they both could ride up the elevator.  So up they went.  They liked it.

A couple of minutes later they came down saying it was fixed.  That the pilot light was lit but that I had not turned the pilot light gas release and temperature control knob back into place.  I could have sworn I did those steps but suddenly I could not for the life of me recollect doing them. 

Apparently, I knew what and how to finish the task at hand, but didn’t.  I’m a bit worried about that.

And, of course, I was a tad baffled as to why the pilot light would go out in the first place.  But since it was working, I let it go.  Pilot lights go out.  That’s why they have instructions for re-lighting them on the side.  End of story.

But then Judy had been complaining as to why her new gas stove that otherwise worked fine, had a small ‘simmer burner’ that would go out after a few minutes of simmering.  Turning the knob ‘up’ a skosh changed it from ‘simmer’ mode and into ‘low cook’ mode that was too hot for simmer. 

She told me that it seemed as if there wasn’t enough gas pressure to keep the flame  burning at the ‘simmer’ setting.  My reply was that the pressure is controlled by the gas company’s regulator outside each house and there was no way I could fix it.

So she first called for a warranty repair of the stove.  The GE guy came yesterday afternoon.  It was the first time he had seen this particular model of stove in use.  He was also baffled as to how to fix it.  But he suggested that it might be more of a problem with the natural gas pressure coming into the house.  BINGO!  He thought the same as Judy.  But it was something he could not fix.  We thanked him and he left.

Judy promptly called the gas company and soon there was a really nice, very professional gas company rep there to check it out, including Judy’s suggestion that the gas pressure could be too low, thereby not being able to remain at the simmer level when another burner, oven or perhaps the gas water heater turned on.

His conclusion a few minutes later was that sure enough the gas regulator on the outside of the house was only allowing something under 4 psi when it should have been 4 psi, the industry standard.  He adjusted it to the 4 psi and now all seems fixed.  But he also said that if it happened again they would just change out the entire regulator for a new one.  Just call them and they would be happy to do it.

We could not ask for better service from our gas company.  And even the GE technician was knowledgeable enough to suggest that the problem could be a ‘pressure regulator’ issue.  Here’s what Google says about it:

“A common operating pressure for natural gas appliances is around 7 inches of water column (WC) or re-stating this in

equivalent measure, that's 14.9 millibars or 1743 Pascals or Pa, or about 0.25 psi (pounds per square inch) or about 4 ounces of pressure per square inch.”

We now have 4 ounces of pressure per square inch.

More than anything, I’m proud of Judy for being savvy and persistent enough to understand the mechanics of a stove’s gas regulator, and to call someone who could fix it.  We’ll see how it works as we continue to cook, but for now, we believe both the stove and the water heater may have been ‘gas-starved’ just enough for a brief moment that the safety mechanisms simply turned the gas off to the burners due to lack of gas.   How many women would have even attempted to figure that out?  But my Sweetie did, and she was right on.

Now you know how things get done around here.

She also took the time to itemize my list of current pills into an understandable chart as to when I’m to take what.  A lot of these pills will not be required in a few weeks at the most, but for right now, it is important that the medications be taken properly and timely. 

What a woman!