So my Pitco has been having trouble most mornings it takes a couple times to fire up then it is good to go the rest of the day. I am sure it is something with the thermostat/coupler, etc similar to a hot water heater. Plumbers don’t want to look at it b/c it is not worth their time looking for parts and rest equip repair places would prob charge me more that what a new unit would cost. Thinking I should just trash it and grab another unit but figured I would ask you guys for any suggestions.
i just priced a table top, electric, 32 lb fryer at the RD for 650 bucks if someone is charging that much for repair they art taking you for a ride and you should kindly ask them to go scratch themselves. also, if you know any heater repair guys ask them to take a look at it, they use a lot of the same parts.
Checkout partstown.com or etundra.com, I have had great success finding parts for my equipment. A plumber would probably be happy to install the part if you have it on hand. Especially if its only a thermocouple issue (which is what it sounds like), you may even be able to do it yourself. Best of luck.
I’ve owned about 10 different friers over the past 20 years and the symptoms you describe are typical of a failing thermopile. A thermopile has 2 wires at the termination where it connects to the gas valve. A thermocouple, on the other hand, has a copper tube/wire that screws into the valve. They are each fairly easy to replace. Should take less then 1/2 hour and cost around $40. If it was my frier, I would use a volt meter to check the voltage between the 2 wires. With the thermopile wires connected to the gas valve, start the pilot and after a few minutes the voltage should read between 150 to 250 millivolts. If the value is less then 150 millivolts, the thermopile is not generating the necessary voltage to keep the gas valve solenoid open. Often when the thermopiles are getting tired, the voltage is barely sufficient to keep the valve open and you’ll have a few beginning of the day shut downs like you describe.
If the voltage is over 150 millivolts, your gas valve may be bad. If this is the case, your likely best to get a new frier as the labor can be fairly high to replace this.