Ok, bought the dryer used a million years ago, had a brother-in-law in the appliance parts business, still runs great. However we have always noted a very, very faint smell of gas coming from it, just assumed that this was normal. as I said, it is very faint.
Went sniffing with a TIF8900 combustible gas detector that I got recently and see that the quarter-turn shutoff valve adjacent to the burner valve is the source. It leaks more in the on position but also in the off.
The valve's control stem appears to have a spring on the bottom end pulling it into the valve body.
Is there a liquid lubricant/sealer which I could drip onto the top of the shaft, work it down into the valve, to stop the leak. This valve normally sits in the open position, we have no cause to mess with it.
The feed line and valve appear to be part of the dryer, not just some locally installed plumbing parts.
Any thoughts?