BBQ Problem

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'll apologise right now for the awful photo quality. I didn't take it...

But I have an issue with my (2nd hand) barbecue. You can be using it just fine and then 1 of the burners (always the same one) will start to 'roar' and I'll get a flame coming out of a hole I don't think it should do.

Typically the only way of stopping it is to turn that burner off.

I'm hazarding a guess that it isn't safe when it does this, so I tend not to use that burner or just turn it off when it starts to do it. I'm also hazarding a guess that perhaps the burner needs replacing?

But I welcome ideas from those in the know about these things. It is an old BBQ, no longer made but I can get parts for it with this being Australia.

This gallery will take you to pictures of the BBQ

+12

Recipe - Maghluba (Palestinian Upside Down Rice)

• SatNavSaysStraightOn
• 8 Mar 2023
• 21

 

[caseydog]

SatNav, I don't recall what it is called, but that is where your propane is mixed with air before entering the burner. You are right that It should not be burning there. That is the roar you are hearing. It looks like it has separated from the actual burner.

Think of it this way, if fuel and air ignited in the carburetor in your car, instead of inside the cylinder, you'd definitely have a problem. That's kind of what is happening with your grill, from what I'm seeing. That is the gas grill equivalent of a carburetor on a car engine.

On most gas grills, that is actually part of the burner, so when you replace the burner, you automatically replace that, too. I don't know if you can get a replacement burner, or not. But, replacing the burner should fix the problem. It would on my own Weber gas grill, and other gas grills I've dealt with.

Good luck!

CD

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It looks like it has separated from the actual burner.

It looks like that in all of the burners though.

I've gone and got a better (set of) photo(s)

These are the 4 in order from left to right. Only the far right has an igniter switch.

Apologies for the spider's webs. They're a big problem at the moment!

There is no connector on any of them. The pipe just rests inside the aerator. Guessing at name.

 

[caseydog]

It looks like that in all of the burners though.

I've gone and got a better (set of) photo(s)

These are the 4 in order from left to right. Only the far right has an igniter switch.

Apologies for the spider's webs. They're a big problem at the moment!

View attachment 108654View attachment 108655View attachment 108656View attachment 108657

There is no connector on any of them. The pipe just rests inside the aerator. Guessing at name.

Those photos show a lot more than what I saw before. All those tiny holes on the burners are where the flames should be, and the only place the flames should be. The igniters are up near the tiny holes. That squared off hole in the tube where the air and gas mix (aerator?) should never have a flame in it. Like I said before, that's the "roar" you are hearing.

Spider webs are a bad thing for gas grills. They can mess with air and gas flow, so it is certainly possible. If there are webs outside of the burners, there could be webs, or even old nests or dead spiders inside of the burners. That could definitely cause the problem you are having. I would take the burners out, and see if they are clogged.

The burners are old, but still look pretty solid. My first approach would to make sure they aren't clogged.

CD

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Spider webs are a bad thing for gas grills. They can mess with air and gas flow, so it is certainly possible. If there are webs outside of the burners, there could be webs, or even old nests or dead spiders inside of the burners. That could definitely cause the problem you are having. I would take the burners out, and see if they are clogged.

The burners are old, but still look pretty solid. My first approach would to make sure they aren't clogged.

CD

Fair point. I've just remembered that I had to remove quite a lot of mud nests from a native wasp that imprisons spiders as live hosts for it's larvae.
They were in the wheels and anywhere a gap of 1cm was, so along the outer edge of the grill and lid, that sort of thing. It's normal here, you just live with them. They are everywhere....

When hubby goes back to work on Tuesday, I'm dismantle it all completely and see about looking inside those burners. I hadn't gone that far when I cleaned it up previously and it is possible that it just needs a clean inside.

I'm guessing that the screw might be an adjuster for the air flow mixture? The holes themselves don't look too bad at this stage...

I am rapidly running out of gas though as well, just to add to my fun!

 

[caseydog]

Fair point. I've just remembered that I had to remove quite a lot of mud nests from a native wasp that imprisons spiders as live hosts for it's larvae.
They were in the wheels and anywhere a gap of 1cm was, so along the outer edge of the grill and lid, that sort of thing. It's normal here, you just live with them. They are everywhere....

When hubby goes back to work on Tuesday, I'm dismantle it all completely and see about looking inside those burners. I hadn't gone that far when I cleaned it up previously and it is possible that it just needs a clean inside.

View attachment 108681View attachment 108682View attachment 108683

I'm guessing that the screw might be an adjuster for the air flow mixture? The holes themselves don't look too bad at this stage...

I am rapidly running out of gas though as well, just to add to my fun!

The small holes look fine. In fact, the burners have some surface rust, but look solid. If you have wasps that build with mud, which we also have here, that is certainly a possible cause of your problem. I'd wager good money that something is clogging that tube that feeds the burner.

I don't know what that screw is for, but I doubt it adjusts anything.

AHAH! I just remembered what that fuel air mixer tube is called... a Venturi! If gas gets backed up into the Venturi because of a clog down the line, it will spill out of the Venturi, and ignite from the flames from an adjacent burner that is working.

I think we are close to a fix for this problem.

CD

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

AHAH! I just remembered what that fuel air mixer tube is called... a Venturi! If gas gets backed up into the Venturi because of a clog down the line, it will spill out of the Venturi, and ignite from the flames from an adjacent burner that is working.

I think we are close to a fix for this problem.

Isn't that how my ignition sequence functions then?

I only have the 1 igniter. The far right. To light the far left, I have to start on the right and ignite that with the clicker switch... then turn on the next burner and wait for the "woof" Then the next and wait... and finally the one I want... Although I do sometimes just decide it is quicker with matches

So that does suggest that there is a blockage in burner 2 (if I label them left to right, not right to left as they ignite)... Tuesday if the weather is up to it.

 

[caseydog]

Isn't that how my ignition sequence functions then?

I only have the 1 igniter. The far right. To light the far left, I have to start on the right and ignite that with the clicker switch... then turn on the next burner and wait for the "woof" Then the next and wait... and finally the one I want... Although I do sometimes just decide it is quicker with matches

So that does suggest that there is a blockage in burner 2 (if I label them left to right, not right to left as they ignite)... Tuesday if the weather is up to it.

My Weber gas grill has three burners, but one igniter. Like yours, you use the igniter to light the first burner, and then the first burner lights the others. And yes, they go "woof" in the US, too. In Canada, they go "woof, eh?" In Mexico they go, "woofo."

I'm hoping that it is just a blocked burner tube. That would be a free fix, if you can clean it out.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

I’ll bet it’s just blocked with spider webs and mud daubers. I have to clean mine out every year. Those <bleeping> mud daubers get into everything.