Propane Barbecue Barely Stays Lit

Question: 

My propane barbecue was working fine and producing lots of heat until today when it barely stays lit and isn’t producing enough heat.  What’s wrong? 

 

Answer: 

Every day we receive a few phone calls from worried grillers who, all of a sudden, have a propane-fired barbecue that is producing only a tiny bit of heat.  Most assume that there is something wrong with their barbecue. 

In fact, they have turned their propane tank on too quickly.  The modern propane tank has a valve in it that, when it thinks there’s a leak in the tank, will cut the flow of propane back to about 10%. 

Unfortunately, these tanks can be a tad fussy and, on occasion will ‘think’ there’s a leak when they are turned on too fast.  So, if you’re barbecue seems feeble and wheezy don’t panic, it’s easy to fix:  

  • turn off your barbecue  
  • turn off your tank  
  • unhook your regulator from your propane bottle  
  • make sure that your barbecue knobs are turned to the ‘off’ position  
  • re-attach your regulator to your propane bottle  
  • turn on your tank a quarter of a turn  
  • let the hose fill up with propane
  • turn the tank on the rest of the way  
  • ignite your barbecue as you normally would  ~ good as new.
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