Will increasing the airflow into my propane grill make it burn hotter?

Question

I recently changed burners, and it works, but it burns cooler (blue flame, no white tips). How can I heat it up? Increase airflow? If not, is it that I simply don't have enough pressure? The tank was just filled up.

Answer 1

Increasing the air flow will only cause the flame to lift off the burner and not make more heat.You will need to check the pressure of the gas coming into the burner.This can be a little tough to do on a grill because they don't have a port for this so you would have to get to the orifice that goes into the end of the burner[where the air shutter is located].The pressure can be checked with a manometer[also called a water column].The pressure should be about 12" or just a bit more.[ I know some one is going to say that the working pressure of propane is 11"and some will say 10".By covering the orifice with the test equipment you are not going to get a working pressure it will be a lock up pressure and therefore will be a little higher.] And 11" should be working pressure on a grill.If the pressure is close to these pressures then the only thing you can do to make more flame [heat] is to get a larger orifice to allow more gas to get through to the burner.If the pressure is lower than 9" then the regulator will have to be replaced.Before doing any of these things first remove the propane tank turn it up side down and carefully bang the protection ring [ring around the valve] on something solid a couple of times.The over fill protection device may be stuck closed.This happens sometimes when they are filled. Thanks for the pat on the back Ipgnh3.A question was asked I gave an answer with the hope that maybe it would be understood that the solution required appropriate knowledge of the working of propane gas and gas grills,and instead of trying DIY maybe it would be taken to a qualified professional.Just didn't want to be like everyone else that just say to take it some where to be fixed.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about airflow, but with my gas grill, I take it apart and get new parts for the inside things about every other year. The old BBQ had these little clay coals, but my newer bbq uses this little upside down v thing... and it is much better as nothing drips onto the heating elements... anyhow, I still take it apart and clean it out now and then, and then... it burns perfectly! Get rid of all the old ash, etc...

Also, if it does not burn hot after first connecting the gas to the grill after refilling the tank, turn the tank off, and then turn it on again very slowly. Apparently the grills have a little monitor and if there is a large burst of propane through the system, it thinks it might be a leak, and only puts a small amount through the line. (Weber told me this when I had a problem... now... no problem.)

Hope this helps and happy BBQing...

Answer 3

(Drum roll please!) And the “Sub-Moronic Answer Award” goes to…………. the hair dryer suggestion.

And Scott Kel gives great line by line instructions on how to properly trouble-shoot this problem. Only dilemma in his answer is that the average home owner doesn’t have a clue what a “water manometer” is, let alone any concept of how it is properly used, but for a propane service man his instruction is dead on.

Here are a two points to ponder:

1. Tank pressure is irrelevant; we have this little thing called a “regulator”. Everyone say it with me now, “REGULATOR”. The regulator is a handy little device that controls the pressure of the flow of gas to the appliance. Without the regulator the pressure at the burner could fluctuate causing an irregular flame. So this little device makes tank pressure irrelevant. That is unless tank pressure drops below the operating flow pressure of the regulator; which is "in laypersons terms" in the range of about ½ PSI.

2. Contrary to popular belief, the only way to increase the heat is to increase the volume of gas in the burner (Volume! Not pressure) naturally the air would need to increase as well for optimal flame performance. Also contrary to popular believe, the only way to increase volume is to create a larger orifice, as opposed to the popular but wrong answer of “turn up the pressure”.

With these points in mind, and having heard this same story at least a hundred times, one could conclude through a little deductive reasoning that you most likely purchased a generic replacement burner for your unit that is not an exact OEM match. If you were to count the number of burner ports (all the small holes in the burner where flame comes out) you would find that your original burner had fewer ports than your new burner.

Think of it in terms of a water sprinkler in a garden, if you add more holes to the sprinkler the streams of water coming out of each hole will get a little lower with each hole you add.

With gas the proper solution is to size the orifice appropriately to the burner, in your case you would have an overall increase in BTU output.

If you have a high end grill make sure you get an OEM replacement that will be of the proper BTU rating for your grill.

Answer 4

If the cause of the low heat is a lack of air flow then turning up the air flow would increase the heat. If the cause of the low heat is instead insufficient propane flow then turning up the air flow will not work to increase the heat output. As with many things in life there must be balance, the grill must provide sufficient propane to create enough heat to grill, without providing so much heat that food burns. And the grill must provide sufficient air for combustion, without providing too much and diluting the propane flow.

Answer 5

I think, the blue of the flame is supposed to be at the base of the flame only - not throughout the entire flame.
I also think, if you are going to increase the air flow then that is the same thing as " decreasing the propane flow" except you will acheive the same end result with using less propane. .. .. just that you will have to turn up the knob a bit further than you did to reach a specific temperature. But i do believe it is better to turn up the knob than have a flame too hot ( harder to control the temperature when cooking).

Answer 6

As long as there's liquid in the tank, your propane pressure varies only with temperature.
Adjust the air flow on the burner for correct flame.
Dumb question: Are you sure the new burner is for propane & not natural gas???
The orifices are different.

Answer 7

Stay and monitor the food while cooking is the easiest or just put down some heavy duty aluminum foil with small holes poked all over. Kinda defeats the purpose of flame broiling though.

Answer 8

you mite have to small a burner try changing the air flow that mite work.

Answer 9

my husband always uses a hairdryer to help heat our charcoal grill.