BBQGrillRepair.center (844) 660-6426Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm Book a visit
A grill burner with half its ports dark, the flame uneven, seen close.

What the flame is telling you

Common problems
guides.

What a grill means when the igniter clicks without a flame, the burners stay low after a tank swap, the flame turns yellow, one end of the grate never gets hot or the grease flares every time the lid opens.

(844) 660-6426

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Three guides
  • Read before you book
  • Says where to stop

Book a visit

Three short steps, about a minute.

or call (844) 660-6426

Common problems,
guide by guide.

Each guide here begins with something you noticed at the grill and traces it back to its causes. A burner that clicks and never catches, flames that went tall and orange over the winter, a hood that stalls at a few hundred degrees, a stripe of grate that never marks the steak: each comes from a handful of causes, and the guides list the free fixes before the ones that cost a part.

All 18 guides
A stainless cart grill on a sunny brick patio with its lid raised and the cooking grates in place over unlit burners, every knob on the grill at off, the side shelf holding a plate of plain raw burger patties, a potted herb soft in the background.
6-minute read

Grill won't light? Silent igniter, dry burner or a tank that never opened

Silence, a snap with no rush of gas, or both and still no flame. How each points to the igniter, the fuel or the burner, the five-minute wait, and the pellet grill that never gets past startup.

A stainless built-in grill head on a stone patio counter with its lid open and the cooking grates lifted off, two tube burners lit on low with short crisp blue flames beside one burner showing tall lazy yellow-orange flames, the grill's knobs in soft focus at the front, a green hedge blurred behind.
5-minute read

Yellow flames on a gas grill, and low ones: air, webs and a throttled regulator

Lazy orange flames lack air, small blue ones lack gas. Reading the flame with the grates lifted, the nest in the venturi, bypass after a tank swap and the sear burner that glows in patches.

A stainless cart grill on a paver patio with its lid open, the cooking grates covered edge to edge in slices of toasted white bread, the slices over the left burner golden brown and those over the right burner still pale, the grill's knobs at off, a green lawn blurred behind.
5-minute read

A grill heating unevenly: one cold stripe, a weak burner or a tilted cart

Toast a grate full of bread and read the map. A burner giving less, grease-packed heat plates, foil, a cart out of level and wind across the hood, in the order they usually turn up.

What the flame is telling you.

Grills fail in their own ways. Spiders spin webs inside venturi tubes while the cover is on, grease packs the heat plates and drips into the tray until it lights, rain soaks an electrode, and a tank opened in a hurry throttles its own regulator. Many of those end with a brush, a dry afternoon or a slower hand on the cylinder valve rather than a part.

The guides cover every kind of grill we repair: a built-in head set into an island, a cart grill on a portable cylinder, an infrared or sear burner, and pellet and hybrid grills with a hopper and a controller. Where the same symptom means something different on one of them, the guide says so, and whenever a manufacturer publishes a number or a waiting time, the guide quotes it and names the manual.

Each one also draws the line past which an owner should not go. Valves, orifices and fittings past the tank coupling, the wiring behind the control panel and the inside of a hot firepot are a technician's side, and a gas smell, fire behind the knobs or a knob that will not shut off puts safety ahead of any diagnosis: gas shut, everyone back.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerGrill won't light? Silent igniter, dry burner or a tank that never opened

When a grill won't light, sort what you notice first.

The short answerYellow flames on a gas grill, and low ones: air, webs and a throttled regulator

Yellow flames on a gas grill mean the burner is short of air: a web or nest in the venturi tube, an air shutter out of position, or grease and dust in the air around it, with a gas smell making it urgent.

The short answerA grill heating unevenly: one cold stripe, a weak burner or a tilted cart

A grill heating unevenly usually has one burner giving less than the others, from spider webs, rusted ports or a burner off its seat, or something between the fire and the food: grease-packed heat plates, a plate put back wrong or foil.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01The gas and the grill, checked first
  2. 02What failed, and what it costs
  3. 03Parts on the truck
  4. 04Lit before we leave

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A freestanding stainless cart grill on a patio with the lid raised, grates in place over dark cold burners, the cabinet door below open to show a propane tank, plain afternoon light and a bare paved background. Problem

Gas Grill Won't Light: Knob On, Clicking, No Flame

7 causes, cheapest first

 Close view inside the firebox of a cold stainless gas grill with the grate lifted, a white ceramic igniter electrode beside a burner tube, its tip dull with grease and slightly bent away from the ports, fine grease speckles on the metal. Problem

Grill Igniter Not Sparking or Clicking Weakly

7 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless cart grill alone on an empty patio at dusk, its lid raised and every burner dark, the cabinet door below standing open to show the propane tank. Gas or fire at the grill

Grill Gas Smell at the Burners or the Tank: What to Do Now

6 causes, cheapest first

 A black pellet grill on a patio with its hopper lid open, the hopper half full of wood pellets sunk into a hollow over the auger, a few swollen crumbling pellets on the rim, the cooking lid closed and no smoke. Problem

Pellet Grill Not Feeding: Full Hopper, Starving Fire

6 causes, cheapest first
A family gathered around a grill on a sunny patio.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
common problems.

Where should I begin if I am not sure?
Pick the guide closest to what is happening in front of you. If nothing lights, start with the lighting guide; if it lights but the flame looks wrong or the grill stays cool, read the one on low and yellow flames.
Do these guides apply to pellet grills?
Partly. A pellet grill has no burner valves or regulator, so the lighting guide gives it a section of its own, and the uneven heat guide explains how its firepot shapes the heat.
Will a new part fix most of these?
Less often than people expect. A good share of the evenings we hear about end at an empty cylinder, a regulator in bypass, a web in a burner tube or a full grease tray.
What if what I see matches none of the guides?
Send us a note of the sounds, smells and flames you noticed, plus a photo of the rating label, and book a diagnostic visit. Urgent cases such as a gas odor or burning grease have their own problem pages here.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides
A hand closing the valve of a propane tank under a cart grill.
Safe checks with the gas closed

Troubleshooting

A soft brush clearing the ports of a burner removed from a grill.
Habits that keep a grill lighting clean

Maintenance and prevention

A meat thermometer in a steak resting on the side shelf of a grill.
Gas, flame, grease and safe temperatures

Gas, fire and food at the grill

A built-in grill and a cart grill on the same patio.
Built-in or cart, infrared or tube, fix or retire

Choosing and comparing

A tape measure along the space between a grill and a house wall.
Clearances, gas type and where it may stand

Installation and setup

Not sure which section?

Start from your question

The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it.

18 guidesWhere to start Where to start

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your grill working again.

Three short steps online, or one call. Tell us what you are seeing and pick a window that works.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 660-6426
(844) 660-6426 Schedule a repair