Lighting the rotisserie burner on the Summit S-470

After setting up the new S-470 last week, I lit all of the burners to make sure they worked and they all did.

Yesterday I was actually grilling and had the rotisserie going with the two outer burners and the smoker burner on. With about 15 minutes of cook time left, I tried to light the rotisserie burner too (as the recipe I was using called for). I could not get it lit at all until I had turned off all of the other burners and waited a couple minutes. With all burners off, I could light the rotisserie burner and then light the other burners again, but I couldn't get the rotisserie burner lit if the other burners were on. I even tried lighting it manually when the other burners were still on and failed. Is this normal? Perhaps not enough gas was reaching the rotisserie burner with three other ones on? The manual says to "Continue to use the snap igniter until the RotisserieBurner has ignited." They also refer to holding the knob in for 20 seconds after ignition...is that the same thing?

Side note: it was pretty hard to see the rotisserie burner since it was sunny out, so for a bit I wasn't sure if it was lit or not, which is not great when you are supposed to hold the igniter in for 20 seconds...when I finally did get it lit, it was pretty clear though.

When that rotisserie burner lights you can't miss it bright or not. The level of heat they throw directly out from the grill is unmistakable. As for your dilemma I believe it is by design that gas will not flow to the back burner if the main burners are on. It prevents you from accidentally turning it on with the lid closed during normal grilling by mistake. IIRC (though I have never tried it) my Wolf is the same way. There is a safety valve.

With the Summit Silver/Gold/Platinums I can turn the Roti on before or after the main burners are on.
The roti burner does have (unlike the main burners) a thermocouple that should stop the gas flow if there is no flame.
Holding the knob in bypasses the thermocouple, lets the gas flow so you can ignite it. After 20 seconds or so the flame has been heating the thermocouple enough so that when you release the knob the roti burner stays on.

Try lighting it at night so you can easily see what is lit, sparking, if the roti burner is part lighting then failing when you let the knob out etc.

The S-470 might be plumbed differently to the Silver/Gold/Platinums?

If you have a new S-470 give Weber customer service a call, ask them. It might be a faulty thermocouple/gas pressure/regulator problem if it is not actually designed to function that way.

Stephen R said:

With the Summit Silver/Gold/Platinums I can turn the Roti on before or after the main burners are on.
The roti burner does have (unlike the main burners) a thermocouple that should stop the gas flow if there is no flame.
Holding the knob in bypasses the thermocouple, lets the gas flow so you can ignite it. After 20 seconds or so the flame has been heating the thermocouple enough so that when you release the knob the roti burner stays on.

Try lighting it at night so you can easily see what is lit, sparking, if the roti burner is part lighting then failing when you let the knob out etc.

The S-470 might be plumbed differently to the Silver/Gold/Platinums?

If you have a new S-470 give Weber customer service a call, ask them. It might be a faulty thermocouple/gas pressure/regulator problem if it is not actually designed to function that way.

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Interesting, I didn't realize there was a thermocouple in there, likely next to the igniter, eh? I will have to do some experimentation one of these nights after dark. I tried calling Weber yesterday from work to ask them this question but the rep I spoke with didn't give me a solid answer and instead said to call him back when in front of the grill (a challenge on weekdays when you live on the west coast and have to cook dinner for the family first).

They answer the phone on Saturdays too.

And Sundays.

Pat G said:

They answer the phone on Saturdays too.

Click to expand...

Bob Ivey said:

And Sundays.

Click to expand...

And I noticed a person answers the phone too...without a voice menu first.

I think I figured it out. I can light it at any time, but I need to turn and hold the rotisserie burner knob in just *before* the spark/light position for a few seconds before completing the turn to ignition and letting it spark - this seems to let enough gas flow out to actually ignite. Once it ignites I need to continue to hold for 15 seconds or so as directed in the manual until it is glowing across the surface. If I just turn from the knob straight to the ignite position and hold it there like I can do with the other burners, I see the spark but it never ignites.