Effect of altitude on gas grill…?


 

Frank in Colorado

TVWBB Super Fan
Effect of altitude on gas grill…?

I live at very high altitude in the Colorado mountains which affects virtually everything up here.
Feeling tired? Altitude.
Poor automobile fuel mileage? Altitude.
Farting too much? Altitude.

The less oxygen is something that us living up here need to deal with… not having fun trying to dial-in the three carburetors on my antique Triumph!

As good as my new Weber is (still getting used to it) I am sure the low oxygen affect its performance. Are there any measure that I can take to compensate for my altitude?

Best regards,
Colorado Frank
 
We are at 5700 ft. here and I don't see a lot of difference although my gen 2000 won't peg the thermometer like it did at sea level but it gets close. For 99% of our cooks all four of them work fine.
 
You may need to adjust the opening and airflow through spider screens on the gas tubes.


Spider tubes! I looked it up on the youtuber to get an idea. While I did not see a video for a Weber, there were a few to give me the context of your comment. It makes sense given the need for proper air-to-fuel mix. Couple of questions...

From poking around the underside of the grill, are these things in the image below to adjust if needed? I did not get into it too much but it seems as if there is a screen of sorts that can slide as required:
MjKqm2Cl.jpg


As far as the actual flame, what is anyone's opinion on the following images? They kinda' look nice and blue and constant. These are images on medium knob setting with a very, very slight breeze:

7qouqaOl.jpg


POrde2Ol.jpg


NUymXWAl.jpg
 
They're fine. The need to adjust air shutters is VASTLY over blown. Weber (along with many other gas appliance makers) makes both high altitude and low altitude versions of appliances. So if you live in say Denver and buy a grill from a legal outlet. Weber (or Maytag, Samsung, etc) already know where it is going and have versions tuned slightly different. High altitude typically needs less fuel to keep the air fuel ration at stoichiometric level. If you moved from say Chicago to Denver then of course you would need to change that setting yourself. Simply by opening the air shutters slightly. Many folks don't realize it but your car adjusts automatically. There is a sensor called the MAP sensor. Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor that works in conjunction with the MAF sensor Mass Airflow Sensor to adjust fuel flow to the injectors to suit altitude.
Adjusting the shutters is not a cure for a grill not working correctly. If your grill is working fine then the "burn" changes ask yourself this? Could those shutters move themselves? Answer is no. So work backward to find out why the burn or air fuel ratio is not optimal
 

 

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