Clean, blue flame only possible when I completely remove air shutters, is this ok?


 
B

BasilZakharov

New member
Recently, I got a Weber Genesis grill for free that was previously (ab)used by college students for untold years. I've started working on getting it into serviceable condition, first by cleaning a thick buildup of grease. Regrettably, I sprayed Easy-Off onto the serial number sticker, and now there's nothing to be gleaned from it. My best guess is that the grill is a Genesis 310/320 from 2011-2016, judging by the (remnants) of the ignition box:
PXL_20230609_020505176 (2.1).jpgPXL_20230609_020509046 (2.2).jpgPXL_20230609_020515586 (2.3).jpg

The grill at first burned with a completely yellow flame, so I put in a new regulator, cleaned the air shutters at the base of the burners, and set them to be completely open:
PXL_20230609_015100199 (1).jpg

However, this still resulted in sizeable yellow tips on the flame, as seen on leftmost flame.

In order to get the relatively clean burning flame from the center and rightmost burners in the video, I had to completely remove the air shutter at the ends:
PXL_20230609_015115215 (3).jpg

I've also checked the orifices to see if they were fit for LP use. They were labeled "102" for 1.02 mm, which is referenced on an NG/LP conversion chart, should give around 10,000 BTUs for the burners using LP as I am, which seems par for the course.

While I'd be fine to leave the air shutters completely off as in the last picture and simply put the control panel and wind screen back on and use the grill, I wanted to ask here if this doesn't pose and serious safety concerns, or if there's something else that I've possibly missed leading to the yellow flame. Thanks!
 
I would clean the screens and burners up and put the shutters back on. I would not be running that grill they way you are. It looks to me like the screens are just gunked up and need cleaning. Soak them in some grill cleaner for a day.
 
More than likely your problem is dirty grill induced. I would either give the burner tubes a thorough cleaning or replace them.
 
Flames look high for a front control E310.

@BasilZakharov can you post a Pic of the inside of the cabinet with the doors open please? One that shows the floor, back panel and slide out drip pan.
 
I looked closely at the pics and from the hints I can see in it looks like a Natural Gas version of a 2011 to 2016 E310 or S310.

If it was converted from NG to LP it will run hot even with the correctly sized orifices. I did this on my E330 for a while with a conversion kit and it was OK, but low temps were still hot. This thread has details: : E330 NG and LP manifold and valve side by side comparison
I guess what I'm saying is you can swap the orifices only and it will be OK, but it will not be the same as a factory LP 310


Another suggestion: move the tank to the outside of the grill for two reasons. 1) there is no heat shield on the slide out drip pan and it will get hot and 2) there is no recess hole in the floor so the tank won't really hang well without cutting the floor. It is easy to move the tank to the outside and personally, I like having the tank on the outside as it is much easier to open and close the valve. here's the thread where I did it on mine.

https://tvwbb.com/threads/outboarding-the-propane-tank-on-a-2016-genesis-e330.89672/
 
@DanHoo By the looks of it, it looks like an original LP version... what would lead to the flames being too high?

To @Bruce's point, the left side with a bit too much yellow is with a cleaned air shutter that is adjusted to allow the maximum opening. The middle and right sides are with the air shutters completely taken off, as in the last picture of my original post. I am aware of the flame gap in the right burner, I think there's a porthole or two that needs to be cleaned.

But assuming it's an original LP grill... my understanding is (and if it is wrong, please correct me) the fundamental issue is there is too much gas being put into the burners. If the air shutter is on, this results in too high of a gas/air mixture, leading to the yellow tips, and only with the shutters off is there enough air to cleanly burn all of the gas... but then there is too much gas being combusted than there should be in the first place (flames are too high).

How should I remedy this? The regulator that I bought was a knockoff brand from the Home Despot, but it still supplies the standard 11" WC pressure. Should I simply iterate with smaller and smaller orifices until I get a clean burning flame with the shutters on?

PXL_20230611_220602196.jpg
 
Took a look at your valve and manifold comparison thread and then my valves. They seem to be LP valves based on the number stamped on them (84512). However, the stem the control knob attaches to on two of the valves is bent off-axis, the worse of the two shown below. Would the stem bending like that also cause damage internally in the valve (such as a gap between the cone and valve body, leading to more gas escaping/flowing through the valve)? I personally wouldn't think so, because in my video, the right burner's valve control stem is slightly bent whereas the center burner's valve control stem isn't bent at all, and there seems to be no difference in the height of the flame.
PXL_20230611_222832874.jpgPXL_20230611_223013257.jpg
 
I think we’re onto something now. Your photo in post #10 appears to show a bent valve stem on the left side and post #11 photo pretty well confirms it for me. It’s pretty typical for an outer valve to absorb the brunt of a fall or tumble for the grill. I’d be looking to get that at least that valve or maybe even the complete manifold swapped out from a donor grill if possible.
 
Another thing is since it was obtained used. You never know if some nitwit decided to hog out the orifices. Also knock off regulators cannot be trusted
 
I think I would just buy a new manifold and burner tubes and be done with it. You may never figure out exactly what's wrong, but it's something.
 
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