Genesis: two burners not starting via ignitors

[Chris in Louisiana]

I bought a new (2016) Genesis natural gas model several weeks ago.

The two burners on the right side fire right up with the ignitors, but the burner on the far left and the sear station burner do not.

The ignitors on the problem burners are making sparks, and the battery has been changed, but those two just won't fire with ignitor alone

Any tips on fixing this issue?

Thanks

 

[Martin Chicago]

I bought a new (2016) Genesis natural gas model several weeks ago.

The two burners on the right side fire right up with the ignitors, but the burner on the far left and the sear station burner do not.

The ignitors on the problem burners are making sparks, and the battery has been changed, but those two just won't fire with ignitor alone

Any tips on fixing this issue?

Thanks

Is gas being fed into the burners (ie. you can light the burners with a match for instance?) I sounds like yes, judging from your comments.

 

[Andrew F]

Not that you should need to fix a two week old grill, but I understand the want to just do it yourself, especially if it is easy and quick.

IF you have spark, and gas, yet no boom, then your spark and gas are not getting together in the correct quantity. Can you adjust the sparker location? Perhaps bend it closer or farther away? When you manually light the burner is the flame the same color and size as the other burners?

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

It gets gas and will light with a lighter applied.

I can see sparks from the ignitors that look just like the ones coming from the two that light properly. There may be a gap adjustment on the ignitor wire that could help, but I can't see much difference in gaps on the working v. non-working ones.

 

[Martin Chicago]

It gets gas and will light with a lighter applied.

I can see sparks from the ignitors that look just like the ones coming from the two that light properly. There may be a gap adjustment on the ignitor wire that could help, but I can't see much difference in gaps on the working v. non-working ones.

Although it's a new grill, and based on your comments - I, personally would remove the burner and inspect it just to rule out any debris that might be lodged in there. You can always call up Weber - they'll probably send you a new burner set

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

I don't see any debris. I've messed around with it a bit with no luck.

Just sent Weber support this message, along with serial no.:

I bought a new Genesis E-330 Ng from Lowes, assembled, in Dec. 2016. The middle and right burners light fine, but the burner on the left and the sear burner will not light with the ignitor alone.

They will light manually, after which they work fine. I can see good sparks coming from the "problem" ignitors that appear the same intensity as on the two that work. I see no debris, and I've changed the battery for a fresh one.

I'd appreciate any advice on how to resolve this issue.

*********

We'll see what the pros say.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

I might need to tweak the igniter on my silver B, there's gas, there's spark but, no boom! (I like that) maybe a directional adjustment, I have a long list of restoration parts developing! It will be good for me!

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

Here is Weber's reply:

Hello Chris,

I'm sorry to learn about the trouble with your new grill!

I'd suggest trying to re-position the problematic igniter electrodes.

If they are out of position it could result in the situation you describe.

Let me know if you need more help, and thanks for being a part of the Weber family!

John
Marketing Associate, Online Consumer Care Americas Marketing

******

I'm not sure what re-positioning them means. Do I bend the prong or something?

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

Well, looks like John from Marketing was on to something.

I compared the position of the prongs on the igniters, and it looked like the problem igniters had tips closer to the burners.

Took a chance and bent the prongs up a bit on the problem ones, to get a longer spark arc.

That seemed to do the trick.

We'll see. Looks good so far.

 

[Martin Chicago]

Well, looks like John from Marketing was on to something.

I compared the position of the prongs on the igniters, and it looked like the problem igniters had tips closer to the burners.

Took a chance and bent the prongs up a bit on the problem ones, to get a longer spark arc.

That seemed to do the trick.

We'll see. Looks good so far.

Good deal - they must've seen this issue many times before, since that's the first response you got back. You'd figure they would test it, but...

 

[DavidJW]

Hi, I bought a brand-new genesis II e310 2 weeks ago and i'm having almost the exact same problem - this is the only posting i've been able to find that describes my issue, though there's one difference: burner 1 will light with the ignition after burners 2 and 3 ignite, but it will never ignite first on its own. I've tried everything and checked every connection and have found no issues anywhere, but burner 1 just won't light first. After reading this post, i triple-confirmed electrode #1 is positioned identically to electrodes 2 and 3, and the hole below the electrode is clear. No response from Weber yet. I'm at a complete loss.

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

David,

My grill worked better after my posts, but that far left burner never would consistently light via spark alone no matter how much I adjusted the electrode.

I developed a technique that Hannah Storm would not endorse, but it works for me. I turn on the gas to each of the three main burners with the lid closed for just a couple of seconds (literally just like 2 seconds) to let some gas build, then open the lid about one-third and hit the spark button. It usually fires up all three burners and does not create a dangerous fireball. Some may not be comfortable with this, but for other it may do the trick.

 

[Dan Leighton]

Chris:
This sounds like a recipe for disaster! You may be getting away with it presently, but it certainly should not be recommended to others. If you want to keep pressing your own luck, go for it. We would transport people with severe burns for similar unsafe practices. Almost as dumb as those shooting starter fluid on already lit charcoal grills since they don't like the amount of fire showing or gasoline on a campfire.

 

[Jon Tofte]

David,

My grill worked better after my posts, but that far left burner never would consistently light via spark alone no matter how much I adjusted the electrode.

I developed a technique that Hannah Storm would not endorse, but it works for me. I turn on the gas to each of the three main burners with the lid closed for just a couple of seconds (literally just like 2 seconds) to let some gas build, then open the lid about one-third and hit the spark button. It usually fires up all three burners and does not create a dangerous fireball. Some may not be comfortable with this, but for other it may do the trick.

I had a 330 SE with the sear burner. Over time, some of the igniters started becoming unreliable. I sure missed the old crossover ignition and handy lighter hole that my earlier Genesis grills had. I admit that for a while I tried a version of what you described, although I opened the lid wide due to fear of it being blown off. It worked, but after a while I became convinced I was flirting with disaster and stopped. I took that grill out of service. When I picked up a nice old Genesis Silver C I went back to that. The 330 still sits in my shop awaiting a restoration. I have a new igniter set for it, too!

 

[CTully]

Hi, I bought a brand-new genesis II e310 2 weeks ago and i'm having almost the exact same problem - this is the only posting i've been able to find that describes my issue, though there's one difference: burner 1 will light with the ignition after burners 2 and 3 ignite, but it will never ignite first on its own. I've tried everything and checked every connection and have found no issues anywhere, but burner 1 just won't light first. After reading this post, i triple-confirmed electrode #1 is positioned identically to electrodes 2 and 3, and the hole below the electrode is clear. No response from Weber yet. I'm at a complete loss.

Hey David.

Same issue here. Genesis II S-335. 2 outside (top and bottom in the pic) burners are faulty. You can see the first 1-2 ports, nearest to the igniter, on the faulty burners have no flame. My middle and sear burner both light without issue. I have a message into Weber as well, but I was curious if you ever received a response from Weber

 

[CTully]

For what it’s worth on a

Hi, I bought a brand-new genesis II e310 2 weeks ago and i'm having almost the exact same problem - this is the only posting i've been able to find that describes my issue, though there's one difference: burner 1 will light with the ignition after burners 2 and 3 ignite, but it will never ignite first on its own. I've tried everything and checked every connection and have found no issues anywhere, but burner 1 just won't light first. After reading this post, i triple-confirmed electrode #1 is positioned identically to electrodes 2 and 3, and the hole below the electrode is clear. No response from Weber yet. I'm at a complete loss.

Better late than never I suppose, but I solved my issue finally, which was identical in nature to yours. I replaced the manifold and now all of my burners light with the ignition system.