Igniter issues


 
S

SunRL

New member
I bought a used genesis s-330 around 6-7 years old that I cleaned up and try to fix things and bought some replacement parts.
Unfortunately 2 of my grill burners wouldn’t light up, so I ordered new grill ignition module. I still have issues getting to light one burner.

I swapped burners tubes, and know there is gas flow because I can light it up with the lighter just fine. What can I be missing here, there is gas flow, I have brand new ignition kit, I can see sparks on all 4 tubes. Do I need to get new set of burners Or there is something that I could test further and narro down the issue. Do I need to return and get another ignition kits? Any help would be appreciated.
 
It is kind of like a gas engine. If it won't run, it is usually spark or fuel that is the problem.
You say you have spark on the burner that won't light. You also say you have gas flow and I assume you are talking about the burner that won't light.
So, it seems we have a problem getting the spark to the gas. Are you sure the igniter electrode is situated properly? Is it too far back on the tube? Is the spark near where there is a hole for gas to come out of the tube?
It just seems to me that if you have spark and gas, all you need to do is bring them both together and you will have fire.
 
The igniters, one per tube sit on the very front of the burners and have a small dome like ceramic cover over them which should function as the gas collector.

burner.jpg
 
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If you have spark, the little jets that are drilled radially (not the slots that run down the length of the tube) are likely blocked with scale. I used the shank of a small number drill to unplug mine.
 
Ed, I don't think the burners on the E and S series grills has the radial holes like on a Genesis 1000 or Silver B. The electrode is situated directly over the top of the tube and theoretically over the row of holes on the top of the tube.

e310.jpg
 
George in NJ said:
Is this pic specific to the OP's model? Sure is purdy when it's clean like that. Was that one of your restores?
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Yah, that was a restore from a couple years ago. That is not the exact model as the OP's grill but the igniter system is the same.
 
Went to bed early here are some answers to questions asked above, yes the spark is right over the three holes, It does have collector. I am going to remove burners and swap them and see. Electrodes does seem in right position and if I light using lighter it lights just fine, that’s how I know there is gas flow.

I also cleaned all of those burner holes making sure it’s not blocked. I also made sure electrode pin is pushed all the way in.

Here is picture of my burner. Top when trying to light with igniter, bottom one when manually lighted.

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Adding some more finding, I swapped burner tubes to see if the issue still persists and it still does. So my burner 1 and 4 lights fine whatever tube I use. Center burner and Sear burner seems to have issues where it lights with a lighter but igniter doesn’t seem to work, if I turn all first, sear and center and light them together they do fire up.

Igniter is brand new and not sure if I should open and clean orifice as I can light them using lighter, or maybe exchange the igniter module.
 
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Those radial holes...it's hard to tell in picture #2, but you need to see flame there. When the burner is lit, there should be flame at every hole. Like I say, I took the shank of a small number drill and poked the scale out of mine. So check that. But from what you say about swapping burners, it sounds like an igniter issue. Without turning the gas on, can you verify spark at burner 2 and 3? Do you have the electronic igniter that has a continual spark for as long as you hold the button in? If so, and you have spark at burners 2 and 3, and the radial holes are all open and you can see flame there when the burner is lit with a match, hold the spark button before you turn the gas on with the knob, so it's sparking while you turn the gas on. Turn the gas knob from high to low slowly while sparking.

You might also try swapping the igniter wires to see if the problem is a poor electrical connection. Swap burner 1 and 2 wires if you can, see what happens. Is there a ground wire, like the single igniter that I have? That's a common electrical problem that is often overlooked. You need clean and tight electrical connections.

I wouldn't go poking around the orifice at the valve if the burner lights with a match and burns properly with a blue flame.

BurnerJets.jpgBurnerJet2.jpg
 
Ed Pinnell said:
Those radial holes...it's hard to tell in picture #2, but you need to see flame there. When the burner is lit, there should be flame at every hole. Like I say, I took the shank of a small number drill and poked the scale out of mine. So check that. But from what you say about swapping burners, it sounds like an igniter issue. Without turning the gas on, can you verify spark at burner 2 and 3? Do you have the electronic igniter that has a continual spark for as long as you hold the button in? If so, and you have spark at burners 2 and 3, and the radial holes are all open and you can see flame there when the burner is lit with a match, hold the spark button before you turn the gas on with the knob, so it's sparking while you turn the gas on. Turn the gas knob from high to low slowly while sparking.

You might also try swapping the igniter wires to see if the problem is a poor electrical connection. Swap burner 1 and 2 wires if you can, see what happens. Is there a ground wire, like the single igniter that I have? That's a common electrical problem that is often overlooked. You need clean and tight electrical connections.

I wouldn't go poking around the orifice at the valve if the burner lights with a match and burns properly with a blue flame.

View attachment 9761View attachment 9763
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There is flame on those radial holes and I can confirm there is spark. I had to play around with positioning and I am able to light the sear burner now without much trouble, the middle one is very finicky, I moved electrodes around and it’s like a lottery it might work 20-30% if not I keep turning the knob off on and slowly moving the knob around and it would work rest of the 50-60% of the time. And then there is that 10-20% where it just doesn’t want to light. I have nice blue flame so airflow is just fine also I have the burner tube air intake mesh open all the way so can’t open it anymore. I might just have to figure out technique to light it eventually practice might make it perfect.
 
If you see spark on all burners, then you probably are not getting a good air/fuel mix. When I light my Genesis, I always hold the igniter (constant clicking will be heard) on before turning on the burner I want to start with to full fuel. Give that a try. That is much safer than turning on the gas first and then using the igniter.
 
SunRL said:
Went to bed early here are some answers to questions asked above, yes the spark is right over the three holes, It does have collector. I am going to remove burners and swap them and see. Electrodes does seem in right position and if I light using lighter it lights just fine, that’s how I know there is gas flow.

I also cleaned all of those burner holes making sure it’s not blocked. I also made sure electrode pin is pushed all the way in.

Here is picture of my burner. Top when trying to light with igniter, bottom one when manually lighted.

View attachment 9711
View attachment 9712

Adding some more finding, I swapped burner tubes to see if the issue still persists and it still does. So my burner 1 and 4 lights fine whatever tube I use. Center burner and Sear burner seems to have issues where it lights with a lighter but igniter doesn’t seem to work, if I turn all first, sear and center and light them together they do fire up.

Igniter is brand new and not sure if I should open and clean orifice as I can light them using lighter, or maybe exchange the igniter module.
Click to expand...

If I look at your second photo of the blue flames the three holes that feed the gas to the igniter and the first regular hole do not look to be lit. It could be the orifice is partially plugged. Is the flame the same height on all burners when you have them all lit?
 
Ed Pinnell said:
My first thought was to try varying the burner air intake and see if you can get a yellow flame. If so, then adjust it from yellow so that the flame is blue with an occasional yellow. It is possible that your fuel/air ratio isn't dialed in and you might be running on the lean side...but when you swapped burners around, that didn't make any difference.

Is the spark happening at the same place on the burners that are working correctly? Same distance?
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I had to fiddle with the position for the one that isn’t working well. For other burners I didn’t find position to be as finicky or tricky, it worked in most areas bit further or bit close for rest of the burners. I believe air intake could be the issue and since I was getting nice blue flame with no yellow I didn’t bother playing with that setting. I might try that some time for now, I am finally catching on to the technique of getting it to light every time I tried, o would try closing the air intake and slowly open it while trying to light it.
 
Richard in NS said:
If I look at your second photo of the blue flames the three holes that feed the gas to the igniter and the first regular hole do not look to be lit. It could be the orifice is partially plugged. Is the flame the same height on all burners when you have them all lit?
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No the three holes are lit but it wasn’t the same height of flame compared to rest of the burner, I did open up orifice cleaned it and used the thread sealant, which is what seem to have make it work for the most still not as perfect as other burner but I can get away without using the lighter. I also found some of the technique mentioned here helpful, one in particular mentioned by Dan to keep clicking the igniter before I turn the knob. Thanks for the help and suggestions.
 
This is a more of an introduction but since I started this thread I would like to close it here.

I wanted to give an update to everyone and thank all of you who pitched in to help a me out. I was able to resolve the issue in this thread following Richard in NS suggestion where I closed down the air intake And started with all yellow flame, and slowly kept opening it up until I was able to consistently light the burner. I was able to open up a little more than 3/4 and I am getting decent blue flame with occasional yellow but the good thing is my igniter lights it all the time.

My first grill was Weber Q around 10 years old, which I used for years and still have it, while in the mean time I Owned 2 other larger size grills and I paid somewhere in 150-200 range. Both of them rusted and died on me in 2-3 years, North East weather wasn't kind to those grills. My Weber Q would take over the duty and it worked very well in the mean time.

My wife always wanted a grill with side burner to avoid back and forth trips to kitchen while we were cooking out so I started looking up for a grill and decided not to get another cheap grill and we were pretty much set on getting a Weber with side burner (I did research other brands but since I had experience with the Weber Q was more comfortable getting a Weber).

One day I see a guy listed Genesis S-330 which was on top of my list on FB market place for 300, pictures looked filthy but overall I didn't see much rust and body seemed fine. With some back and forth I was able to settle a deal for 200. When I went to check it out it was alright but Heat shield plate underneath burners where rusted, It had grease everywhere, he said grill won't heat up more than 200-300 degrees which I figured I could fix. Right before the transaction I was able to get him to throw in the grill cover with it too which seems to be a nice King Kong gas grill cover so i didn't have to run and get a new one right away.

I was able to strip it all apart and with my wife's help it cleaned pretty well. I ordered Utheer heat shield plate, and flavor bars (I could have reused but decided to just change it) from Amazon, which seems to be pretty good quality. I put the the Burners and the stainless steel grill grates into my oven with self cleaning mode On and it came out pretty clean. I was able to clean and reuse everything else, I did get new propane regulator and knobs, overall I probably spend around 150 - 160 more including cleaning supplies and some of our time.

Finally I got everything working but was having trouble lighting couple of burners and started looking for some answers and found this forum. I soaked up as much as I could and found it to be an excellent community of people willing to help each other. While I am just an average guy who grills hot dogs and ham burgers with occasional steaks, chicken and kabobs and have some fun time outdoor with the family, I am no where close to the passion for restoring or grilling you have here, but am glad to be part of the community.
 
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