New Burner/Ignitor not working

[FWillson]

I spent all day completely redoing the interior of my Weber, Genesis E310. Everything went pretty well. The middle burner is not working with the igniter. The igniter has flame. The burner is working when lit manually. But it is not lighting with the igniter. The guy at Ace Hardware had no idea why that would be happening. Does anyone on here have any clue?

 

[John-NY]

I spent all day completely redoing the interior of my Weber, Genesis E310. Everything went pretty well. The middle burner is not working with the igniter. The igniter has flame. The burner is working when lit manually. But it is not lighting with the igniter. The guy at Ace Hardware had no idea why that would be happening. Does anyone on here have any clue?

I had this exact same thing happen recently with a Genesis II model

- Igniter is producing Spark
- New Burner will not light from igniter
- New Burner will light from Manual Lighter
- Loosened the screw on the burner and opened the grate
- Still will not ignite from spark
- Installed different burner tube
- Igniter lights different burner tube instantly, successfully

I tried so many combinations and got so frustrated I just ended up leaving the old burner tube in because the other one wouldn’t work no matter what.

I have no logical explanation.

 

[Bruce]

FWilson:
Assuming by saying the middle burner has flame, I assume you mean "spark".

Two things to try:
1. Move the igniter forward a little bit like a 1/16" maybe. The try it. If that doesn't work, move it back about 1/8" or so.
2. Bend the igniter electrode UP a little bit to get a bigger/longer spark.

 

[BrianB]

So, did Bruce's suggestions work? I have the same problem, as evidently a lot of folks do with the middle burner. Why mostly the middle burner? Thanks.

 

[John-NY]

So, did Bruce's suggestions work? I have the same problem, as evidently a lot of folks do with the middle burner. Why mostly the middle burner? Thanks.

I was able to somewhat “solve” this by changing my order of operations, and I don’t think it has really anything to do with it being the middle burner.

Usually I have always opened the valve with the knob, then use the igniter button.

However to “solve” this issue I found that if I press in the igniter first and hold it down (click click click click click click click!) then slowly open the valve with the burner knob, it will successfully ignite.

I have no idea what causes the difference.

I’ve done it countless times now on several different grills and have been successful by holding in the igniter first.

I also think that having the Flavorizer Bars in the grill increases the odds of success as well.

 

[Bruce]

I think sometimes too much gas or the way the gas is flowing into the spark area is the problem. Try turning the burner to half or maybe even 1/4 before lighting.