Expert: John Langenfelder - 2/11/2009

Question
I live in Michigan and BBQ 4-5 times a week all year around,with no problems. This winter I was cooking when the flame on the grill slowley went out like it was out of gas. When I disconnected the tank it still had about 1/3 full. I turned the tank on and no gas came out. I took another tank and had it filled. When i hooked it up it worked fine. A few hours later I went to BBQ and it would not lite. I disconnected it and no gas came out. I thought maybe water got into it and it froze but its been in the 50s the last few days and still no gas. Im stumped. Thanks for any help  Randy

Answer
It sounds like a regulator problem.  Is it a Weber?  They are notorious for it, although you generally get a flame, just not very powerful.  Try this.  Turn off all valves as well as the cylinder valve.  Disconnect the regulator from the cylinder.  Open the grill valves to high.  Wait at least a minute, then turn off the valves.  Reconnect the regulator.  Turn on the gas slowly and see if it works.  

It could also be as simple as a spider web.  That is a little more tricky.  You will need to undo most connections to try and clear it, but the best place to look is in the Venturi tube which has the small screen covering the air flow opening.

Other that it could be a tank problem  Sometimes, gas gets old and doesn't want to come out of the tank.  You mentioned that you hooked up a new tank and it worked, but when you went back it would not come on.  Again, you did remove the regulator which could be the problem.  My suggestion would be to have the 1/3 full tank flushed and refilled or just trade it in for a fresh tank and see if that fixes the problem.  If not, you may need a new regulator.  But before going to that expense, check for that spider web.