Weber Natural Gas grill issue

[WoodworkerTom]

Went to grill dinner tonight and I cant hear the gas flowing and when one of the four burners light, flame is barely present.

It's a natural gas hookup and I am in Chicago so it's cold outside. Used it 2 days ago no problem. Gas supply is about 15 ft black pipe to 6 ft of flex. Hose is fine, no kinks etc.

Could there be condensation in the gas supply line that is freezing causing restricted flow? The grill is three years old and fires up everytime I try it, in all seasons and weather except tonight. Temp is 29F.

It a four burner Weber Summit.

[cams2705]

I have an LP Weber.  The only time I see something like this is if I do not turn the burner off after I used the grill the last time.

When I turn my grill off, I turn the gas bottle off first to let the gas burn out of the like, when the flame dies, I then turn the burner knobs to off.  I've notices if I forget to turn the burner off and just try to light it by turning the gas on and hitting the igniter, it will light, but with an extremely low flame.  If I turn the burner off and back on and re-ignite, it works fine.

Not sure if this helps, but just giving an example of a similar situation with similar equipment.

[barryvabeach]

The weber ng summit, at least the one I have, uses a larger diameter connection than the standard webers, so i would be surprised if there was enough condensation in the line to keep gas from flowing to light a burner.  Have you tried lighting just one burner ?  If so, and it doesn't go full blast,   it would mean a very great restriction somewhere in the gas line.  If instead, it goes full, and when you light all 4, they don't go full, I could see that a small restriction could cause that.  Possible causes could be a bad regulator,  and this is really a long shot, but could there be some insect problem - in the old days ,  there were many issues with spiders building webs in gas grill tubing, though I think that most grills have a screen to keep them out.  Another thing to try is to take a flashlight, and a warm coat, and take apart a burner or two to see if you spot anything amiss.  Good luck.

[brianwelch]

Our Weber is a propane unit that was having a similar issue...read up a little about it and learned that the tank valve should be opened and left alone for 10-15 minutes before trying to start. That delay seemed to help for us. May be worth a shot...

[TDKPE]

Our Weber is a propane unit that was having a similar issue...read up a little about it and learned that the tank valve should be opened and left alone for 10-15 minutes before trying to start. That delay seemed to help for us. May be worth a shot...

That was probably caused by the excess flow valve in the tank that clamps down when there is too much gas flow.  It allows only a small flow when that happens.  Closing the tank valve allows the pressure to equalize and the valve to reopen, hence the pinhole restriction.  Opening the valve and letting it sit without using any gas may do the same thing.  Just cracking it slowly at the beginning is normally enough to prevent the flow fuse from slamming shut, though.

I don’t thing the OP has the same problem, though, since it’s on a NG system.

[daddo]

Is there a drip leg installed anywhere? Especially on a low spot or riser that could collect moisture?

Could be an ice block.

[TDKPE]

Is there a drip leg installed anywhere? Especially on a low spot or riser that could collect moisture?

Could be an ice block.

I was thinking that, too, but I don't know much about NG systems other than how to use it to cook and heat; not how to transport it.

It's a common problem with propane systems in RV's, though.

[WoodworkerTom]

So I undid the flex hose from the black pipe and no blockage. Hooked it back up and tapped the pressure reducing valve with my wrench and now the grill starts fine.

I did have a squirrel chew the original hose with the quick disconnects o I replaced it with a regular appliance hookup since I didnt feel like spending 70 bucks for it. Figured that was my issue but it's the larger diameter gas line so it's not restricting flow. I think something got mucked up withe the pressure reduction valve but now it fine. Used it twice since it's been restored.

In the 25+ years I have had NG hookups I never had this happen before. At least it's back in business.