How to Maintain Your Gas Grill Igniters

Grill igniters endure a lot of wear inside a gas grill. Positioned right at the burner, these miniature “spark plugs” face intense heat every time the gas grill is fired up.

Over time, grease and residue coat the burner’s grounding surface, and the heat can crack the porcelain insulator on the igniter’s electrode.

When this happens, gas grill igniters may “bleed” sparks through the crack, leading to delayed ignition after gas has built up – or sometimes, no ignition at all.

For safety reason, grill ignitors should be replaced when this occurs, and burner surfaces cleaned up in the ignitor area.

Burner portholes in this area should be kept clean and open. The spark gap between electrode and burner is about 3/16″.

An ignitor sends a high voltage along the wire to the ignitor electrode inside the collector box. The collector box collects gas which sparks the light.

If your grill has an ignitor that no longer works:

• Check the connections at the push button itself, and at the spark collector box. These connections can become corroded (Fig. 1)

• Now check the insulator in the collector box for cracks. Cracks collect moisture and reduce the spark, in which case will require replacement

• Sand electrode tip inside the collector box
• Clean electrode with alcohol
  

  

• Lightly sand the inner roof of the collector box

If this information did not help you fix your grill gas ignitor, replacement will be necessary. Need further assistance? Please contact us.

David B. June 27th, 2010

Posted In: BBQ Maintenance, BBQing HowTos