Gas grill won’t light? Change the regulator

Your grill won’t light?

What?! There’s a yard full of people and all eyes are on me. Um…Slight panic attack coming.

Or worse, the flame is sputtering and won’t fully ignite. At this rate cooking a burger will take 3.7 years.

What the heck is going on? I DO NOT want to use my…gulp…oven.

I could use a beer, however. And a solution.

The good news is that the solution is a quick fix.

Assuming you have a full tank of liquid propane, the culprit might be the regulator. It was on our grill.

The regulator is that thing you screw/unscrew onto the LP tank when you replace the tank. Those can go bad.

First step is to buy a new regulator. Hardware stores and home centers typically have them in their ‘outdoor’ department with the grill stuff.

Next, shut off the gas at the tank and remove the old regulator. Then trace the hose up to where it threads on behind the control panel. A wrench is required to get the un-threading process started. It can be a tight squeeze. After a few “maybe-if-I-flip-the-wrench-this-way-it’ll-work” moments, you’ll get a bite on the regulator and loosen it enough to complete removing it by hand. Ours was lefty-loosey.

Reverse this process when installing the new regulator. Be careful to thread the new regulator on straight (righty-tighty) and follow your grill‘s “leak testing” maintenance instructions before firing back up.

Get grilling. What time’s dinner?

Mark

A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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