Repair my Genesis

[radshop]

My Weber Genesis - I think it's E-335, but I might be confusing that with a guitar - is about 10 years old, and this is the first issue I've had with it. The gas flow has dropped off to the point where I can get a flame, but barely. Same thing on all the main burners and the side burner. It's not the tank - I have a few full spares and tried them all. Most likely a clog in the line somewhere, but before I start tearing things apart I want a little bit of a plan - basically looking for some validation or redirection here if somebody has done this before. Are there any "gotchas" I should look out for? No right or wrong answer, open to suggestions.

I could try to diagnose and mitigate exactly what's wrong, or just buy the parts and replace everything.

It could be:

1. The regulator valve that connects to the tank
2. The rubber hose from the regulator to the connector
3. The connector from the rubber hose to the metal tubing
4. The metal tubing from the connector to where it splits off to the main burners and side burner

Any advice appreciated.

[Jfrosty27]

It’s most likely a failed regulator. I have a Genesis that’s about 15 yrs old and I have replaced the hose/regulator valve twice in that time.

[Jfrosty27]

Another possibility is that a spider or the like has nested in the burner tube. I’ve had that happen as well.

[radshop]

Seems like I'm probably due for a regulator change. Since both the main burner and the side burner are affected, it's possible a spider crawled that far in, but not likely. The regulator hose was easy to remove and not too expensive to replace, so I'll try that before going to any more major surgery.

[MBMorgan]

Before launching into a lengthy diagnosis and repair process for your gasser where (as Jfrosty27 correctly points out) the most likely culprit is either your regulator or critter(s) in the burner tubes, be sure to check out the propane tank itself. If you disconnect it and open its valve, it should then vent lots of propane into the air. If it doesn't, it's likely that something has triggered its internal flow-limiter (and there are procedures for fixing that) or it's just plain worn out.

[radshop]

Jfrosty27 and MBMorgan Thanks for the help. My local Barbeques Galore had the regulator in stock for $30. Now, as they say in old movies, I'm cooking with gas.

[DrJimmy2112]

Mine failed a few years ago and as I had recently cleaned out the burner Bournouli tubes, I called Weber and the nice lady correctly diagnosed the problem and I got a new regulator. Back in bidness!

[smcmanamy]

Settle in for a long post here, but once again this community has come through for me. I have a Genesis S-320 circa 2007, and last summer I replaced the entire burner assembly (it was rusting away to nothing), flavorizer bars, regulator, etc. Worked like brand new.Then earlier this summer I started having this same issue where the flame wouldn't go above a very low heat. I called Weber customer service, and they suggested that I replace the manifold - which was the one piece I hadn't replaced last year. Did that (so basically now a completely new grill), and no dice - the flame was still weak. At this point I'm thinking that I have to invest in a new grill which made me very unhappy given how much work I've done to rebuild the old one. So I started searching through the Pitmasters Club and found this post. The one thing I HADN'T looked at was the side burner - so as this thread suggested, I went out just now to see if that worked (and if not I'd go looking for spiders). Well guess what - for some reason the gas knob on the side burner was turned all the way open! Apparently it has been that way for a month, but because it's covered (and I don't use it very often), I never noticed it. So I turned it off, back on again and it lit up strong. Then moved back to the main grill and voila - it fired all the way up. So I have no idea why the side burner was left open, but obviously that caused the gas to regulate in the main grill. Again, apologies for the long post but again, I wanted to say THANKS to you guys for helping me resolve my problem!

[jfmorris]

The regulator assembly that attaches to the propane tank is designed such that if you open the tank valve, and it thinks there is a leak on the other side of the regulator, it goes into "low flow" mode, to prevent a leak and an explosion. This happens if you open the tank while any of the burner knobs on a grill are on. This is what you were seeing, and is what I would have steered you to look at before replacing the manifold. No way a manifold goes bad. Might get bugs in it, but bad? Nope.

[smcmanamy]

jfmorris, obviously I should have gone here first before calling Weber! But luckily they had a shipping screw-up with the manifold, so they ended up giving it to me for free. So nothing lost other than a little time, and now I've got brand-new everything. Thanks for the insights as always.