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Hot Surface Igniter Troubleshooting

A hot surface igniter is used with many types of gas grills to ignite the burner. If the burner of your grill does not ignite you need to find the cause of the problem. To do this you need to see if there is a problem with either the igniter or the burner. This allows you to see if any of the internal parts are broken or malfunctioning.

Things You'll Need

Mirror
Venturi cleaning brush
Pipe cleaner
Nail
Wire brush

Instructions

- 1
  Open the lid for your grill and then remove the metal grates. Take out any briquettes in the interior until you can access the igniter.
- 2
  Position a mirror on the underside of the collector box. Press the igniter button to see if a spark appears. If the igniter does not spark it is bad and needs to be replaced.
- 3
  Turn off the gas to the grill and close the valve on the supply tank. Disconnect the gas line from the port on the grill.
- 4
  Pull the burner out of the interior of the grill. The tubes on the bottom of the burner need to slide out of their mounting slots. If the burner is covered with rust it needs to be replaced.
- 5
  Clean the inside of the tubes by using a venturi cleaning brush. You can also use a large pipe cleaner for this task. This will remove any debris that has collected in the tubes.
- 6
  Push a small nail into the burner holes to remove any clogs. Scrub the outside of the burner with a wire brush to remove any dirt or rust.
- 7
  Set the burner back in place and then reconnect the gas line. Turn on the gas at the tank and on the grill. Press the igniter button to see if the burner produces a flame.

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