BBQ Grill Control Valve with Flame Thrower Igniter

by grillrepair on

This is a very short new video showing the use and the value of the flame-thrower control valves used by a lot of the Ducane, Turbo, Kirkland and other barbecue grill brands.

The control valve for barbecue grills is called a  flame thrower because the effect of the ignition system looks like a doll-sized flame thrower.  Not for kids!

The video shows the valve of the flame thrower but basically the most commonly heard complaint about gas barbecues is that the igniters never work for long.  This is not actually true.  Most igniters work perfectly for approximately 10 years.  The problem is a single misplaced drop of grease can get in the way of the electrode sparking so the ignition often seems to be broken because it will not spark.  Usually a new battery and/or wiping off the electrode will repair most igniters.

The flame thrower contraol valve has a rotary module (no battery) and the electrode included in the design of the valve and the electrode is mostly located insode the control panle.  Only the steel tip that sparks extends into the grill and even that is usually only about one-eight of an inch.  That is not enough to be in the barbecue where dripping marinades, sauces and grease will get on the electrode and stop the ignition from lighting the burner.

To that end the flame thrower is a more reliable system.  The problem is products imported from overseas are usually not built with the same quality of workmanship or materials as domestically manufactured products.  Over a few years a lot of these gas grills have leaking at the seal where the valve attaches to the manifold and that causes flames in the control panle to damage the valve.  Also the burners in imported barbecues are usually inferior materials and when a home owner replaces the burner without seeking assistance from someone like Majestic Grill Parts it is not difficult to install the burners incorrectly which causes a back-flow of gas which causes flames in the control panle which ruins the control valves.

Almost every time someone has contacted us to purchase replacement control valves for a flame thrower valve model the wire attached to the electrode is gone because of flames in the control panel.  SOmetimes it was because of a leaking manifold seal, sometimes a mis-installed burner and sometimes it was simply a grease fire in the grill.  These valves are easy to damage and most imported grills do not have repacement valves that are of the flame thrower design.

Rather than accept that we are unable to repair gas barbecues that have flame thrower valves we collect as many as possible when they are available, we hold onto slightly used valves that are still functional and we manufacture our own replacement valves.  However, without a run of 10,000 pieces manufacturing a flame thrower is very expensive.  We have designed and manufactred control valves to replace the damaged valves in several models of perfect flame, kirkland, jenn air and turbo models that have flame thrower valves.  The valves we have manufactured are not flame throwers but are traditional style control valves which allows us to repair the barbecue so the gas can be turned off and on and controlled.  These replacement valves will not replace the ignition though.

Wee replace the ignition be installing a universal module with a AA battery and then screw new electrodes into the front fire wall inside the BBQ fore box.  This is more like a traditional BBQ grill and mimics the style of control in most high-end barbecue grills of today.  Models from top-level companies like Firemagic, Alfresco, Lynx, DCS, Solaire and many others are still using the traditional style of ignition so the module is not a part of the valve.  They are a really interesting design but just too easy to damage and too difficult to replace.

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Previous post:

Next post: