Gas Burner Emitting Odor

Find out what’s causing a gas burner to emit an odor and create a black buildup. Something is obstructing the burner, so the gas is not fully combusting. The solution is to take the burners apart and clean them thoroughly.

[mai_avatar size="40" margin_right="-4px"][post_author_posts_link before=" by "][post_date before=" — "][mai_icon icon="comment-alt-lines" style="light" display="inline-block" size="1em" margin_left="12px" margin_right="-8px" margin_bottom="-4px"][post_comments][post_sponsor][shared_counts]

LESLIE: Alright. Anthony, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

ANTHONY: We have a three-burner gas range: you know, one in the oven and then two on top. And we have an odor emitting from one of the pilots that seems to be a little bit higher than the other one. And it’s building up like an ashy, creosote, real fine, black mess. If you touch it, it goes everywhere. And it smells in the mornings when you wake up. Is it not vented properly?

TOM: Here’s what I think is happening: the burner is somewhat partially blocked and so the gas is not fully combusting. And when you get a gas flame that doesn’t fully combust, it has sort of a sickeningly sweet smell to it, which actually contains a pretty high level of carbon monoxide.

So what you should do is take those burners apart and clean them thoroughly and get them operating properly again. There’s something obstructing the burner and that’s why it’s not fully combusting. It also accounts for the fact that it’s building up an additional carbon deposit. If the gas is not fully combusting, this is what happens.

ANTHONY: Alright. Thank you so much.

TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.