Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

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Yukon-rose
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Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby Yukon-rose » Fri Jun 25, 2021 11:40 am

I built a charcoal/wood BBQ out of firebrick. I included a natural gas line and 6 burners that I made. The burners are hard to reach so I wanted to add an igniter like I have on my propane grill.

I bought a 6-connection Uniflasy Grill Igniter Kit and set it up for a test. My test failed. The wires simply arced between themselves at the connection point on the back of the igniter. The connections were tight but I had no joy.

So I sent the stuff back.

Please suggest a better way to ignite my burners - either a better product or a different approach.

Gary
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby rexster314 » Fri Jun 25, 2021 12:43 pm

Where did you have the igniters mounted?
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby GRailsback » Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:07 pm

Send some photo's. There will be some guys on here that can help you.
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby txsmkmstr » Fri Jun 25, 2021 4:23 pm

All connections on the igniter have to be well insulated. If you are using multiple leads try reducing to a single one. I've had great success putting electronic igniters on pits in the past.
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby Yukon-rose » Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:51 am

Answers to questions:

1) I didn't have the igniters mounted. I simply laid the base unit and all 6 igniters in a countertop and pushed the button.

2) Reducing the number of igniters from 6 to 1 defeats the purpose of a 6-connection device. I still have 6 burners to light.

3) I'm not sure what sort of photos you want to see. As I said, I sent the base unit and igniters back so I can't photograph them. Also I can't figure out how to attach a picture to my post.

Gary
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby Yukon-rose » Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:59 am

I figured out how to post photos. Here is a picture of the igniter set I bought:

igniter set.jpg
igniter set.jpg (7.97 KiB) Viewed 4370 times
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby txsmkmstr » Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:19 am

Yukon-rose wrote:Answers to questions:

1) I didn't have the igniters mounted. I simply laid the base unit and all 6 igniters in a countertop and pushed the button.

2) Reducing the number of igniters from 6 to 1 defeats the purpose of a 6-connection device. I still have 6 burners to light.

3) I'm not sure what sort of photos you want to see. As I said, I sent the base unit and igniters back so I can't photograph them. Also I can't figure out how to attach a picture to my post.

Gary


1) They weren't mounted properly IMHO.... You need to have a grounded circuit for the arc to jump across. Just laying them on the counter explains a lot. From the unit to the ceramic end is one wire then it has to find a metal surface (burner) to arc toward but that metal surface has to have a return ground back to the unit. If I'm not seeing this right then let me know.

2) Most units with multiple burners have only one igniter. Once a single burner lights that will light the rest. The reason I suggested trying one was to isolate the terminals to avoid what you experienced.
Custom LSG 24x40 - 36" Blackstone - (others - R & O FatGirl, ETSC RK-250, Tejas 1628 - all sold)
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby Yukon-rose » Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:18 am

>You need to have a grounded circuit for the arc to jump across.

Hmm. I plan to mount the push button box in a PVC switch box and attach the switch box to the BBQ (a mixture of stone and firebrick). The burners are attached to the firebrick via metal stringers - all stainless steel.

The push button box is completely plastic so there is no way to ground it. How do I make a complete circuit in that case?

Gary
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Re: Using a Gas Grill igniter in my custom BBQ pit

Postby txsmkmstr » Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:57 pm

Edit..... OK - I checked out some items and you'll need to have the igniters actually installed close enough to metal to create the spark. Forget the ground wire thing as that was an old snap igniter that I installed. Hard to explain but poke around the Q & A on Amazon for a better description. Sorry for the confusion. :banghead:
Custom LSG 24x40 - 36" Blackstone - (others - R & O FatGirl, ETSC RK-250, Tejas 1628 - all sold)

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