BBQ not hot enough
Our new Jackeroo 4 burner barbeque would not get hot enough. The previous one worked extremely well, as you can see-
The ’Dance of the Flaming Lamb Chops’ – courtesy of shed mate Steve
Our old 4 burner Jackeroo Barbecue was rusting away after many years of service. We replaced it with a new one in 2008, of the same brand. Barbies with timber stands were rare and nearly all were built into metal cabinets.
Putting what seemed like 400 parts together took a few hours but eventually we had a red and black gleaming monster ready for action.
Unfortunately the entire design, not just the cabinet, had been changed and the new BBQ would not get hot enough. The old BBQ had plenty of power and was rarely run with the taps on full. The new one wouldn’t get hot enough to make the sausages sizzle and cooking on the grill took far too long.
For several months I tried to get used to it, but when I checked the gas bottle which normally would have been almost empty, and found it was 2/3rd full I realized something was badly wrong.
I spoke to people and searched the internet. I heard similar tales many times, so it was possibly not just a faulty BBQ and anyway I wasn’t prepared to disassemble those 400 parts to take it back for a refund ! I heard that these BBQ’s are now made in China and that the Chinese use BBQ’s to cook slowly.
I found out that Jackeroo is managed by Arlec and I rang the head office in Sydney. I was put through to the BBQ department and spoke to 2 very helpful blokes. They suggested the regulator was faulty and sent me another one. I videoed the flame on the burner before and after- no difference, and when I next cooked, the result was the same, the plate was not getting hot enough.
The burners seemed about 50mm further away from the plates than the old barbie, but the main clue was that the gas had still not run out after 6 months of cooking.
The Arlec guys told me the jets were 1mm, which I verified with a 1mm drill which was a tight fit. On the internet I read that people had drilled out the gas jets with a number 56 or 57 drill. I checked that I could get replacement jets then bought a number 56 drill.
I removed one jet, drilled a hole in some timber and screwed the thread end of the jet tightly into timber to hold it. Ideally I would have liked to drill out the jet with a drill press or better yet a lathe, but as these were unavailable I used a hand drill. The #56 drill went through the brass easily, using the existing 1mm hole as a pilot.
I replaced the jet and immediately could see much stronger flames coming out of the burner bar. Info on the net said that if the holes are too big the flame will turn yellow which is bad, probably because it would make soot and also waste gas. This flame was still blue so no problems. I removed the other 3 jets and drilled them also.
The result is that I now have enough heat- still not as powerful as the old Jackeroo, but enough to do the job. I use less gas than the old Barbie but more than before I drilled the holes. I cook steaks for 2 minutes on each side- these are normal supermarket steaks, not ultra thick ones. I can make sausages sizzle!!
Here’s the new Barbie -
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Excellent (and usual) bit of detective work from you
The lamb chop dance was awesome
Hi, any chance of a photo of where you drilled? do you drill every single hole along the burner?
Hi Fred- NOT the burner- There is a small brass jet in the end of the fitting that the burner slides onto- unscrew the brass jet and drill it as per my post.
I would advise you to make sure you can get replacement jets in case you make the hole too large or it doesn’t work for some reason. For me this was a good fix although it took me months to decide to try it.
I realised recently that I didn’t do the wok burner jet and that too has never been as hot as I expected, So I will have to find that numbe 56 drill and do that too.
Goiod luck,
Hi Fred (and others)
I have a new Jackeroo 4 burner BBQ (Grange). I assembled it carefully and all seemed well when I turned it on, but after about 10 minutes I found an intermittent problem on the first and last burners: gas ignites just behind the control knob at the junction with the burner strip. I have pulled the burner strips (the thin stainless type) off and checked that they were seated properly over the jet. But it still malfunctions. Any ideas?
Hi Mark, sorry I have no idea except that obviously gas is leaking out the wrong place!! The best thing is to take it back but these darn metal BBQ;s take hours to put together, so most people are reluctant to disassemble them to return to the store. Also they are very hard to lift because the ends are not strong.
If that is not an option then all I can guess at is that some O rings are missing or something like that- maybe bad casting? You could try swapping things around with the center burners to test.
All the best,
Rob
Hi Rob
Thanks for your article.
Here is my experience from earlier today, you may want to re-drill your jets to 1/16″ if you still think that your BBQ is not delivering the same heat as LPG.
We upgraded to a new BBQ & the old one was on natural Gas so I thought that I could just swap the running gear over (regulator & jets), it almost worked except the jets were a different style of beast on the old BBQ.
After talking to a plumber, reading your little blog & another article http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/article18gasgrill.html
It was time to drill, the plumber said that 1.0mm was the standard size used when he had to drill out LPG jets, when I had a look at the BBQ that I wanted to convert 1.0mm jets were already installed in each burner & 1.05mm in the wok burner for use with LPG & I was lucky if we could get ignition, at best the flame just fluttered around the burner with very little pressure.
The size suggested in the other article was 1/16″ (1.5875mm) ~0.4mm larger than a #56 drill
http://bobmay.astronomy.net/misc/drillchart.htm
I went ahead & drilled out one jet then tested it (recommended), then I went for it drilling the rest of the LPG jets to 1/16″ and like magic we had a nice blue flame, I lit all of the burners including the wok burner & adjusted the pressure on the Natural Gas regulator until the burners weren’t starving for fuel & the flame was what I considered to be acceptable.
The heat felt like standing near a jet engine at take off, I am confident that that it is mission accomplished on operation BBQ conversion.
Cheers
Bobby
Thanks Booby, more good info. I am happy with the heat and gas usage now so i won’t adjust mine anymore. I’m sure you checked there was no yellow flame but if you have an adjustable regulator you can balance the air and gas to optimum.
Glad you now have ‘jet engine at take off’ performance!! woohoo that’s my kinda barbie!!
Hi Mark
You’ve probably fixed your problem by now, but as a general rule when a BBQ jet or similar acts the way you described it’s usually partially blocked. Fine metal shavings are picked up from inside the pipework.
To fix it remove the stainless steel burner tube and look for the small brass jet at the back of the valve. Unscrew it and clean it.
The advice on burners has been excellent. I shall go to work on my wok burner to up its horsepower.
thanks fellows