My rotisserie burner will not light. What should I do?
In an effort to enhance the safety of grills and eliminate the possibility of rotisserie burners being blown out by the wind, many grill manufacturers have included a "safety valve" on rotisserie burners today. This "safety valve" reads the temperature at the rotisserie burner and only holds the valve "open" – allowing gas to flow to the burner – if there is evidence of heat. If the burner is blown out, the "safety valve" will detect this and automatically stop gas flow to the rotisserie burner.
This is a tremendous safety feature on many of today's grills, but it may cause some delays as grillers become familiar with the particular workings of these advanced "safety valves". The largest potential problem is in lighting the grill. The "safety valve" requires heat at the rotisserie burner in order to send a signal to the valve to allow gas to flow to the burner. What this means is that when lighting such rotisserie burners, the griller must push in, turn to HIGH and hold the rotisserie burner control knob until it reaches a sufficient temperature to hold the valve "open". This generally will occur in approximately 5 seconds, but in some instances (particularly in colder weather), it may take longer. You should follow the manufacturers instructions to light the burner and ensure that the rotisserie burner is indeed lit before leaving the grill.
In addition to the "safety valve" described above, there are a variety of other reasons that any burner will not light properly. Click here to view the "Troubleshooting" section of an owner's manual with some common causes and solutions.
