DaveS
Well-Known Member
One of the saily comics had an article a few weeks ago about cleaning out gas burners to remove crud, let more air in, and turn the flame from yellow to blue. It also pointed out that with an older burner the fixing screw was likely to be immovable so the only solution is a new cooker. 
I was in this position: immovable screws and flames starting to get a bit yellow and sooty, burning noisily, and "blowing away" from the burner at high settings. I'm a bit reluctant, though, to part with 400+ beer vouchers if I can avoid it. So I took a cross head screwdriver that fitted the burner screw and started sharply tapping its handle with a hammer. I maintained gentle anti-clockwise torque on the handle in the faint hope that the tapping might free the screw. It didn't, but after a minute or so I was aware of a small, but growing, pile of off-white dust outside each flame hole. Fifteen minutes of tapping produced quite a sizeable pile before accumulation stopped. The flames now burn blue and silent.
I was in this position: immovable screws and flames starting to get a bit yellow and sooty, burning noisily, and "blowing away" from the burner at high settings. I'm a bit reluctant, though, to part with 400+ beer vouchers if I can avoid it. So I took a cross head screwdriver that fitted the burner screw and started sharply tapping its handle with a hammer. I maintained gentle anti-clockwise torque on the handle in the faint hope that the tapping might free the screw. It didn't, but after a minute or so I was aware of a small, but growing, pile of off-white dust outside each flame hole. Fifteen minutes of tapping produced quite a sizeable pile before accumulation stopped. The flames now burn blue and silent.