yellow flame

[TiggerToo]

One of the burners on our cooker has started making yellow sooty flames: any suggestions about what needs/can be done about it?

 

[tobble]

sounds like maybe it's not getting air properly. (Remember using them bunsen burners at school?) take it to bits and clean it, paying particular attention to the air intake!

 

[orizaba]

a good clean in the pipes they get bits of rust and allsorts in them,should be fine

 

[Billjratt]

After you've cleaned the pipes and found nothing wrong, get the cast iron burner "lid" off and clean all the grooves and holes you can find. (May be a little retaining screw in the side, depending on make of cooker) A vacuum cleaner may be required to get the spag-bol remains out of the lower bit.

 

[orizaba]

i thought you had to take the cast iron burner off to get to the pipes,well you do on mine anyway

 

[awol]

My Flavel Vanessa used to suffer from yellow flame and a good banging of the burner with a hammer (or winch handle) seemed to dislodge enough crud to make it blue again for a while. I have now found a permanent solution called a Nelson Spinflo and it burns blue and makes awfy good scones.

 

[Alfie168]

A gas engineer speaks.

If this has come on rapidly/suddenly the chances are its a simple blockage and a good clean out, as suggested by others should restore it to health. If you need to clean jets physically don't stick large pins down them. Either use the requisite sized wire 'pricker' or a can of dust-air (air in a can)

The only warning I would issue is that, if after all your attention you are unable to restore a healthy blue flame (orange tips are acceptable), then either get a gas professional to check it or scrap it and replace the appliance.

A yellow sooty flame is symptomatic of an appliance with incomplete combustion which is almost certainly producing carbon monoxide as a result. If its gone bad its gone bad, and its not always possible to identify why.

Hope you get it sorted.

Tim