On 12/5/2004 5:30 PM US(ET), Ray Heindl took fingers to keys, and typed
the following:

I've just tried using my gas grill for the first time in a few months,
but the flame starts burning down around the venturi, as well as up on
the burner where it's supposed to. This has been an occasional problem
in the past, but now it's at the point where I don't want to use the
grill. Any suggestions on what might be causing the problem?

I've tried adjusting the air/fuel mixture and the length of the venturi
tube, but neither makes any difference. The problem seemed to get
better when I removed the lava rocks and the grate that holds them, but
it didn't go away completely. Besides, it won't grill very well that
way.

The grill is an ancient post-mounted Charmglow burning natural gas.
The burner and venturi are only a couple of years old.

I had a similar problem with my not as old BBQ. One of the problems is
that critters build homes in the tubes, be they spiders or wasps.
Another problem I had was that my burners are cast iron and the little
holes had rusted over to where they clogged the holes. The holes were
not that round to begin with. I drilled out every hole using a small
drill bit.