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gtadross_gw

Orange flame on ALL bluestar burners???

gtadross_gw
10 years ago

Hello

I have a 36" RNB with six burners. All was well until yesterday when I noticed that the flames on ALL burners have significant amounts of orange in them instead of just blue as it should be. It just occurred out of the blue (excuse the pun).

Does anybody know what is causing this? Is it something to do with the city's gas line or something systemic within the range itself?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Comments (23)

  • alexrander
    10 years ago

    Could be many things. However, you can open the air shutters on the individual burner pipes and see if that helps. If they are set too small the flames will be orange, if set too open, the flames will be hard to ignite or spread across the burner.

  • willtv
    10 years ago

    If this just happened, as you say, out of the blue, pun intended, I'd give it a day or so to see if it's the gas supply.
    Otherwise, I'd try adjusting the air shutters as "alexr" suggests.
    As I recall, you recently replaced a 15K burner with a 22K burner.
    While I don't think so, I'm curious if that has anything to do with it.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    That's what I'm afraid of....that it has something to do with the switch out. I did that about two weeks ago and everything was working fine.

    I tried adjusting the air shutters and it had no effect. That, coupled with the fact that its happening on every burner, makes me think it might be a regulator or manifold issue. But that's just a guess.

  • tyguy
    10 years ago

    Hey gta....did you happen to have a lot of chemical vapours in the air? Paint? Paint thinner? I know this sounds crazy but I know all too well that with a high concentration of certain chemicals in the air this can happen.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Good thought. But we haven't encountered any chemicals of late. We try to stay away from any chemical bc we have two small girls.

    The only thing that's different is that about a week ago, a house and a store burned down. We're about three blocks away. I'm seeing alot of city workers digging, removing debris etc on that street. Maybe they're somehow messing with the gas flow?

  • dodge59
    10 years ago

    Do you have any other items in the house that run on gas?
    IE, gas water heater, gas furnace, gas fireplace, gas oven?

    If so, check the flame color on those.
    If not see if some of your neighbors have a gas cook top and
    some of the other items , I mentioned.

    Gary

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Good idea. I turned on the gas fireplace and probably 70% of the flame is orange. It's been months since I've used the fireplace so I'm not sure if it was all blue last time I had it on.

    So I guess it could be a gas line issue. Seems to be leaning that way

  • dodge59
    10 years ago

    my gas fireplace is blue when I first light it, after the fake logs get hot , it turns orangish-red

    If you have a pilot on it that should be blue

    Gary

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The flames were orange as soon as it turned on for the fireplace. The pilot isn't always on. I have to light it manually by clicking a module to create a spark, so I can't tell what color the pilot light is.

  • brickeyee
    10 years ago

    They may have disturbed gas lines if they are digging down the street.

    Might be time for a call to the gas company if you cannot adjust the shutters to all blue flames.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I've done some general online research about orange flames on burners (presumably non-bluestar burners). A lot of the posts say that orange flames are caused by excess humidity. It's spring now and much more humid than it was over the winter and I'm still not running the AC in the house yet to keep the humidity levels in check.

    Has anyone experienced any orange flames in their burners just bc of the weather change?

  • chas045
    10 years ago

    One nice thing about gas being dangerous is that the gas company is used to responding to calls and concerns. Call Them! Adjusting one burner for research is fine, but changing them all when it is almost certainly not the shutters but rather either the gas line or the regulator is silly or dangerous.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I did call them and, like so many other city services here in Philly, they didn't do a damn thing. They said orange flames were nothing to be concerned about and they refused to send a technician out.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    I am having the same issues (not with a BS). Sometimes the flames are mostly blue, other times they have a lot of orange in them. The manufacturer is sending someone out to check the regulator.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    What range is it?

  • alexrander
    10 years ago

    Could be moisture or contaminants in the line. If I bang on my burners, the flames will turn orange. I find it hard to believe that it's a regulator. Still, this might be something to be concerned about. The gas company should come out and check for carbon monoxide.

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gas company refuses to do anything.

    I turned on the oven and saw that the flames there were all blue. Very strange then that just the burners are orange and stranger still that it happened all at once. Maybe it's an issue with the manifold? I'm not even sure what a manifold does, so if anyone can educate me, it'd be greatly appreciated.

  • brickeyee
    10 years ago

    The manifold distributes gas from the actual line and mixes in air and routes the mixture from the control to the burner.

    The gas in the line is safe because there is no oxygen present.

    Some stoves use a separate regulator for ovens and stove top burners (there are even a few out there with separate regulators for each oven burner, and a singe (or even two) for 4 stove top burners (2 per regulator).

    Debris in the gas line can make a regulator malfunction.

    Smaller debris can make a flame orange briefly.
    That is why banging a gas pipe sometimes causes flecks of orange from disturbed debris (think dust) in the line.

    Work on a large line may leave debris in the line.

    Just opening and closing valves can release debris.

    This post was edited by brickeyee on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 13:29

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    thanks brickeyee. good info to know. i guess it could all just be debris, but i've only had the range about 6 or so months. could be i just have dirty gas pipes. but then why woulddn't the gas flames for the oven be orange too?

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I figured out the issue. Has nothing to do with the stove at all. Turns out the orange flames were due to the ultrasonic humidifier being run in the baby's room upstairs. Apparently, only the ultrasonic kind of humidifier will do that to open flames, as they put out silver ions to prevent mold, etc from forming on the humidifier. The silver ions interact with the flame and turn it orange. Sure enough, when the unit is off and the place has been aired out, the flames are a solid blue. Whew!

  • gtadross_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yea. It's def strange and even stranger that the same thing won't happen if using a non-ultrasonic humidifier.

    But I ran a lot of experiments and every time the humidifier is on, the flames go orange. Every time it's off, the flames are blue.

  • Pat Wagman
    3 years ago

    I have a gas stove cook top. The flames on all 4 burners started burning orange at the same time. I thought it was a humidity problem so I ran a dehumidifier and lowered the humidity in the house considerably, the flames were still orange. I was about ready to start taking the gas valve out and my wife told she had been running a small humidifier/diffuser that disperses natural oils into the air. It was the culprit, problem solved.