Gas Cooktop and Yellow Flames

[Mark Jaggers]

I just installed a new gas cooktop to replace our old one. It is a GE JGP336BEDBB 30 inch Glass cooktop. I got it installed and everything seems to be working well, but I am concerned about some yellow flames.

If I turn it on without anything sitting on the burner it has periodic yellow flickers. If I sit something on the burner like a tea kettle it has more yellow flames. From reading the installation instructions I should have no yellow flames at all. Did I do something wrong? Is this normal? Does it need to be fixed?

BTW: this is Natural Gas

thanks Mark

[Phisherman]

Not enough air or sodium will cause the flame to turn yellow. Dirty vent holes may cause a yellow flame, but yours is new. Is there black soot on the bottom of the kettle? Does the flame turn yellow when the hood fan is on? Have you contacted GE customer support?

[Joseph Meehan]

It may have an adjustable air control for the flame. It may need to be adjusted. It also could just be that it is burning off contaminates from the burners and it will go away. I would not be too concerned if it is just a few flicks.

[mark Ransley]

800 GE will get the answer, but did you instal the regulator that came with it, could be to much gas going to it.

[wff_ng_4]

Small periodic flickers of yellow (or to me, orange) seem to be normal on all of my gas appliances: stove, furnace, water heater. Here in Washington, DC the amount of orange seems to vary by the season. Like another poster mentioned, I attribute this to impurities in the gas. Natural gas comes from lots of different sources, and large quantities are stored locally for winter demand. I think this accounts for the variations.

If your old cooktop was also gas, I would think that would be a good reference as to what a normal flame looks like. Coming to gas for the first time from electric, one might not have a reference point.

If your flames truely do have yellow flickers rather than orange (meaning the yellow like a candle flame vs. orange like a pumpkin), then I would tend to think something is wrong. I've never seen what I would call yellow on any of my gas appliances.

[Colin]

Mark,

Occasional yellow flickers are no problem. However, any steady yellow flames indicate too much gas in the gas:air ratio.

Gas appliances use a venturi system to inject air into the gas stream, and your gas pressure may be lower than 'normal', meaning you need a larger air proportion. This is generally a simple adjustment (but don't ask me how, as I am stuck with an electric range).

Colin

Mark Jaggers wrote:

[Erik]

Read the manual that came with it. Adjusting the air/fuel ratio is a common adjustment and is very simple to do and only needs to be done once.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

Read the instruction and go to the section where it says about setting the type fuel your using on the stove. There is switches that will let you use it on Propane and then switch to natural gas by a flip of a switch to convert it to natural gas. The instruction will explain all about this and i feel you will find the problem with this section being read.

TURTLE

[Rudy]

Turtle, our Kitchenaid gas cooktop didnt have any switch. It DID have a reversible centerpiece in the regulator that you flipped over and reinstalled for Propane VS gas. We also had to buy and install the orifice conversion kit as they are different sizes.

R