I put a new tank on my barbecue, and nothing would light. This wasn’t a problem with the old tank. What’s going on?—Bill Gunn, via email
Unfortunately, without examining the barbecue, no expert we asked could give a definite answer. Still, it’s possible that during the tank swap-out, “the grill regulator’s safety mechanism was triggered and halted the gas flow,” says Tyler Duprey-Steinman, the founder of The Grill Guys, a B.C.-based barbecue repair, maintenance, and cleaning company. “If this was the case, the regulator would need to be reset.” This is straightforward enough. Your owner’s manual should have details, but usually, the procedure is to turn everything off, including your gas flow at the tank; disconnect the regulator from the tank and wait about five minutes; then reconnect the regulator to the tank and slowly open the valve all the way. Wait at least 30 seconds before trying to light the barbecue, and then, yay—now you’re cooking with gas! Hopefully. Maybe.
3 fixes for a barbecue that won’t light
If you’ve already tried this, and you’re certain there are no other issues with the grill—for example, that the regulator hose needs to be replaced—and it continues to work with the old tank when you swap it back, Duprey-Steinman thinks that it could be a defect with the new tank itself. In which case, you’d need a different (new) tank.
If none of this trial-and-erroring works, you may be better off getting an expert to inspect your ’cue, and figure out why it and the new tank aren’t cooperating with each other.
Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.
This article was originally published in the May 2025 issue of Cottage Life.
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