The flame from the gasoline burner represents the ultimate challenge: to mix gas and oxygen in just the right amounts to create combustion, giving us controlled heat with minimum light. The simplest, most effective example of this may be the old-fashioned Bunsen burner. This type of burner premixes air and gas prior to reaching the flame, resulting in a highly efficient flame that burns intensely, but with a clean, smokeless flame. The shape and size of the burner are the two factors that place the flame exactly where direct heat is needed most.
In a toaster or broiler, for instance, the gasoline flame is directed at a molded ceramic or metal screen, which is heated to a deep red color and emits infrared heat rays that penetrate the food being cooked. The latest innovation within the industry, may be the high-input gasoline burner, which burns twice the amount of gasoline (for greater intensity of heat) as a conventional burner of the same size. Amazingly, the natural-gas-air combination can produce a stove temperature of up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.
One of the functions of the gas-fired appliance is to limit and distribute the available heat, to reach the accurate temperature to cook foods correctly. You’ll discover a gas burner sometimes lets out a whoosh or roaring sound as it lights. This is known as flashback, and it occurs because the burning speed is faster than the gas flow. This type of flashback occurs a lot more often with fast-burning gases such as propane.
An additional type of flashback happens when the burner is turned off, creating a popping sound that is known as the extinction pop. Occasionally it’s so pronounced that it blows out the pilot light flame. You generally can correct both kinds of flashback by reducing primary air input to the burner. If you’re unsure about how to do it yourself, remember that burner adjustment is a free service of numerous gasoline companies. Flashback isn’t hazardous, but it is annoying.
It creates soot and carbon monoxide and often means you have to relight your pilot. Inside the burner, repeated flashback occurrences might cause it to warp or crack. It makes a lot more sense to obtain the burner adjusted than to live with flashback. A number of other conditions might need professional attention and adjustment. You may notice that the flames seem to lift and then drop on some parts of the burner head at irregular intervals, as if some unseen hand were playing with the control knob.
This burner may seem a bit noisier than the others, making a roaring sound whenever the flames improve. Flame lift, as this really is sometimes known, is not a stable, normal burner situation and should be corrected instantly. Incomplete combustion might also cause floating flames which are lazy looking and are not shaped as well-defined cones. This is a dangerous situation, and you’ll usually notice it in the first minute or two that a burner has been turned on, prior to it achieves the correct airflow.
If the flames do not assume their typical, conical shapes quickly, have the burner checked. Finally, the most serious condition is flame rollout. When the burner is turned on, flames shoot out from the combustion chamber opening instead of the top from the burner. Flame rollout is really a serious fire hazard and must be repaired immediately. The burner might not be correctly positioned or something might have obstructed its inner workings. Either way, call the service person-fast.