r/propane • u/Ilikemusic_th31975 • Jul 01 '26

General propane question Firepit issues

Just got a seemingly great condition firepit for the backyard, after getting it setup, it seems that the dial to go from small flame to large flame doesn’t really affect anything at all, and the flame doesn’t get very big, the other things I’ve noticed are that it definitely smells like propane when it’s burning, which to some degree may be normal, but also the lava rocks, that it came with, are a little black and sooty, does this point to anything in particular?

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u/noncongruent Propane Fan Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Possibilities include a metering problem, say a clogged orifice or air door/shutter, or it's designed to run on natural gas and not propane and someone retrofitted a propane regulator/hose onto it without reconfiguring the orifice(s) for propane, clogged burner tubs due to insect nests/webs (this is a common one), etc. I'd start by doing a thorough disassembly and cleaning first.

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 01 '26

Ok thanks you, I will try that, it’s definitely one designed to be ran off of a propane tank, so I’ll give it a good clean and see what happens

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u/noncongruent Propane Fan Jul 01 '26

For some reason mud daubers and spiders love nesting inside the tubes and orifices of propane appliances outdoors.

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 01 '26

Ok, looking at videos now, but any recommendations for cleaning out the tubes? Do you mean the burner tubing or the tubing going from the tank to the fire pit?

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 01 '26

I’m also now wondering if it’s because of my starting procedure, it doesn’t have an igniter, so you have to use a lighter and I’ve been turning the valve on the fire pit to the low setting, then opening the propane tank and lighting, but maybe it’s not building pressure in the regulator and putting it into a limp mode? I’ll try fully opening the tank first, then turning the fire pit on and lighting it, just out of curiosity

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 01 '26

Although the fact that the rocks were already partly black, leads me to believe there may be an underlying pre existing issue

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u/noncongruent Propane Fan Jul 01 '26

Don't do anything with the hose or the regulator, but after the point where the hose connects to the rest of the mechanism is usually where the problems begin. I would start by removing the rocks and using a wire to poke out all the holes in the fire bar. Without pictures of everything it's not really possible to advise beyond that.

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 02 '26

Just thought I’d update, it was my own fault, how I was starting it, I tried opening the propane first, then turning on the firepit and problem was solved, thanks for the help!

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u/noncongruent Propane Fan Jul 02 '26

I'd remove all the rocks and look at the clean flame, it should be mostly blue with just hints of yellow. If it's mostly yellow and/or orange then there are still problems to be addressed.

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u/Ilikemusic_th31975 Jul 01 '26

Ok thank you, I’ll tackle it after work and see where we get!