Is your propane grill suddenly not able to get up over 200 degrees?

You may be experiencing propane lock out mode, which is actually a safety feature built into current propane tanks. It can be frustrating at first to diagnose, but once you understand what is going on it's quite the easy fix!

Some Symptoms of Lock Out Mode:

  • Grill doesn’t get up to temperature
  • Grill lights but goes out after a couple minutes
  • No gas at all will come out of the grill

How Propane Lock Out Mode Works:

As a safety measure, your propane tank will shut down to only about 20% flow if it “thinks” there is a leak somewhere in the system. This reduced flow might be enough to light one burner, but by the time all your burners are lit it would be just a whisper of a flame and the grill will likely not get over 200 degrees. In some cases the grill will not light at all due to lack of sufficient gas pressure. 

What is the cause?

If even a single control knob on the barbecue is slightly on when you open the propane tank, gas will escape from the grill right away so the tank never properly pressurizes. This causes the safety valve to think there is a leak so it shuts the flow down to only 20%. 

Although much less common, we have also come across a few instances of propane lockout occurring when a tank has been over filled. This can trigger lock out mode just by opening the tank valve quickly. 

And sometimes it happens with no rhyme or reason at all...

Thankfully the procedure below should fix it!

What is the Fix?

  • Turn OFF all control knobs on the Barbecue (look for a side burner too!)
  • Close the valve on the top of the propane tank to stop gas flow
  • Unscrew the hose and regulator from the tank.
  • The tank will reset itself within 1 minute.
  • Screw the hose and regulator back onto the tank tightly with your hand and then turn it on VERY SLOWLY (imagine opening a shaken bottle of soda pop!), wait 30 seconds and then turn on your Barbecue. If it was lock out mode you will be back to grilling!

If this procedure does not work we would recommend you next replace the hose and regulator for the grill. The Barbecue itself is rarely the issue unless you are physically unable to turn the control knobs. Sometimes there may be a blockage inside an individual burner but it would only affect that single burner and not the entire Barbecue.

Hopefully you have now solved your propane lock out mode and are back up to maximum temp! But if not please feel free to reach out to us at the store and we will be happy to help you troubleshoot the cause of the issue.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out our other useful articles!

- The Johnstone's Team