# Masterbuilt Model 20050106 - Yellow Flame



## rc1991 (Apr 24, 2010)

Hi new here- bought this smoker beginning of March from Sears and it had been working fine until last week. Smoked a couple of pork shoulders and briskets that came out very well thanks to this forum!

Started getting a huge yellow flame - tried resetting the regulator, cleaning the venturi tubes, burner, etc. but no luck. Called Masterbuilt and as it's still under warranty they sent a new regulator and hose assembly. Put it on and checked for leaks using soapy water and it seemed OK - fired it up and again HUGE yellow flame when set to high - almost goes out when turned to low. Will call Masterbuilt again when they are open on Monday but wanted to know if anyone had any ideas in the meantime? Bad burner, tank of gas? I'll have to run and get a couple tanks exchanged to check that but it's the only other think I can think of unless the replacement regulator is bad too? It is made in China and does seem rather flimsy but they can't all be bad?


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## bbally (Apr 24, 2010)

Check air gap with pipe cleaner.

Does not say where you are living, altitude means a change of orifice if you are over 2000 ASL.

Exit ventilation is required, if you have the box closed up tight, that can stop air from getting through the venturi and up the stack.


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## rc1991 (Apr 25, 2010)

Hi - Thank you! I'm in central NJ near the coast so essentially we are at sea level here. Do you mean check the gap between where the gas source from the burner control knob enters the tube? I usually keep the top vent open a bit since I was getting condensation on cooler days and read on here that it was necessary to make sure there was enough of an opening to get the excess moisture out of the box itself. The strange thing with the yellow flame was it just sort of came up between uses - all was well one and then the next time I went to use it I noticed the yellow flame when I fired it up. I changed tanks yesterday and removed the burner to try and clean it up some more but still no go - on high the flame reaches the lower rack and on low it almost goes out....I'm wondering if it could be the control knob??


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## rc1991 (Apr 29, 2010)

Just wanted to provide an update. Spoke with Masterbuilt on Monday and they sent out a new burner and were going to send a control valve as well but the valves are on back order for 45 days. Well the burner arrived today and I swapped it out and that seems to have done the trick - nice blue flame again. Don't understand what was wrong with the old burner as I cleaned it and made sure there were no obstructions - anyway looks like I can get back to smoking this weekend!! Masterbuilt customer service were great to deal with BTW.


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## bustintires (Apr 30, 2010)

its running to rich. you need to lean it out by either opening up the air gap or installing a new jet. do not poke out the orifice with anything metal. even the slightest enlargement of the jet will make a change in your burn. the "cleaning it" may have been the issue.


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## willieg3 (Apr 7, 2014)

Same problem.  Both my son and I have a Master-built propane smoker.  Both of us have had the problem that flames erupt from the venturi tube.  In my case, it took a while to detect and by then paint had burned off the metal parts around the gas jet / venturi tube junction, the gas valve had overheated and would no longer turn, and the hose to the propane cylinder was partially burned and softened.  So I almost ended up with the burn through and the propane cylinder turning into a torch. The company replaced the valve / hose assembly and told me to reposition the burner box to be as close to the the valve as possible, i.e. making sure that the gas jet went as far as possible in to the venturi tube. I did that and the immediate result was flames coming from the venturi and a large yellow flame coning from the burner.  As I said, my son has had the identical flame up problem with the identical smoker.  I also found a similar story on another blog site.  Bottom line, this smoker is dangerous and there is no simple workable solution.  Looks like we own a large pile of scrap metal.


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## myoz (Sep 11, 2014)

I have the same problem after about 15 uses. burner is clean, changed regulator still yellow flame, change propane tank still same. Don't know what to do. I am getting real close to tossing this junk box to the curb and getting a real (smokingTex smoker). The thing is, it worked great for a short time. Any ideas would be appreciated.


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## willieg3 (Sep 11, 2014)

I seem to have fixed my problem.  You have to remove the burner assembly completely and then use a flexible brush to completely clean the gas tube leading to the burner (you have to get past the bend in the tube).  When I did so I pulled out a spider nest.  Problem solved. Problem is that you can't find the appropriate brush in any store that sell grills / smokers.  I ended up using the cleaning brush form my old slide trombone. Worked like a charm.  Check with a musical instrument store.


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## myoz (Sep 12, 2014)

Thanks Willie that was the problem! burner looked and seemed clean, but I did what you posted however what I did was used a can of compressed air stuck the little red tube in the burner hole's and blue the tube out and now I got a nice blue flame. I also blew out the control valve.

Thanks for the tip it worked !


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## jonjoniam (Oct 1, 2014)

That worked for me also with the MasterBuilt dual fuel smoker (Home Depot exclusive). I used a pipe cleaner and got a small dead spider. It was back to normal after that.Thanks.


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## myoz (Oct 2, 2014)

WillieG - Right On worked like a charm Back in action Thanks


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## atomicsmoke (Jan 24, 2015)

Got the same high yellow flame after about 9 months of use. After cleaning the venturi tube with a brush it was fine.


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## ChileRoaster (Nov 3, 2017)

I discovered using a trombone brush as suggested by Willieg3 rather than tossing the unit will clear the Venturi tube and restore a hot blue flame. A sousaphone brush is too big and a piccolo brush is too small. If you don't have access to a trombone brush nor want to risk having your burner blow a constant d flat after using a trombone brush, running hot water through the tube/burner assembly while gently rapping the assembly to loosen carbon deposits until all holes in the burner allow water to flow freely works as well. A few minutes of drying in the sun are required before reassembly.


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