Fault state · On the cooktop
Wolf Burner Flame Lifting or Yellow: Air, Ports or Orifice
On natural gas, a Wolf burner flame should be blue with a deeper blue core. Yellow usually traces to the room — a humidifier, or dust and fumes from building work — or to a dirty burner. A lifting flame is often a ventilation blower pulling too hard, or a pan too wide. Yellow that stays, or soot on pans, is a job for Wolf Repair Kirkland, (425) 699-2400.
Greg Lindqvist Cooking-appliance technician — gas ignition and burners · 18 years in the trade
Normal
- Some orange tipping on propane, which Wolf calls normal.
- Orange flecks that come and go with a winter humidifier or indoor sanding and painting: the air, not the range.
Fault
- A yellow flame on natural gas that remains once the air is clear and the burner is clean.
- Soot building up on the bottoms of pans.
- Flames lifting off the ports with the hood off and a pan that suits the burner.
What to check first
Start with the room. Switch off a humidifier, or wait until the building work is done and the air has cleared, then look again. Clean the cap and burner, let both dry, and seat the cap flat. If flames lift only while the hood runs, try a lower blower speed, as Wolf suggests; if only under one broad pan, try a smaller one. A yellow flame or soot that remains means stop using that burner.
What we usually find in Market
Market’s older houses sit near the lake, and many kitchens there have been reworked more than once. Most often a yellow flame arrives with a renovation or a winter of humidifier use and goes once the air clears. Often the burner needs a thorough clean. Sometimes the orifice does not match the gas the range burns, usually after a move. Rarely the burner’s air supply is out of adjustment — ours to set, never the owner’s.
Asked about this state
Is a yellow flame on a Wolf burner dangerous?
On propane, a little orange at the tips is expected. On natural gas, a flame that stays yellow is not burning cleanly, which is why pans start to soot, and it should not be ignored. If it lasts after the room air has cleared and the burner is clean, leave that burner off until Wolf Repair Kirkland, (425) 699-2400, has seen it.
