Gas Fire Pit Won't Stay Lit? Causes by Ignition Type

When a gas fire pit lights and then goes out, the makers' troubleshooting tables point to five causes: wind, media or water over the burner, a low or cold propane cylinder, a flame-sensing part that is not getting heat, or gas pressure that is wrong for the burner. An owner can check the fuel, the valves, the media, the wind and the wait time the manual gives. The pilot, thermocouple, igniter, orifice and gas pressure belong to a qualified service technician.

Below, the causes are sorted by ignition type, from manuals by HPC, The Outdoor Plus, Firegear, Real Flame and Prism, Outdoor GreatRoom's FAQs and propane safety guidance. Where your own manual differs, follow it.

What to Do If You Smell Gas or the Flame Goes Out

If the flame went out and you smell nothing, close the valve at the fire pit. A match-lit unit has no automatic shutoff, so gas keeps flowing until you do. The Outdoor Plus says to turn the knob to full OFF and let the gas dissipate before using the fire pit again.

If you smell gas, HPC's danger box gives the order: shut off the gas to the appliance, put out any open flame, and if the odor continues, keep away from the appliance and immediately call the gas supplier or fire department.

PERC's propane safety booklet calls a propane leak an emergency and gives three steps:

1. Get away immediately. Get everyone out of the building or area where you suspect the leak.
2. Avoid creating sparks. Do not turn any light switches on or off, do not touch appliances, outlets or landline phones, and no smoking, vaping or open flames.
3. Stay away and report the leak. Once safely away, call your propane retailer, 911 or the fire department. Stay away until your propane retailer, an emergency responder or a qualified professional says it is safe to return.

For a leak at a cylinder, PERC says no smoking, vaping or open flames, and if there are no flames or visible cloud of propane at the cylinder, close the cylinder valve by turning it clockwise. Then leave the area and call 911 or the fire department. Have a qualified professional inspect the cylinder and appliance before you use them again. Our guide to gas fire pit safety covers leaks and the soapy water test.

With no gas smell, wait before you relight.

The waits differ widely. Use the one in your own manual. Without a manual, the 5 minutes that four of the five documents give is the cautious choice, because Real Flame warns that skipping the wait can cause a large flashback of pooled gas.

Why Does a Gas Fire Pit Keep Going Out? What Makers List

Each document's troubleshooting table, for a burner that will not stay lit or a flame that keeps going out:

Five causes repeat down the table: gas pressure, media, wind, water or debris in the burner, and the fuel supply. Gas pressure is the one an owner cannot measure.

Air in a newly installed line also appears in most tables, and HPC's match-lit table and Firegear's say to bleed it. PERC says never to try to let air out of a gas line yourself, because you will release gas, and HPC's push-button manual makes purging part of the installer's start-up. Leave it to the installer.

Match-Lit Burners: The Gas Keeps Flowing

A match-lit burner has no sensor. You hold a lit long lighter or match over the burner and open the valve slowly. If a gust blows the flame out, the valve is still open. Our guide to match-lit and electronic ignition covers what each system does when the flame is lost.

The owner checks in the match-lit manuals are media, water and valves. HPC says to re-apply improperly applied or excess media, Firegear says too much over the burner can inhibit the gas, and Prism says to reduce media that is too dense. Depth limits differ by burner, and the fire glass and lava rock guide has them. HPC says to confirm there is no water or debris in the burner, and The Outdoor Plus says to keep the bowl's drain hole clear, because water in the burner pipe blocks the gas. Firegear says every shutoff valve and the key valve must be fully open.

Push-Button Ignition and the Thermocouple

HPC's push-button insert lights a small pilot first: hold the knob in at the pilot position, spark until the pilot lights, and keep the knob pressed before turning to the main burner. The thermocouple is the heat sensor in the pilot flame, and HPC says it must have time to heat up.

So check the knob first on a pilot that drops out. HPC's start-up steps say 20 seconds, and its troubleshooting table, for a pilot that goes out when you release the knob, says 30. Real Flame says 15 to 30 seconds after the burner ignites.

If the pilot lights with a match but not with the spark igniter, HPC lists a dead or wrongly installed AA battery, a dirty igniter and an improper gap at the electrode tip. Real Flame's troubleshooting has the owner check that the battery is live and facing the right way. HPC fixes the gap by bending the electrode tip, in a table that opens by sending service and repair to a retailer or certified technician, so leave the gap to the technician.

When holding longer does not help, the manuals point to the parts that sense the flame.

• HPC describes a healthy pilot flame as covering 3/8 to 1/2 inch of the thermocouple. Its causes for a pilot that drops are in the table above.
• Real Flame says the igniter housing must be unobstructed and the flame must touch the thermocouple tip. A damaged thermocouple wire is the next suspect, and Real Flame sends you to its customer service for a replacement.
• Media over the pilot is the cause an owner can see. HPC says to leave the blowout box vents open, because incorrect media "will cause the pilot flame to suffocate and turn off pit."

HPC's maintenance page lists brushing soot off the thermocouple every six months and cleaning the pilot orifice without saying who does them, under a service note that suggests a professional certified by the National Fireplace Institute. PERC is blunter: if a pilot light is difficult to light or repeatedly goes out, never try to fix or troubleshoot it yourself, and call a qualified professional. Following the stricter of the two, leave anything at the pilot to the technician.

Electronic Ignition: Retries, Lockout and Wind

An electronic unit that shuts down is doing its job. HPC's EI series glows its igniter for five seconds, opens the pilot valve, and opens the main valve only once the thermocouple is hot. That can take 30 seconds, and the system shuts down if the thermocouple is not hot in 60. If the pilot is blown out, it shuts down and restarts. After 15 attempts, about 15 minutes, it locks out, and HPC says to power the unit down, wait 5 minutes and restart.

Outdoor GreatRoom's direct spark burners allow a 12-second re-ignition before shutting down, and its FAQ blames unexpected shutdowns on turbulent or high winds or heavy rain. Without those, it asks you to check that the media is spread evenly, that only the supplied amount is used, and that one layer sits inside the wind guard under the igniter and sensor electrode. The same FAQ has owners inspect the electrodes and verify a 1/8 to 1/4 inch spark gap. HPC treats igniter faults as service work, so follow the stricter wording and leave the electrodes to a technician.

The owner's checks on an electronic unit start with power. HPC lists the breaker, wall switch, remote and remote batteries under "no power or response," and a power cycle clears a lockout. The igniter element, wiring, thermocouple, pilot orifice, valve, fuse, module and transformer are technician work, and circuit faults are a licensed electrician's. HPC's valve box also closes the gas valve above 190°F, which its table blames on inadequate venting, an installation matter. Its error codes are LED blinks on the module, numbered differently for 12 volt units, so read the table for your voltage.

Propane Fire Pit Won't Stay Lit: Tank Level, Cold and the Regulator

Start with the propane level. Real Flame says a low tank can mean lower flames, and Prism lists a low or empty tank when the burner will not light or stay lit. A 20 lb cylinder holds 4.7 gallons, and PERC puts a gallon at 91,500 Btu, so at full flame it runs a 65,000 Btu/h burner about 6.6 hours. On a cold night it may not keep up with full flame before it is empty. The propane runtime guide has the table and how to weigh a cylinder, and the propane tank runtime calculator figures your own burner.

Cold. PERC says a container vaporizes propane more slowly when the outside air is colder or the container holds less liquid. Real Flame says cold can lower cylinder pressure and make the flames lower. No U.S. primary source gives cold limits for 20 to 40 lb cylinders, so swap a cylinder before it is empty on a cold night. Never heat a cold cylinder: PERC says not to warm one with an external heat source, and Real Flame says to let it warm up naturally.

Valve order. A cylinder can supply gas and still give a tiny flame if the valves were opened in the wrong order. HPC says the QCC1 cylinder its propane models use has an excess flow device, so the fire pit valve must be off when you turn the cylinder on, slowly, to let the pressure equalize. Real Flame's lighting steps also start with the knob off. The Outdoor Plus says its regulator's low flow protection device cuts the flow to a very small flame unless the cylinder valve is opened first, and prints a reset on p. 14 of its manual. Its lighting steps on that page list the fire pit valve before the supply, the order its note warns against, so open the cylinder first and use the reset if the flame stays tiny. HPC also lists a pinched supply hose under low flame, fixed by repositioning it.

Natural gas. Here the suspects are the supply line and its pressure. HPC lists an undersized natural gas line under low flame, and Prism says to have a gas professional confirm the pressure. A line sized for one fire table may be too small once a heater joins it, and the gas line sizing calculator shows the load. Fixing the line is a licensed gas fitter's job.

Fire Pit Flame Goes Out in Wind or After Rain

Wind. Real Flame says winds above 10 mph may extinguish the flame. The Outdoor Plus says never to use its fire pit in windy conditions and that a consistently windy area requires a windbreak. For its match-lit bowl it says to install a wind guard or adjust the flame height. HPC says to use the fire pit when it is less windy or with its wind guard. The fire glass guide covers wind guards and how far to recess the pan.

Wet media and water. The makers disagree on wet media. HPC says that if lava rock is wet, let the fire pit burn for 45 minutes before coming within 15 feet, and The Outdoor Plus's bowl manual carries the same warning. Firegear says to light it, leave the area and watch from a distance for at least 30 minutes. Real Flame and Prism say not to light the unit at all while the media is wet. HPC, The Outdoor Plus and Firegear say not to use a fire pit if any part has been under water, and to call a qualified service technician at once. Firegear says dust or sand in the media can block the weep holes, which means removing the media, clearing the holes and refilling with clean media.

Nests and debris. Spiders and insects nest in burner tubes and air mixers. Real Flame tells the owner to clean the burner tube with a pipe cleaning brush and compressed air. HPC and The Outdoor Plus require periodic inspection of the propane air mixer or air intake by a qualified service technician, because a block can fill the fire pit cavity with fuel. The makers split on who does this, so follow the stricter wording and have a technician inspect the air mixer.

Owner Checks and Technician Work

The right column follows the manuals: The Outdoor Plus says a natural gas connection must be done by a licensed contractor or the local gas company, Real Flame sends repairs to a professional gas technician, Prism asks for annual service by an NFI-certified technician, and PERC says never to try to install, modify or repair propane appliances.

The owner's leak check is PERC's: before the first use each season and each time you connect a cylinder, put leak detector solution or thick soapy water on the entire valve area and the connection, open the cylinder valve slowly and watch for bubbles. If bubbles appear, close the cylinder valve, tighten the connection and test again. If bubbles still appear, close the cylinder valve and call your propane retailer immediately.

Before You Call a Technician

Have these ready, most of which Firegear's technical support sheet lists.

• Model and serial number, the fuel, and the ignition type.
• For propane, the cylinder size and how full it is. For natural gas, the gas line length and size and any measured inlet pressure.
• What the flame does and when: seconds after you release the knob, only in wind, only after rain, or after a lockout.
• The media type and depth, and photos of the burner and pilot area.

If you smell gas at any point, stop and use the steps at the top. For a seasonal restart, the winterizing guide has the spring checks.