Bad bag of lump???

The first thing that comes to mind is to ask is the opening in the firebox lined up with the lower vent???? Only other idea would be ash and small pieces clogging up the charcoal grate...a thermometer calibration might reveal something as well......but "yes" it could very well be some damp lump...

Hey there:] Could be bad lump like you think or as stated ash blocking the holes. The best lump to light easy I have found is Ozark Oak.I'm in Houston and it's not gonna be much more humid than here. I have used just about every method to light the egg and the one that seems to work best is th 91 % alkeeehol. One jiggerful slowly in the middle and a a half in the back and the front, be sure to let i run down -the lower stuff is what will get the fire going. The mapp torch works well too but I saw where they can blow up or blow your head off or something like that :S

doc

Like Wess said make sure your fire box is lined up.

I know when ever I have what I think may be air flow problems I turn to my home made wiggle rod.

Here is where you can buy a wiggle rod if you want to.

Scroll down about half way.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/10/thirdhand-grate-lifting-hanging-tool.html



What it's good for it stirring the used lump that is in the fire box from the last cook. That in turn knocks off the ash on the previously burned lump. Then I will move the lump around and make sure the holes in the fire box aren't plugged with a small piece of lump or ash.

Now I will carefully place the wiggle rod in through the bottom draft and poke up through the holes in the lump grate. Make sure you don't move the lump grate so much that some lump can fall in the bottom of the egg or you will get upset.



The holes in the lump grate flare put the flare side down like in the third pic.

I must tell you there have been times when I waited for the egg to heat up and then took the wiggle rod to it in the bottom hole. Not very often maybe once or twice in a couple of years I would poke up and the air will rush in and blow fire out the bottom and then start drawing air properly. Just saying stay off to the side and don't let little children stand around especially when the screen is wide open. If this don't solve your problem and you know you have a fire in there carefuly take a hair dryer to the bottom vent. Now listen don't walk away from your egg when having trouble like this because at any time you egg may catch and heat up past 700F dome in a heart beat. Just be careful. :unsure:

I use to use the electric starter but I always left it in more like 12+ mins. It did eventually fail and I bought a loft lighter. I got 8 months of using the electric 3-4 times a week and always worked great.
What kind of lump are you using?

Randy, you got lots of good advice, just want to share my experience with the electric starter since you mentioned this...
just like the instructions said and after 8 mins. (max. per instructions) all I was getting was a little smoke and could feel the heat off of the cherry red lighter. Back to the starter cubes.
I used to light with starter cubes or oil-n-paper-towel but now my go to method is electric starter. The 8-min is just a rough guideline, it'll take more or less time depending on if the lumps are fresh or leftover from previous cook. Make sure the heating element is not visible by spreading a layer of lumps evenly over it, wait till you see the lumps around it glowing red and small flame starts 'leaping'. I watch it like a hawk to ensure it doesn't get too hot and melt the plastic handle. Yes, it could take ten minutes or longer. Give that a try again, good luck.
Gary

Wicked Good Weekend Warrior is noted to be hard starting (see: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag54.htm), expecially when compared to something like Cowboy (see: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag6.htm).

There are lots of ways to start a fire. I use one of two methods, depending on whether it's a hot cook or a low-n-slow.

For the Low-N-Slow cooks, I drizzle a bit of EVOO or corn oil on a couple of twisted paper towls. Place these on a top of a parital (3/4) pile of the WGWW charcoal. Build up a small and loose stack of charcoal on top of the towels. Set a match to three spots on each towel. I let things go for about 10 or 15 mintues, then add the rest of my charcoal and wait for some of it to catch, then close the dome (with vents open). When the dome thermometer starts getting close to the 250°F mark, I start shutting down the vents.

For the hotter cooks, I use something like Cowboy and a Weber charcoal chimney. I put about 3/4 of the needed charcoal in the Egg, fill up the chimney and start it. When I have a rip-roaring fire in the chimney, I carefully (that stuff's hot!) dump the load into the Egg and sprinking some unlit on top of that. About five mintues later I close the dome with the vents open. I start shutting the vents down when the dome thermometer starts approaching the desired temp.

Some people close the dome right after they throw the match in (or do whatever they do to get the fire started). Others wait a while. And some, like me, like to split the difference. There are lots of ways to get the fire started: oil/paper towel (or napkin), starter cubes, torches of one persuasion or another, alcohol (90% isopropol, not the more common 70%) ... and the list goes on. As with most things, you gotta find what works for you and what you find comfortable.

Actually, Weekend Warrior is rated Average when it comes to starting. However, yes, Cowboy original lump was indeed very very easy to start.

Brimo

Might just be the lump. I got my large about a year ago and started with the BGE lump and had lots of the same problems you mentioned. After that bag was done, I switched to Royal Oak after seeing so many positives about it on this board.

Ever since I haven't had any problems starting it up, reaching temp, etc. I use one BGE firestarter and that's all I need.

I thought I had some damp Royal Oak last night - the bag had been out when drizzle started a couple of weeks ago and I quickly ran out and stashed it in my charcoal bin (a big plastic trash can with locking lid).

The fire lit easily enough with some fire starters tucked in the lump, but it really struggled to get above 300. I finally hit it with my weed torch and the fire heated up but just a bit.

I was perplexed. Then on a whim, I reached in with my ash tool and raked out the bottom of the Egg. I had not realized how much ash was in there just from my past couple of cooks.

As soon as I cleaned out the ash, the temp shot up - quickly - to just over 500, which was about right for the amount of coal I was using.

Moral of story? You need heat, airflow and charcoal to make a fire. If it's not starting, start working through the checklist. If you are applying heat to the coals, and they're not getting hot, you can (1) apply more heat, (2) make sure the coals are getting good air flow, and if those don't work (3) get a fresh bag of coals!

Pat