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Problems with temperature

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stemc33
stemc33 Posts: 3,567
in EggHead Forum
New egg owner for less than a month and am having problems getting the egg over 300 degrees. It takes an hour to get to 300 degrees. It will maintain 300 degrees for over 10 hours with lots of lump left over, but very seldom will it go over 300 degrees. I've used BGE and Cowboy with the same results. The BGE is setup with the firebox cutout lined up correctly. I live at about 4,000 ft above sea level and the wind has been blowing for most of my cooks. I use the BGE fire starters and have tried using one, two, and three starters with the same results. I looked at pictures of the settings on others eggs and cannot even come close to those settings. With the bottom vent wide open and the daisy wheel with petals wide open the result is 300 degrees. I'm in the process of just letting all the lump burnout and am gonna clean out and start over. Please give some advice on getting the temperatures up. I want to do more than low and slow. I'm getting frustrated.
Steven
Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
two cotton pot holders to handle PS
Banner, Wyoming
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  • biznork
    biznork Posts: 112
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    What size egg?
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    Forgot to put that detail in. It's a large
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Check your gauge.. Make sure it's calibrated correctly. Most likely something is hindering the incoming oxygen.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    I checked the gauge, but you can feel the lack of fire and food is an all day ordeal.
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • jessie_rice
    jessie_rice Posts: 23
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    Make sure the lump is not packed to tightly. You want to make sure that the air can free flow through the lump due to the stack effect and at lower temperatures the differential pressure is less. I also have learned that if I want temperature up quickly to start the lump in about 5 different spots with my torch. Hope this helps.

    I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. - John Steinbeck

    Katy, Texas

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  • gerhardk
    gerhardk Posts: 942
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    Is your lump all small piece that are plugging air flow?  The inside pieces put inline with the bottom vent?  You are using lump and not briquettes?

    Gerhard
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  • Chris_Wang
    Chris_Wang Posts: 1,254
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    When you say the daisy wheel petals are wide open, is that the only open air flow on top? If so, that's about the temp you should be getting.

    Take off the daisy wheel all together, open up the bottom vent all the way, and you should be nuclear in no time.

    Ball Ground, GA

    ATL Sports Homer

     

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  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
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    I'll ask what may seem like a stupid question but, do you have the fire grate in place? 
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada
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  • bicktrav
    bicktrav Posts: 640
    edited September 2013
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    Chris_Wang said:
    When you say the daisy wheel petals are wide open, is that the only open air flow on top? If so, that's about the temp you should be getting. Take off the daisy wheel all together, open up the bottom vent all the way, and you should be nuclear in no time.
    +1.  Take the Daisy Wheel off and see what happens.  When I'm lighting I fill with lump, light from the top with a starter and leave the bottom vent and dome wide open.  After 5-10 minutes, I close the dome, but I do not put the Daisy Wheel on.  I watch the temp and as it approaches the temp I want I start to shut down the bottom vent to slow the climb.  When it hits the temp I'm after, I halt the climb altogether by putting the Daisy Wheel on.  From there, it's about micro-adjustments with the pedals and sometimes the lower vent.  But that Daisy Wheel does not go on until I've reached my target temp.  
    Southern California
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    I'll try taking the daisy wheel completely off and see if that makes a difference. Plan on doing a complete clean out to make sure air flow is not impeded somewhere.
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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