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big green egg wouldn't heat up

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George
George Posts: 86
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I was going to do pizza last night and the bge wouldn't heat up to the 425 degrees needed. The bge was at 300 when I put the plate setter and stone in to heat up. After i put the platesetter in it cooled to 200 or so and even after over an hour it was 340. I have only had it for less than 2 weeks. I checked the air holes and they were clean. I'm very frustrated. Thanks for any help.
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  • Spaceman Spiff
    Spaceman Spiff Posts: 358
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    Not enough air.[p]How much lump did you have in it.[p]Use a fan at the intake.[p]Spacey
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    George,
    more fuel, and put the platesetter in at the start.
    the platesetter sucks up heat, and if you put it in cold, your temps will drop temporarily.[p]did you use the proverbial "two handfuls of lump" or lump just over the holes in the firebox? pizza temps (i usually go around 550-600) are fuel-hungry.

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • DynaGreaseball
    DynaGreaseball Posts: 361
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    George,[p]Have you ever had it above 400°?
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  • jwirlwind
    jwirlwind Posts: 319
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    George,
    Make sure all the holes in the fire box and bottom grate are open. This is my way of setting up the Egg. Everytime I start a new fire, I always load the Egg to the top of the fire box. I know you don't always use that much lump to do a short cook, but I garantee you will always have enough to get the fire as hot as you want. After cooking forever how long, shut the Egg off and the lump will go out for the next time which I will load it up again. [p]MC Jerry[p]Never having a problem with the Egg
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  • YB
    YB Posts: 3,861
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    Jwirlwind,
    hey jerry you coming to eggtoberfest?
    larry
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  • wobin
    wobin Posts: 211
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    George,
    Damp lump?
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  • Michael B
    Michael B Posts: 986
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    George,
    Make sure the cutout in the fire box is lined up with the opening in the lower damper.
    Stir the old lump to clear the ash and air holes.
    Make sure the ash box isn't full.
    at 2 weeks, are you at the bottom of a bag of lump? Make sure you aren't using mostly small pieces and chips that jumble together and choke off the airflow.
    Leave the upper damper off.
    Light in several places.
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  • Michael B
    Michael B Posts: 986
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    wobin,
    You beat me to it! I was just coming back to add that bit.
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  • George
    George Posts: 86
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    DynaGreaseball,
    Yes, I cooked steaks at 650 last weekend and have gotten a few other things up to 500.
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  • George
    George Posts: 86
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    Michael B,
    I think your comment about stirring the old charcoal is right on. I had a lot of small pieces at the bottom of the fire box although the air holes didn't appear blocked. I store the charcoal in a shed where it is protected. I've almost gone through a whole bag of the bge charcoal. Thanks for the help.
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  • jwirlwind
    jwirlwind Posts: 319
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    YB,
    I would love to be there, but probably not. [p]Jerry
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  • jwirlwind
    jwirlwind Posts: 319
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    Michael B,
    " Believe it or NOT", lol After I stir the ashes before adding lump, for the past umpteen times, I just pour the lump right out of the bag no matter what comes out and light it. I have yet to start a fire that won't do what I want it to do. I used to take the pieces out and carefully place them and not using the small pieces, but no more. Maybe I am just lucky or have the gift. lol[p]MC Jerry
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Jwirlwind,
    I dump right from the bag to.
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  • Dover_Gal
    Dover_Gal Posts: 116
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    Vernon Lundquist,
    I also dump from the bag. We had one fire not heating up, but the husband used old charcoal and didn't add more. Fire is fuel, heat and oxygen. If you are missing any one component, you don't get a nice fire.[p]I presume our perplexed Egger had insufficient charcoal.

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  • Michael B
    Michael B Posts: 986
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    dover_gal,[p]I dump also, but did have a few times I couldn't get a hot fire.[p]The first time was due to ash buildup cutting off airflow. That was in Ô88 when I was using briquets.[p]Once it was because of damp lump.[p]A couple times I wasn't initially sure why. I'd stirred the old lump to get rid of the ashes, made sure the air holes were open, plenty of dry lump ... After the Egg cooled I dug all the old lump out and noticed that I had a lot of small pieces at the bottom. They lay together well enough that there was practically no room for air flow between them.[p]Since then I stir to sift out the ashes, fill about half way with new lump, stir again to get the small pieces mixed higher in the bed, fill the rest of the fire box, and because I also had one fire burn straight down, light in three places off center. If I am at the last of a bag, with almost all small pieces and chips, I add from a new bag also to get a mix of sizes.[p]I have had no fire control trouble with my 'naturally aspirated' Eggs since I started this practice.
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  • Green Grilla
    Green Grilla Posts: 2
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    George,
    I had a related problem yesterday. I did a turkey at 300-350 for 4 hours and planned to do a steak after the turkey was done at 650. The egg would not get above 400 after opening the daisey and the vent. I had to rake the ash and add more charcoal and then it did reach 600, but somewhat slowly. I have not had a problem reaching 650 when starting cold. There was plenty of lump left so all I can guess is that some of the holes were plugged.

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