BGE NOT HOT ENOUGH

ricktanner

MY TEMP GAUGE ONLY READS 225 DEGREES ALL DAY LONG I HAVE BOTH VENTS OPEN TOP AND BOTTOM HAVE I GOT A FAULTY TEMP GAUGE MY LUMP CHARCOAL IS DRY  AND IS VERY HOT WHEN I PUT IT IN THE FIREBOX I PUT A FULL 8LB BAG IN WHEN I USE MY GRILL WHAT AM I DOING WRONG OR AM I?

Squeezy

Whoa Dude ... perhaps you could give us a detailed outline of what you are actually doing and we can go from there ... OK?

Jasper

LOL@ Tweev.

@ricktanner - pull your thermometer out and check it with a pot of boiling water. It should read 211ish, adjust it by turning the nut untill it reads 211 in the water.

FxLynch

Is your firebox turned so that the lower outside vent is lined up with the large opening in the ceramic firebox?

stike

Tweev. Depends what time zone he is in. He could be a degree behind you.

The frigging hindenburg made me lit. laugh out loud. I hate you for that

Little Steven

I gotta admit I laughed too. Can't we all just get along? Koombya and all that

troutgeek

In honor of Nigel Tufnel (Spinal Tap), sorta, we turn our thermometers to 213.

Squeezy

Probably should light the charcoal first .... just sayin'

stike

@ricktanner.

if everything you described is true, then your thermometer is broken.

i need to ask the obvious question, aside from the thermometer, does the EGG get hot?

if so, then it can't be anything other than the thermometer.

burr_baby33

It is all about air and fuel.  If it is not the thermometer then your bottom vent is not letting air into the firebox.  Is your fire grate in place? Did you light it with a chimney? Gotta be something simple.  You said your charcoal was hot, after 10-15 minutes you should have what these eggers call hot burning lava in your egg.  If you do then it is the temp guage. If not you gotta get the air/fuel regulated. FXlynch asked an important question about the lower vent and ceramic firebox lined up.

Greygoose

i'm having similiar problems and believe its due to very small pieces of lump charcoal covering the holes in the lump grate. i did not have this problem when i was using a bag that contained large pieces of lump. Since switching to bags thate are full of small pieces, it can be very difficult to get a fire really cranking. 

try making your own wiggle rod. Straighten a metal hanger and fashion a small handle on one end (bending the wire), while the other end is bent into a 90 degree angle with a 1.5 inch tail. get you fire lighting mechanism of choice lit and in the lump. then open the bottom vent screen door and stick your new tool in there using the tail to remove any small pieces of lump at the bottom of the grate that could be clogging it (basically pushing the lump from the bottom up out of the way of the holes.  then shut the screen, leave the door cover wide open, wait 20 minutes and report back as to what happens. if things arent crankin after 20 minutes or so, i'd have to blame it on the lump.

-------

another method would be to clean everything out of the egg, then just use big pieces of lump. this should allow for maximum air flow and get things really going. 

GreyGoose

stike

@ricktanner:

got your PM.
calibrate the thermo by dipping in to boiling water, noting the difference between what it reads and 212, and then adjust the nut on the back to make up the same difference

Destroyr350

Probably should light the charcoal first .... just sayin'

thinking the same thing

stike

if that were the case, the issue would still be his thermometer, since it would be at 225 with an unlit egg.

the level of wit around here is staggering

hoppy

try making your own wiggle rod. Straighten a metal hanger and fashion a small handle on one end (bending the wire), while the other end is bent into a 90 degree angle with a 1.5 inch tail. get you fire lighting mechanism of choice lit and in the lump. then open the bottom vent screen door and stick your new tool in there using the tail to remove any small pieces of lump at the bottom of the grate that could be clogging it (basically pushing the lump from the bottom up out of the way of the holes.  then shut the screen, leave the door cover wide open, wait 20 minutes and report back as to what happens. if things arent crankin after 20 minutes or so, i'd have to blame it on the lump.

GreyGoose

I made one of these out of a coat hanger when I first bought my BGE five years ago.

My daughters FIL who first turned me on to the Big Green Egg (he owned one for many years before me) noticed me using my "Wiggle Rod" and was wondering what I was doing. Ten minutes later with the fire box roaring, he understood what it was used for.

All I do is poke upwards through the holes in the base of the fire box until I see all the holes are glowing.

 I used to own a coal stove in my last house, and you had to "shake" the bottom of the stove to knock off the spent ash, and expose the fresh coal to heat the stove.