Greg Brownell Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 My wife bought me a Komodo grill and I love it. However I can't get it to heat up. The first time we used it we did blackened steaks and it worked perfect. I follow all instructions to get full heat now and it just wont. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Thank you in advance for any help Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 You need coal, fire , and air to burn. I assume you got coal and fire and it won't keep lit. Be sure to open lower and upper air controllers to let air flow. If you dont no air and no fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee grabowski Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 Try starting each time with new lump charcoal on the top, it starts easily and it will get it going better. That is my experience with it, and as MadMedic says make sure the top & bottom vents are open. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 I assume you have a komodo kamado? If so, the previous instructions should work, also it helps to start with a full load of fresh charcoal to get full temp. Have you cleaned out the ash? This could be blocking incoming air. Could your charcoal have gotten wet? Fire killer. Clean grill, good coal, air, you'll have fire. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 5698k is right on the money here.. I just posted this to another post so I'll leave it here to be found in future searches... Whenever analyzing temperature I was go back to the basics, combustion is fuel and oxygen. Charcoal is hygroscopic meaning it will absorbs moisture easily even from the humidity in the air. If charcoal is wet, it is easily noticeable because the cook stalls when it hits just over 200° as the moisture turns to vapor. This vapor can also easily be felt by your hands above the damper top and often seen condensing around the collar. Because the problems with charcoal are few and easy to troubleshoot, problems are almost always airflow. The most common airflow problem is created by very small pieces of charcoal and powder being poured from the bag into the charcoal basket. These smalls in a large basket will absolutely cut off your airflow and make a low volume airflow/ low temperature cook impossible. The problem with lump charcoal is that the small branches are over carbonized become very brittle and crumble, filling the bottom of the bag with smalls and powder that will absolutely kill your airflow. I recommend never pouring these into the charcoal basket. In fact for a high temperature cook, I fill the middle of the basket with my largest pieces, and place all the medium pieces around the outside. If I decide I need to use the smalls, I only pour them against refractory cement at the very outside of the basket, never near/in the middle. Another culprit can be ash from previous burns/cooks, it's important to always grab the charcoal basket's handles and give it a good shake before every cook. Not only does the good shake removed ash but it also settles the charcoal so more surfaces are touching this helps when one piece needs to burn into the next. I always put my hands around the edge of the damper top to make sure I can feel some heat/airflow. If you can feel hot air leaving the grill, your charcoal will not go out.. so please always remember that temperature is airflow. My favorite toy for airflow is of course a cheap hairdryer.. As as long as you have shaken the ash out of your charcoal you can blow air down the handles to get things going on a slow burn..even with the heat deflector, drip pan on the lower grill installed .. Nothing is better than a hairdryer, if you want to get things going and raise your temperature.. It can take you from zero to high temp grilling in minutes. The extruded coconut shell charcoal is very dense and needs a lot of heat for ignition. If you lite a small piece of lump charcoal, the size of a walnut and then hit it with a hairdryer, it will glow madly give off enough heat to easily ignite/lite the dense coconut shell charcoal. When you're having problems please always feel free to give me a call... Four two Four 270-1948. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhanghaixia Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Originally we used it we did blackened meat and it performed perfect. I follow all FIFA ultimate team Coins recommendations to get finish heated now and it just will never. That is my experience with it, and as MadMedic says make sure the top & platform slots are begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
