Fishhead
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- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
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First of all, I should point out that I'm typing this with all ten digits and my house is still standing, so it all came out well in the end. Consider this story food for thought if you plan to buy a pre-assembled grill this year. (Or any other year for that matter.)
Somewhere into it's 8th or 9th year of faithful service, my gas grill recently hosted it's last post-game cookout. It had become outdated a long time ago because of it's small size, but financial considerations and plain ol' sentiment kept me from replacing it until yesterday. The final coffin nail was finding a new, far larger model on clearance at a large national hardware store (that will remain nameless.) It was clearance priced at $347, but when I took the tag in to have it rung up, the price dropped to $299. Any doubts I had disappeared right there. It was almost twice the size of my old grill, already assembled, and only slightly more than I had paid for my old one way back in the '90's.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I picked up a full gas cylinder at the grocery and hooked it up as soon as I got home. The grill fired up nicely and I let all four burners go for a while to burn off any accumulated funk that may have gathered since it's assembly. When I went out to put the burgers on a few minutes later, I turned off the two outermost burners because I was only cooking 8 burgers. I was just about to put the first one down and was adjusting the foil when the entire left side of the grill became engulfed in a fireball. I immediately turned off the burners, but that did nothing because the source of the fire was the gas lines which were melting before my eyes. I ran inside for the fire extinguisher, pulled the pin and squeezed, but the metal fell apart in my hands. Next I decided to try water, hoping to knock the flames back enough so that I could reach the shutoff valve. As I stood at the sink waiting for the pan to fill, I turned around and looked out the door. All I could see was flame. I tossed the pan of water on the underside of the grill, which was now completely engulfed. The flames retreated somewhat, enough for me to reach the shutoff valve. Back in the house my daughter had dialed 911, and when I walked back into the kitchen she handed me the phone. I told the guy that a fire run wouldn't be necessary, then sat down and started shaking. I don't know that I've ever been that scared before. The grill is a total loss. All of the lines were vaporized and the whole grill smells of melted plastic/rubber. I called "the hardware store" after dinner (grilled cheese and soup,) and when they asked how they could direct my call, I said "I'm not sure. Who would be in charge of grill disasters?" I got transferred to the manager, whose voice got panicky after hearing the story. He calmed down after hearing that no additional damage was done, and asked me to bring the carcass back tomorrow, promising me the next model up "for my troubles". My brother and I are taking it back tomorrow and I plan to ask for only a replacement of the same size. Anything else would be overkill (and cause the neighbors to wonder what I was overcompensating for.) I do plan to ask for a new fire extinguisher instead of the upgrade. And I think I'll ask for an unassembled one this time.
Somewhere into it's 8th or 9th year of faithful service, my gas grill recently hosted it's last post-game cookout. It had become outdated a long time ago because of it's small size, but financial considerations and plain ol' sentiment kept me from replacing it until yesterday. The final coffin nail was finding a new, far larger model on clearance at a large national hardware store (that will remain nameless.) It was clearance priced at $347, but when I took the tag in to have it rung up, the price dropped to $299. Any doubts I had disappeared right there. It was almost twice the size of my old grill, already assembled, and only slightly more than I had paid for my old one way back in the '90's.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I picked up a full gas cylinder at the grocery and hooked it up as soon as I got home. The grill fired up nicely and I let all four burners go for a while to burn off any accumulated funk that may have gathered since it's assembly. When I went out to put the burgers on a few minutes later, I turned off the two outermost burners because I was only cooking 8 burgers. I was just about to put the first one down and was adjusting the foil when the entire left side of the grill became engulfed in a fireball. I immediately turned off the burners, but that did nothing because the source of the fire was the gas lines which were melting before my eyes. I ran inside for the fire extinguisher, pulled the pin and squeezed, but the metal fell apart in my hands. Next I decided to try water, hoping to knock the flames back enough so that I could reach the shutoff valve. As I stood at the sink waiting for the pan to fill, I turned around and looked out the door. All I could see was flame. I tossed the pan of water on the underside of the grill, which was now completely engulfed. The flames retreated somewhat, enough for me to reach the shutoff valve. Back in the house my daughter had dialed 911, and when I walked back into the kitchen she handed me the phone. I told the guy that a fire run wouldn't be necessary, then sat down and started shaking. I don't know that I've ever been that scared before. The grill is a total loss. All of the lines were vaporized and the whole grill smells of melted plastic/rubber. I called "the hardware store" after dinner (grilled cheese and soup,) and when they asked how they could direct my call, I said "I'm not sure. Who would be in charge of grill disasters?" I got transferred to the manager, whose voice got panicky after hearing the story. He calmed down after hearing that no additional damage was done, and asked me to bring the carcass back tomorrow, promising me the next model up "for my troubles". My brother and I are taking it back tomorrow and I plan to ask for only a replacement of the same size. Anything else would be overkill (and cause the neighbors to wonder what I was overcompensating for.) I do plan to ask for a new fire extinguisher instead of the upgrade. And I think I'll ask for an unassembled one this time.