Bull The danged light - what to do?

[mooncusser2k]

I was blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night.

 

[cutplug]

Let it loose Manfred...

 

[PhillipMunomr]

So the light is kind of a pain in the rear end:

(1) It gets smoked over very quickly and has to be cleaned regularly. I'm still not sure what the best way to do that is; EZ off works pretty well. Bought a second lens so I can change out while one cleans
(2) It sticks out fairly far in the bull and the large shelf whacks it
(3) That noise you heard on Sunday morning at about 11:00 EDT was me smoking a brisket, because when I went to spritz and some of the cool liquid touched the lens, the glass shattered, raining tiny shards all over the food. It needs to be tempered (correction: I think I mean it should be borosilicate glass) at the very least.
(4) Other than that last one, it has occasionally been kind of handy to have an integrated light.
Wie heiß wird ein Grill, Fragen und Antworten
Anyway, the light just has me scratching my head, because it is the only design feature on the bull that seems poorly considered. What do you guys do about this thing?

How do you light your charcoal? Do you use a chimney? Or do you use lighter fluid? Or maybe you use self-lighting charcoal? I would imagine that even self-lighting charcoal might need some help? Are you one of many people who use lighter fluid? Or do you stack your coals in a pyramid and fill the pit with additional bits of wood and newspaper? I imagine that everybody has their own favorite method, What's yours? Maybe you have some quick tricks that we've never thought of, and you'd like to share?

 

[Jim6820]

I guess I have a hard time envisioning anything more useless than a built-in light in the interior of a pellet grill/smoker. Especially one that shatters if you accidentally hit it with a spritz. If I had one (and, I’m glad the RT-340 doesn’t), I would find a way to remove it and cover the hole. The mods with an externally mounted light that I’ve seen make a whole lot more sense. YMMV

 

[Threadcutter]

I guess I have a hard time envisioning anything more useless than a built-in light in the interior of a pellet grill/smoker. Especially one that shatters if you accidentally hit it with a spritz. If I had one (and, I’m glad the RT-340 doesn’t), I would find a way to remove it and cover the hole. The mods with an externally mounted light that I’ve seen make a whole lot more sense. YMMV

It is hard to imagine that the light isn't just a liability, isn't it ?

I'm a relatively new owner of a Bull. I tried cleaning the lens once, with mixed results. Not going to bother with it again. I think the intentions were good, but poor in practice/execution. Personally, I can't ding RT for it, they were trying......

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

It is hard to imagine that the light isn't just a liability, isn't it ?

I'm a relatively new owner of a Bull. I tried cleaning the lens once, with mixed results. Not going to bother with it again. I think the intentions were good, but poor in practice/execution. Personally, I can't ding RT for it, they were trying......

I know I’m in the minority, but I use my light all the time, especially in the winter. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my patio just isn’t going to be lit the right way.
Anyway, I pop the lens out when it’s cool, pop a spare lens in the light, and spray the dirty lens with Dawn Powerwash. Five minutes later, the dirty lens wipes clean. Of course if you never use the light, there’s no need to clean it .

 

[BNeal]

Not sure who came up the the bright (no pun intended) idea of putting a light inside a chamber filled with grease ladened smoke. My 1250 didn't come with one, and I'm glad, cause if it's in there, I would be determined to make it work and drive myself nuts trying to keep it clean!

 

[Greg Jones]

Not sure who came up the the bright (no pun intended) idea of putting a light inside a chamber filled with grease ladened smoke. My 1250 didn't come with one, and I'm glad, cause if it's in there, I would be determined to make it work and drive myself nuts trying to keep it clean!

I suspect the 1250 doesn’t come with a light primarily because the projection interferes with the second shelf. Frankly, I stopped cleaning the lens on my RT-700 many months ago and yet I’m still amazed how much light it puts out. Do I need a light inside a grill-no. Does the light inside the Bull work-actually surprisingly well.

 

[Threadcutter]

I know I’m in the minority, but I use my light all the time, especially in the winter. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my patio just isn’t going to be lit the right way.
Anyway, I pop the lens out when it’s cool, pop a spare lens in the light, and spray the dirty lens with Dawn Powerwash. Five minutes later, the dirty lens wipes clean. Of course if you never use the light, there’s no need to clean it .

Yeah, I store the Bull in the garage and roll it just outside of the garage door, plug it in and away I go. I have a LOT of light(s) in the garage, which spills into the grille area. I'm gonna order up some Dawn Powerwash and see how that works. You make it sound easy and if I find that to be the case, I may end up using the light again. One way or the other, the light isn't a big deal for me.

OBTW @IPlayWithMeat; Did you get the lens from RT ? Purchase ? "warranty ?"..........

 

[monkeyhat]

Yeah, I store the Bull in the garage and roll it just outside of the garage door, plug it in and away I go. I have a LOT of light(s) in the garage, which spills into the grille area. I'm gonna order up some Dawn Powerwash and see how that works. You make it sound easy and if I find that to be the case, I may end up using the light again. One way or the other, the light isn't a big deal for me.

OBTW @IPlayWithMeat; Did you get the lens from RT ? Purchase ? "warranty ?"..........

I'm a light fan too. I don't have much direct lighting at the edge of my patio.
I just cleaned mine for the first time after about 8 cooks. It cleaned up very easily with some GOJO orange pumice hand soap. It wasn't carboned up, but very darkly tinted. It popped out easy, cleaned in about 30 seconds, and popped right back in.
I think I will just have to keep up with it on a regular schedule to clean it before it gets too caked on.

 

[Threadcutter]

I'm a light fan too. I don't have much direct lighting at the edge of my patio.
I just cleaned mine for the first time after about 8 cooks. It cleaned up very easily with some GOJO orange pumice hand soap. It wasn't carboned up, but very darkly tinted. It popped out easy, cleaned in about 30 seconds, and popped right back in.
I think I will just have to keep up with it on a regular schedule to clean it before it gets too caked on.

The one and only time I cleaned mine, I used Ether (starting fluid), then acetone, then Simple Green. I would have thought I could have eliminated the Great Barrier Reef with one, if not all of them. The lens cleanliness improved quite a bit, but didn't get clean. I was scratching my head on that one.

But, I'll add Gojo to the list, along with Dawn Powerwash.