Cooking with a time bomb? - Grill "exploded"

[Art M]

My brother was trying out his new over the top double walled stainless steel grill for the first time. As the steaks were about ready we opened the grill and there was a flash of light and a loud bang. We inspected it later and found that the stainless grate that the ceramic heat distributors fit into had blown out along a tube's seam leaving a gash about an inch long. It looks like the tubes were made with a more standard steel inside and then wrapped in SS. We figure there must have been some kind of gas trapped inside during manufacturing that caused the explosion.

They've sent him a new grate, but we are wondering what exactly happened and if it could happen again.

grill: Members Mark (Grand Hall) Regal 04ALP

Thanks.

--Art

[m Ransley]

Sure it will happen again, till you fix what caused it.

[Art M]

A... gee, thanks... I think. As I already said the part was replaced. I assume the bar was defective. As far as I know there is nothing that needs fixing; it's a grill; it gets hot. What didn't you understand/I make clear about the question?

--Art

[Richard J Kinch]

Didn't you find a finger in some Wendy's chili recently?

[tm]

You might want to try asking in alt.food.barbecue. Ain't much about grills those cats don't know. Crossposted for your convenience. Followups set there as well.

[Doug Kanter]

I think the point was that if he was sent a new part that was made in the same way as the old one, there is no logical reason to expect that new part to perform differently. Since you supplied no information about what, if any, explanation your friend got from the manufacturer, we are all coming to the same conclusion: There will be an encore performance.

This conclusion is further justified by the fact that so much stuff is now made in China. Many of the companies we buy from are nothing but sales organizations, with no knowledge of their manufacturing processes.

[Craven Morehead]

[m Ransley]

It did not come from the factory sealed in gas, who can say what happened, you dont even have a clue. Maybe the flame was blown out closing the lid because of? wind, poor draw, low flame and the hood forced it out ? and opening it again gave oxygen to the hot cooking area with raw gas going boom. Just a guess and possibly operator inexperiance or many other things, like tank valve freeze , low propane, Propane hose or connection leak, who knows you have to figure it out or Boom again, maybe bigger this time. It only a grill not a science project.

[borgunit]

I would think for that to happen, the flame must have went out at some point and then gas collected and then was resparked by flaming grease or something or else gas must collect while cooking and not ignite. Check if it has some kind of shut off like a gas waterheater would have. If not, install one. You do not want your children or your hand to be the victim of this.

[Art M]

The force of the explosion had to come from within the grate pipe because the walls were blown out at the seam of the stainless steel layer. I don't see how any explanation could be fathomed where the cooking propane was the cause of this unless it miraculously found its way into the tubing of the grate.

The company rep said he had never heard of this happening, but they sent him a new part.

| --in cross section this is a circle | / \ | | --in cross section this is almost u-shaped \ / | |

That's what the blow out of the seam that runs parallel to the bar on the bottom side of the grate looks like. The bent ss was forced away from the center of the bar. In case anyone missed the op, the bars that make up the ss grate are at least 1/4" thick with another type of steel inside. The ss layer wraps that, hence the seam.

--Art

[Art M]

The force of the explosion had to come from within the grate pipe because the walls were blown out at the seam of the stainless steel layer. I don't see how any explanation could be fathomed where the cooking propane was the cause of this unless it miraculously found its way into the tubing of the grate.

The company rep said he had never heard of this happening, but they sent him a new part.

| --in cross section this is a circle | / \ | | --in cross section this is almost u-shaped \ / | |

That's what the blow out of the seam that runs parallel to the bar on the bottom side of the grate looks like. The bent ss was forced away from the center of the bar. In case anyone missed the op, the bars that make up the ss grate are at least 1/4" thick with another type of steel inside. The ss layer wraps that, hence the seam.

--Art

[Doug Kanter]

To me, "grate" is the surface on which the food rests, and "pipe" is where the gas flows. Two separate things. Which is it? If "grate", you're saying the food cooking surface is hollow???

[Art M]

Quoting myself from the op:

"We inspected it later and found that the stainless grate that the ceramic heat distributors fit into had blown out along a tube's seam leaving a gash about an inch long. It looks like the tubes were made with a more standard steel inside and then wrapped in SS."

It's not a cooking grate, but I think it can be referred to as a grate. Perhaps there is some technical term for this.

grate: a framework with bars... -- Mer.-Web.

I then later referred to it as a "grate pipe" because to some extent the ss (stainless steel) is in effect a pipe with a solid bar inside and perhaps some air space between.

[Doug Kanter]

I'm just guessing about the place of manufacture, but if China, "standard steel" means recycled tanks from the Korean War era. :-)

[Art M]

I finally got a picture from my brother and uploaded it:

There is a seam in the ss that is obscured by the glare. It faces down when in place in the grill. Probably was made in China. It was bought at Sam's Club.

--Art

[Doug Kanter]

Too bad your brother doesn't live near the home office of the seller. Looks to me like someone needs to be taken behind a dumpster for a tuneup.

[Goedjn]

Looks like the rods are constructed by wrapping a thin sheet of (expensive) stainless around a rod of (cheap) recycled whatever comes out of the crucible today. And you got one with an air or water-bubble trapped inside. If the next one doesn't blow up the first time you run it up to self-clean temperatures, it's not likely to blow up at all.

[Art M]

Finally, a sensible response. I imagine that could have had the force to cause this and make a bang. I still wonder, though, whether trapped air or water could have produced the white hot flash that we saw.

Thanks

--Art

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yes, especially if there was some moisture in it. It would turn to steam and build quite a bit of pressure. What you probably saw was the flame from the burners being blown away rather than the inside gas exploding. Given the temperature of the grill, it could have easily risen to 330 degrees that equates to about 120 psi of steam. It took quite a bit of pressure to open the seam the way it did.

[G Henslee]

I would just like to compliment you on the woodworking pieces you have exhibited on your web site. Looks like some fine work.

G.