I'm having more and more difficulty getting my Q100 lit and I wanted to do some cleaning. The manual said to inspect the spider guard by removing the control knob bracket, but they don't say how to remove the control knob bracket.

I've had the Q100 since April and have been using it about twice a week for grilling hamburgers, so a lot of grease has dripped down. Everthing's pretty dirty, but the burner holes are clear.

I'm always able to get the burners lit by using a match, but not always with the igniter, even though I can see a spark coming out.

Lastly, can humidity affect the ease of lighting. It's been pretty rainy here lately.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Pete

check and make sure that you are actually getting a good spark. might just need to get the tip a bit closer to the metal as i had to do on my q220. also check the wire contacts and make sure everything is tight. your statement that its easy with a match kinda points you in that direction.

Thanks George. The spark that I see is pretty small. I never checked to see what it was like when I first got the thing so I don't know if the spark is the same or smaller than before. I'll try moving the sparky thing closer to the burner tube (that is what you meant, wasn't it?)

correct. my spark was kinda weak but it was doing the job though i had to press it repeatedly. i took a closer look and found that it was not sparking all the time but that also the spark was going down away from the gas port. messed around a bit with it and now it lights the first click almost all the time.

The Q100 is more difficult to ignite in stagnant air. One can remedy this by "fanning" the air, over the left side of the grate, once or twice with your hand, immediately before mashing the igniter button...MAGIC!

Try cleaning the burner tube with a grill brush, but DON'T brush lengthwise just across the tube. I find that usually takes care of the lighting problem.

Being a kina tool guy I use a cheapo paint sprayer cleaner brushes they work great and are made for cleaning out tiny holes and the set comes on a little ring with all kina sizes and tiny brushes . These have worked on every gas grill I have ever had over a 30 yr time period . There great to have and imo a must if you own a gas grill .

They sell these at Harbor Freight cheap like $5.00 there made again for cleaning the spray niples on a paint gun .But are perfect for gas grill tubes .

But most of the time if I see mine are pluged a little I just use a air blower with my air compressor set on 125 lbs and blowem out instant fix .

I went and bought some wielding tip cleaners. they come in a little packet of 15 or so. This is for the times that the brushes don't work so good and you still can't get the gas holes clear.

The spider guard holes are super small on the q and I am not sure what I would clean them with. But the gas burner holes are a snap. I use a brass brush on a bench grinder and this has worked well for me on all my genesis grills. I just got the q from CL and it was not dirty enough to take it to the bench grinder and the spider guard was very clean.

What gets into them that a tooth brush can't remove? The spider thing is outside the grill and should not get a lot of cooked on grease on it. If I am wrong I think I would use E-z off oven cleaner and then wash it off well.