[Chazz]

Originally Posted by BarryDC

Hi Chazz-
I guess my unit is a little older than yours and they must have changed the gas feed to the front. That should have corrected the hard start problem, but I guess it didn't. I had one of their very early grills that used ceramic elements that weren't covered with glass. On those their was a piezoelectric starter button that ignited a pilot light which in turn ignited the gas. Those started without a hitch........and they were at full heat in only 2 minutes. At that time the company bent over backwards to please......replacing broken elements free and even rusted burners with newer stainless steel ones. Now I don't like their attitude. Too bad.

Best of luck.

Barry,

Originally, I had the Patio II model with ceramic brickets, etc. Never had a problem with it. It started like a champ and cooked way hotter than the newer glass model. I lost mine in the Feb. 2007 tornado. The insurance company replaced it with the current model which was more than double the price of the earlier one.