A Complete Guide to Maintaining and Caring for your Heatlie BBQ

To ensure you get the longest possible life out of your BBQ, follow the below steps when setting up, using, cleaning and maintaining your Heatlie BBQ...

Gas Bottle and Hose Fittings

1. Gas Bottle: Hang the gas bottle on the brackets provided on the right hand side leg frame. The handle at the top of the bottle sits over the bent brackets.
2. LPG Hose & Regulator: Connect the regulator to the bottle, ensuring it is done up well and tight. 
3. OR if using with Natural Gas, a gas fitter will be required to install your BBQ and check that the pressures are correct with the gas lines.
4. Leak Test: With the gas line connected to the controller unit – turn gas on at bottle and check for leaks. Use soapy water – brush over joints on gas bottle and connection at gas taps and watch for bubbles.

Before Lighting

1. The barbecue should be placed on a firm solid surface with all relevant ventilation and clearance requirements adhered to.
2. Place fat container under the spout, in the holder, on the front of the unit. Ensure container is properly located so that it cannot be accidentally dislodged.
3. Turn knobs to the OFF position.
4. Turn on valve at the gas cylinder or natural gas connection point. 
5. Check there are no leaks. (see leak test)

Seasoning the Hotplate

Heatlie barbecues can have either a mild steel or stainless steel cooking surface, and it is recommended that either option be ‘seasoned’ correctly before use to reduce the likelihood of food sticking to the hotplate and rust issues. This is achieved by following these simple steps.

1. Straight from the factory, the hotplate has a light coating of lanolin oil to prevent rust, and this must be removed completely. Wash the hotplate using warm soapy water until the water runs clear.
2. Thoroughly rinse and dry hotplate.
3. Apply a layer of vegetable or cooking oil and turn the burners on high for two minutes only.
4. Turn off the barbecue.
5. Wipe off the layer of oil.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 and you are now ready to cook.
7. After cooking, scrape food particles off hotplate and apply a layer of cooking oil.
8. The hotplate will change colour, and will eventually look golden brown, this will darken with use and is quite normal, as it is part of the seasoning process.
9. Leave a film of oil on the hotplate when not in use.

NOTE: Do not leave your barbecue turned on without food for more than a few minutes as you will risk buckling the plate.

Operation

1. Turn on front gas burner by pushing down the knob and rotating to high.
2. Push piezo ignition button until burner ignites. If ignition does not occur within 15 seconds, turn off the gas and wait 30 seconds before trying again.
3. (OR – light the front burner using 40mm match through porthole, located on the right hand side of the BBQ front panel.
4. To light rear burner turn knob to high and push piezo igniter or simply allow about 10 seconds for “cross lighting” to occur.
5. Flame is visible through viewing portholes situated at each end of BBQ next to burners.
6. After use, turn off knobs, then gas supply.

Warning: Occasionally a yellow or low flame may occur particularly if barbecue has not been used for some time. This signifies some blockage due to dust or spider making a home in the burner. This can usually be cleared by blowing high pressure air through the burner to clear obstruction, if not you may require the assistance from a qualified gas fitter.

Cleaning and Care

1. To care for your hotplate: Once the hotplate has been seasoned, it will no longer be clean and shiny, don’t worry, that’s what it should look like.
2. It is important to keep the plate greased or oiled, this helps eliminate the possibility of the plate rusting. After use, simply scrape the plate, and wipe it over with a paper towel or similar. Don’t wash it down with water, as this will dissolve the grease and encourage rust.
3. If your plate does get a bit of rust on it, this can be easily removed with a scourer. Once you’ve rubbed any surface rust off, make sure you oil the plate again for protection.
4. Be careful not to leave the plate empty with the burners on high for too long, as this could cause the plate to warp.
5. To remove any fat splatter from the instruction panel or other surfaces on the barbecue, simply use a sponge and warm soapy water.
6. Don’t use steel wool or a scourer on the powder coated parts of your barbecue as this will damage the paintwork.
7. Stainless steel barbecues can be kept clean easily with warm soapy water, but once again avoid using steel wool as the particles can embed themselves in the stainless and rust, which can also damage the stainless steel.
8. Don’t use salt water to clean, as the sodium chloride will damage any steel surface.
9. Don’t store barbecue near sprinkler system, as this has been proved to damage paint work.
10. If the barbecue is used near the beach, try and avoid sea spray, as eventually this can also damage paintwork.
11. Constant exposure to the sun will eventually fade the paintwork.
12. If the barbecue is stored uncovered, without a protective cover, the plate may rust in between use as the rain will wash away any grease or oil.
13. For best results, store under cover (lids and protective vinyl covers are available).
14. The area at the back of the hotplate is the flue, where the heat escapes from underneath the hotplate, please keep this free of obstacles as it could snuff out the burners.
15. The lid can be hooked at the back of the hotplate and used as a wind break or splash guard to protect the walls the barbecue is up against.
16. The inside of the lid will need to be wiped after each use to remove fat spray.

Troubleshooting

1. If the piezo igniter fails to produce a spark, the barbecue can be lit through the hole in the front of the barbecue. New piezo kits are available for sale as a spare part.
2. The barbecue knob may also need replacing from time to time. Often people just turn the knob instead of pushing it in first, this will cause the knob to break. They are available as a spare part.
3. If the igniter is sparking, but not igniting the burner, check to make sure the lead is attached to the igniter, sometimes they come dislodged when they are moved around.
4. Temperature differences will be apparent on the hotplate, which is quite normal. It will usually be hotter directly above the burner, and only warm around the edges. This allows you to move food around as required, as some food cooks quicker than others. If you notice very hot or cold spots, this is usually associated with a blockage in the burner. The most common cause of this is a spider or earwig making its home inside the burner, this needs to be removed with an air compressor or similar.
5. If the flame is constantly yellow and uneven, this can be associated with deteriorating burners. Sometimes in more humid areas burners can rust out quicker, and the holes become larger causing problems with the flame.  In these cases the burners will need replacing. They are available as a spare part.