If you have an OCI gas barbecue grill you have probably already discovered the company that created these incredible barbecue grills is back to one single person trying to keep up with everything and not succeeding. Although I am a Huge fan of the grills, dealing with Outdoor Concepts, Incorporated is a very trying experience. Because a lot of the replacement parts for OCI models are not available from OCI we have had to get used to making other grill parts work for our repairs which is demonstrated in these video instructions.
It is common with any outdoor BBQ grill to replace the parts of the ignition assembly because humidity and weather cause damage and the ignition parts are so small they’re easily damaged and rust quickly if we allow corrosion to set in. Since OCI has been unable to replace the ignition electrodes or the mounting cross over collector box we have had to find another igniter replacement.
Although not originally made for OCI gas grill ignition repair, we’ve used the igniter many times in OCI grill models. Installation is easily and the grill parts work great!
Obviously this (image below) is the original cross-over collector box installed in a twenty-six inch wide Outdoor Concepts gas barbecue grill. We can tell this is the 26 model because of the L bracket that installs across the entire width of the inside front firewall of the barbecue.
Original cross over tube with sparking electrode inside is made to several sizes for different OCI bbq grill models.
The mounting bracket attaches to the inner firewall and the electrode bolts to the bottom where the bracket protects the electrode from dripping greases and marinades. On the bottom of the cross over box is the stainless cross over tube that allows the original electrode to ignite the burner to the right and left side of the ignition mounting bracket.
Under the used cross over ignition bracket the electrode and installation hardware are in bad shape after many years of grilling.
This next image shows the electrode attached to the collector box mounting bracket below the cross over bracket.
The design of the OCI ignition electrode makes it need to be replaced a lot less than most other barbecue grill ignitors but on occasion we do need to replace the electrode or the collector box cross over bracket. OCI grill parts are available for immediate shipping anywhere in the world from the following page URL:
http://www.grill-repair.com/oci.html
New OCI ignitor electrode installed on new cross over mounting bracket
This image shows the original OCI electrode which has a small stainless tab on one side and a flat bracket for attaching the electrode to the collector box cross over.
This electrode is difficult to get because OCI is unreliable and they cost about 4x what a typical igniter electrode would cost. Even when the OCI electrodes were available to be ordered and quickly delivered, we were looking at other options because of the cost. Now that OCI is unable to usually deliver the electrodes and collector box with any reliability we’re happy to have looked for other options.
Since replacement parts from OCI are extinct this is the electrode replacement used to repair the OCI igniters.
This is the new replacement electrode we’re using for the OCI cross over bracket. Fortunately this electrode comes with a wide flat bracket. We only actually use one side of the mounting bracket on the electrode which comes with a nut and bolt for this purpose.
Like the original OCI replacement electrode the tip of the electrode ships longer than what is necessary so we need to line-up the tip of the steel end of the electrode and clip it to end inside the cross over tube. This ensures we’re able to position the electrode perfectly inside the cross over tube which makes the electrode capable of lighting gas from the left and right side burners in the grill.
The tip of the OCI igniter electrode ends inside the round cross-over bracket so there is lots of clean stainless for sparking on the right and left side of the electrode.
The original electrode from Outdoor Concepts, Inc. also shipped too long. The different models of OCI grills have different sized brackets and the extra length at the tip of the ignition is intentional so the tip can be clipped to a perfect size every time. The new replacement does exactly the same thing which makes it a great replacement for all OCI models.
Replacing The OCI Ignitor Mounting Bracket
Where we have trouble is when the cross over collector box needs to be replaced because OCI almost never has these available to repair the ignitors on the grills.
Fortunately we have also come up with a working replacement for the entire electrode cross over collector box assembly.
Without replacement parts from OCI this electrode and cross-over ignitor bracket works great between all OCI U burners in any OCI model gas grill.
As we can see in this image and in the instructional video above, this assembly will replace the OCI ignition assembly in the various OCI barbecue grill models!
We originally tested this ignition electrode assembly because the cross over box is like the OCI design. One ignitor to light both burners and function as a simple cross-over box if the ignitors were not sparking.
Many barbecue models have cross-over boxes that are completely separate from the igniter electrodes because when we must manually light one burner, cross-over tubes permit flame from one burner to jump across to the gas coming from another burner when the ignitors are not working.
The design of this electrode assembly made us think of using it in the OCI although we believed we would need to drill into the firewall in order to slide-through the threaded sleeve around the electrode. However, the electrode fits and the included bracket has holes in it that match the OCI holes Perfectly! Personally, I have never needed to use the bracket that comes with this electrode. When installing this igniter, we slide the threaded tube trough the firewall and then we tighten the thin nuts on either side of the firewall to hole the electrode solidly in place. Installing the igniter into the OCI the holes lines up perfectly for installation in addition to the threading and nuts attached to the ceramic electrode.
Not only is this electrode attached in two different places, by twisting the electrode we were able to bend the mounting panel to make it even tighter — as shown in the image. The mounting bracket is tight against the firewall at the top where the bolts thread through the fire wall but at the bottom we twisted the reverse so there is a lot of tension between the points on the mounting bracket. This is Not necessary. The electrode assembly will tightly attached without generating the extra tension. The electrode is completely immobilized to spark between the U burners so our One new electrode can light the flames of both grill burners.
More importantly, this is an ignition electrode that is easily selected, shipped, received and installed — and it works!
As Always, if You need help, have questions, need barbecue grill repair parts and replacement assistance, Please Contact:
Majestic Grill Parts.
954-2-GRILL-2 which is also 954-247-4552
http://www.grill-repair.com/oci.html
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