Series guide · On the deck
Viking 5 Series Outdoor Grills: VQGI5 and VQGFS5
- Series
- Viking 5 Series outdoor grills
- Where it lives
- On the deck
- Status
- In Viking’s current line
- Model numbers start
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VQGI5VQGFS5 - Widths
- 30, 36, 42 and 54 inches
- Where the tag is
- Under the drip tray, or on the heat shield behind the front panel. Slide the tray out only once the grill is cold.
Decide first
Call or wait
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If nothing glows when you push a knob in — Check the outdoor GFCI outlet the grill plugs into and press its reset button. Still no glow on any burner: the power side needs a look. Book this week
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If one burner will not light but the others do — Knob off, wait five minutes for the gas to clear. Note which burner it is; the rest of the grill is safe to use. Book this week
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If the rotisserie burner goes out when you let go — Hold the knob in for the full 30 to 60 seconds the manual asks for. Still dropping out after a minute: book a visit. Book this week
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If you smell gas while it is running — Turn every burner off and close the gas supply to the grill. Do not relight it until it has been checked. Call today
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If it heats, only slowly on a cold evening — Preheat for 10 to 15 minutes with the hood closed, and take out any foil lining the grill. Safe to wait
Call today: ring Viking Appliance Repair Mercer Island at (206) 208-3377. Book this week: use the booking page. Safe to wait: not urgent, book when it suits you.
What fails on this series
- No igniter glows on any burner The outdoor GFCI outlet has tripped, or the low-voltage transformer below the grill has lost a connection. All the igniters failing together is the unlikely answer. Book this week
- One igniter stays dark That igniter or its wiring. Until it is replaced, the manual's lighting rod and a match still light that burner by hand. Book this week
- The rotisserie burner will not stay lit Its thermocouple is not getting hot enough to hold the safety valve open: wind across the back of the hood, the sensor knocked out of the flame, or a valve at the end of its life. Book this week
- Low heat with every knob on high A short preheat, foil blocking the airflow, a grill out of level, a supply line too small for the grill's total demand, or a regulator pressed against the body. Safe to wait
- Tall yellow flames and a gas smell The burner is short of air, usually an air shutter out of adjustment or a nest inside the burner tube. Stop using it until it is cleared. Call today
What sets the 5 Series apart
Every width carries brass main burners, a ProSear infrared burner and a rotisserie burner, and the grill lights them electrically, with igniters that glow instead of spark. That is why a 5 Series never clicks. On a main burner or the ProSear, Viking asks for the knob to be held in for five to seven seconds, while the igniter heats, before it turns to LITE.
The ProSear burner behaves differently from the brass ones. It has no air shutter and no manual lighting tube, and the manual asks for it to run on HI with the hood open for a few minutes after each cook so drippings burn off its screen; one page of the manual says 5 minutes, another 15. Every three to six months its venturi and orifice should be checked for anything blocking them.
On an island deck
Damp air off the lake is the ordinary condition for a grill here, not the exception. The manual’s advice fits it well: let the grill dry before the cover goes on, and look at the drip tray after rain. The tray has a drain plug for exactly that, and water left standing in it through a wet spell is a common find when a grill comes out of its cover in spring.
Most 5 Series faults are single parts: one igniter, one thermocouple, one blocked burner. The grill is built to be taken apart from the top and the front, and none of those repairs means replacing it.
Questions about the 5 Series outdoor grills
What do VQGI5 and VQGFS5 tell me about my grill?
The letters say how it was installed. VQGI5 is the built-in grill that sits in a masonry or cabinet island; VQGFS5 is the same grill on a freestanding base. The two digits after the 5 give the width: 30, 36, 42 or 54 inches. Read the whole number to Viking Appliance Repair Mercer Island at (206) 208-3377.
Does a 5 Series grill need electricity to cook?
To light and to run its lights, yes. Viking specifies an outdoor 120-volt, 15-amp GFCI outlet beside the grill, feeding a 12-volt transformer mounted below it. With no power the igniters cannot glow, but the manual still allows lighting a main burner by hand with the lighting rod and a match, following its steps.