I just bought the Char-Broil Turkey/Fish Fry set as sold by Wal Mart. I
wonder if anyone here has this set.

I have a question about assembling it that's driving me crazy. They go
to great pains to tell you to install the brass hose fitting from the
regulator onto the burner unit, with the spring between the hose nut and
the burner, with the damper on the burner. They tell you to tighten it
and that "proper connection is critical for correct operation". They
then go on in other places of the manual to have you test this joint for
leaks with soapy water.

I'm wondering how this could be critical. For one, you can't even
tighten the hose into the burner without squeezing the spring down so
much that it's flat like a washer, and this will also lock the damper
down enough that it's extremely hard to turn. On top of that, even when
you tighten it that much, the little nipple that goes through the brass
hose fitting has a circlip to keep it all together, but it has a gap in
it that would allow gas around it anyway, as the nipple end never gets
snugged up enough. The hose is always free to move around (and would
have an air leak) even if you could/would snug up the brass hose
fitting. It's free to slide back and forth, side to side a little. On
top of that, there are air leaks right beside the hose connection
anyhow, in the form of vents, which the damper controls. If you ask me,
that hose only needs to be connected just enough to keep it in the cast
burner assembly safely and allow the damper to function correctly (turn
and stay locked in position). I think also that the hose just needs to
be fastened in enough so that it can supply gas to the cast burner
assembly. The fire takes place farther up in the burner, and not near
where the hose connects, where that air leak from the vents are anyway.

Can anyone comment on this and tell me if I'm wrong and that the manual
is either wrong or misleading so that I don't have a problem with this?

Thanks,

Danny