Gasket Replacement Problems

Photo Egg

I have seen so many posts on gasket failure in the BGE.
I have also seen many posts on the "New", "Newer" and "Newest" BGE replacement gaskets.
Over the holidays I decided to strip my old gasket from my toasted XL and start the replacement process. I made the choice to use the rutland and thank you Ron for all your help.
I did not want to do all the work of removing and cleaning just to replace with another sub standard gasket.
After the removal of the old gasket and cleaning of the surface I can see, at least in my case, why the original gasket burned so bad in two areas. I placed the XL dome back on the base in the normal position with/out gaskets or bands. I placed a bright light inside the egg and was amazed at the gaps around the seal of the egg.
It's a wonder the gasket lasted as long as it did.
I was able to sand down the high spots a little and this really helped the fit but I did not want to take off to much and run into band space problems.
Have others seen this problem?
It seems like a little quality control from BGE would go a long way in increasing the gasket life and also cut down on the number of complaints I see in forum posts.
I know the molding process can not be perfect but there must be a post process that could be added to even out or match the dome and base for a better fit.
I'm sure many others would agree.
Please note I'm not trying to take cheap shots at BGE. I know there are great people behind the product and I do love cooking on my Eggs.
I plan on changing my gaskets on my Large and small this next weekend and hope they are a better fit.
Thanks in advance for any comments,
Darian

Hammer

The BGE has gone the extra step in producing a new gasket made of NOMEX. I've tested it for nearly a year.
It's worked great. It is made of the same material that most firemen wear.
I can't help you in the sanding of your egg to even out the high spots; this has never been a problem for me; maybe someone else can help you on it.

I can't advise you on the installation of the Rutland nor would I since Rutland advises against using it on the BGE.
Hammer

Braddog

Is the Nomex gasket generally avaialble? I don't see it on the website.

Cheers,
Braddog

Photo Egg

Thanks for your email.
You have to admit in the past BGE has not gone out of their way inform the public about their advancements of a new gasket that indeed might work better. I only see posts from users claiming to be using or testing a new improved version or that new ones are in the works.
Thanks for the info and taking the time to post.
darian

Frank from Houma

I'm getting ready to replace mine. Any recommendations on the best way to clean the surface for replacing the gasket?

Thanks in advance, Frank

Spring Chicken

Morning Darian,

When I realized my gaskets were always burning in the same area I tried to find out why. I thought two layers of gasket should easily accommodate slight imperfections in the rims.

I took the Egg apart. Then removed the gaskets and cleaned the rims.

I then placed a piece of MDF plywood (it's very flat) over each to see where the gaps were. And wouldn't you know it, they were right where the gaskets burned.

I marked the high spot and used my belt sander to knock it down, but that's when I noticed that on either side of the high spot there were low spots. So I had a multi-gap situation that could only be fixed by using some form of "truing" device. I even thought about spinning the Egg shells on my driveway but nixed the idea in favor of waiting for the long-discussed but never seen NEW GASKET. I was hoping it would be thick enough to handle the depressions.

Meanwhile, I installed another standard felt gasket and although it works better because I knocked down the high spot, it still shows signs of burning.

Personally, I would like to see NO gasket at all, and instead, design a tongue and groove matchup between the base and dome.

I need to order some more gasket material but I sure don't want to waste money on something that doesn't work that well when a new version is apparently available.

Good luck on yours.

Spring "Half Of Me Ain't Right" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

The Naked Whiz

One brand of cooker does actually have a model with a sort of tongue and groove arrangement. It's their most expensive model, however. It costs about 4 large Eggs. Someday, though...

The Naked Whiz

If you visit my web site and go to Information Central, look for the article on installing a Rutland gasket. It has removal/cleaning instructions. Personally, I use a utility knife to scrape off most of the old gasket, then use the 3M paint stripping wheel in a drill to get the rest off. Then a wipe with alcohol and you are ready to go.

Hammer

Ask your dealer if they have it; if not call the BGE in Atlanta and order it. I've subjected the Nomex to various tests; re; torch test;high temp burns for prolonged periods; side by side gaskets on the same egg; lo & slos; T Rex steaks etc; microscopic fiber inspections for burn spots etc;.

Is the Nomex gasket a be all/end all. I don't think so because I believe there will be something even better in the future.

With that said, it's the best I've seen in the 20+ years of egging I have seen.

Hammer

The Naked Whiz

What color is the new gasket? I wonder if it is pure Nomex or is it encased in something? Nomex breaks down in the presence of ultraviolet radiation (sunlight). I know that when I flew my balloon and had the Nomex cables installed, the Nomex was encased in heat shrink tubing to protect it from sunlight. It was a big deal (at least the repair station said so, lol!) to get the balloon in for repair (new heat shrink tubing) if you ever scorched a cable and exposed the Nomex.

The Naked Whiz

I'd be wary of exposing the gasket to high temperatures. Nomex gives of toxic vapors when exposed to high temps.

currdog

T&G would be great, but the tolerances are going to be a lot tighter, simply beveling the top out on a 30/45 angle and beveling the bottom in at the same angle might be an easier solution. would require enoough positive pressure to push the air down to escape. Not foolproof, but probablly good enough for temp control.

Hammer

Whiz, I am not aware of any toxic vapors that you reference. Intresting to know, and I'll pass that on to the Fire academy; because I'm quite sure that they don't want to expose any firemen or firewomen to anything that was toxic.
My brother is a fire chief, and all of his folks use the Nomex material including him.
As far as temps. The gasket was tested by the BGE at temps exceeding 1,500. You can call John Creel and ask him about it as well.
The color of the gasket is a shade of beige.
Hammer

Grandpas Grub

Photo Egg,

Question - did you bother contacting your dealer and BGE about your problem?

Your dealer should be the first contact point when there is a problem. If the dealer is of no help then BGE.

For others, sanding voids the Lifetime warranty. Using power tools, sanding, digging also voids the warranty.

I have a problem with a medium dome and gaskets in both my medium and large.

I was told by BGE all the new shipments of eggs will have the new gasket material and all dealers should have the new material available.

There was a question on the forum about dealers having the old gasket material until their old inventory is sold out.

The only thing I can say about that is buyer beware.

At this time I am not sure what the new material looks like in comparison to the felt gasket. Hopefully someone will give us a description or post a picture of the new material.

Finally, I have seen many, many posts praising the Rutland gasket. At first I was not too concerned about the health hazard warning.

I was told the Rutland Warning was with regard to the harm of a fetus. I asked myself why take a chance, and decided to wait for the new BGE gasket material.

Photo Egg

Thanks as always for your words.
Sounds like we had or have the same problem.
Taking a little off the high spots has decreased my low spots and I hope this will help.
I agree that another closure system would be great.
I would like to see the bands fit into a molded groove to stop slipping and some kind adjustments in the hinge for final adjustments.
I would also like to see gas prices back to $2.00 a gallon and the end of planting bombs in public places and killing innocent people in the name of some god or belief. I know, extreme examples that in no way are equal to BBQ hobby problems.
A good glass of Rum and Coke will help,
Darian

Photo Egg

Thanks for your post.
If I void my life time warranty by doing a little sanding to make the Egg work like it should I can live with this. Only time and BGE will decide if this is a warranty issue, not forum members. The use of power tools, scraping tools and sanding is almost a must just to replace a bad gasket with a new BGE gasket. I guess I don't see the problem unless the over sanding then causes band problems. I was very carefull not to sand enough to go below the band line.
The health issue is a whole diffent topic. It seems that almost anything that comes in contact with high heat or flames is bad for your health.
The warnings on high temp grilling, consuming tobaco and alcohol far exceed any warning I have ever seen about a Rutland Gasket and I'm sure most people on this forum are guilty of at least one of the above and don't give it a second thought. Now I don't use tobaco but I do like a cold beer with my T-Rex steak.

Thank you for your thoughts and warnings,
Darian

Hammer

The folks at the BGE are constantly testing various things to improve the cooking enviroment of their product.
They are aware of the gasket problems and have worked dilegently to solve it. That's why they test. There are a lot of products that are in test; and some have been in test for the last several years. I know, because I've been testing it along with several others; but no use announcing what it is until the BGE is satisfied that it is good enough to be released.
If I can help you; let me know.
Hammer

Unknown

"but no use announcing what it is until the BGE is satisfied that it is good enough to be released"

well said.

they may not want it out there as general knowledge. a lot of us have tested things in the past, but not all of it was ready for prime time. might be a case of keeping the lid on it until BGE decides when it's appropriate to release the info.

Photo Egg

Thanks again for your post.
Are you saying the new gasket that you are talking about is now officially being sold because I have not seen a post from BGE telling any details of this new gasket or is it still "officially" in testing?
This is kind of like the whole spring hinge thing with the XL that I was told is still in works last time I called BGE.
Thanks again,
Darian

The Naked Whiz

It's in the MSDS. I imagine that any clothing worn by fire personnel that is made from nomex fabric has an outer reflective layer. But then, if a fireman is in an environment where the clothing is going to be exposed to those kinds of temps, he is wearing breathing apparatus. (As opposed to someone using a torch to see what happens when they apply the flame to the gasket.)

Grandpas Grub

Darian,

What I posted was what was told to me by BGE directly. John told me that the egg surfaced is hand turned to a very fine tolerance. If that was not the case then BGE wanted to make sure that that problem is resolved.

When we were talking about how to remove the old gasket, I said there were several people suggesting to use sanding wheels, and grinders. John interrupted the conversation and said “NO” don’t, that voids the Egg warranty.

I was simply sharing what was told to me directly from BGE. Once one buys an egg what they do with it is their choice. My very first steps in getting my gasket problems resolved are going to follow BGE’s advice while not voiding the warranty.

Regarding the health warning.

I have read many posts with regard to how well the Rutland gasket is working for many, many people. That is the reason I contacted Ron to get a Rutland Kit.

I had some continued emails with Ron and he was hugely helpful to me. He advised of the health warning and we discussed that issue as well as longevity of the fiberglass gasket and installation procedures. At that time I made the decision to purchase the kit from Ron. Without asking Ron even sent a more detailed installation instructions.

Even though I have decided not to use the Rutland I was and still am very grateful to Ron for his advice and help with my gasket frustrations. Further should anyone want to use the Rutland I would suggest contacting Ron.


Health warning… I agree with you, most anything we do, eat or enjoy has some kind of health issue. Heck, I new of an old fellow that died from eating carrots. He prided himself in the carrots he grew since we was a young boy.

After he passed, I was talking with his wife. She told me she was sure the carrots he grew and bought killed him. She said he juiced them, cooked them and ate them raw. He ate carrots every single day of his life.

Well the old fellow died at 106 and his lovely wife said it was due to all those damn carrots he ate.

On a more serious thought, when I was again talking with John at BGE and said I was going to use the Rutland he told me about the health warning.

The warning was from Rutland and it was with regard to a fetus and who knows what else might be at risk.

For me the potential problems to a fetus made me stop and think.

I am just a simple old fart out here playing with the egg. However, I do have 3 daughters and 2 daughter’s-in-law. All of which are in child bearing years.

I am not sure why but after the conversation with John I got to thinking about my kids and grandkids. I thought that there really would not be much change of the gasket material causing problems. For whatever reason the though came back to me again.

If there is even a possibility that my using a fiberglass gasket could even remotely be possible for a death of a fetus or even causing problems to a fetus would I want to take a chance.

Taking that thought further, what if for some reason one of my daughters had a fetus die or a baby be born with some type of problem? Would I even want to imagine that there even could be a remote possibility that my auctions caused or might even remotely be related to something like that.

What a potential for ‘mental torture’.

Why not try the BGE solution first or even the Cotronics Gasket.

I am not on a anti Rutland campaign by any means. However, I do think this particular health risk is a bit more serious than something like cooking in aluminum may be linked to Alzheimer’s – that makes me wonder too – maybe that’s my problem.

Should one want a Rutland I suggest contacting RRP.

Be well my friend, Kent

The Naked Whiz

I guess I'll have to contact Rutland and see what they say exactly. The MSDS for fiberglass makes no mention whatsoever of any kind of problems that you could associate with danger to a fetus. So, all these warnings are very confusing. I'll sort that out for myself.

That said, if you are going to avoid the fiberglass option, Cotronics also has said that you should not use their products around food. I don't know the details, but I believe that the concern with ceramic fibers is essentially the same as you might have with vitreous (fiberglass) fibers.

Unknown

Tongue-and-groove rims just might get in the way of all those wires everyone hangs out of their eggs

The Naked Whiz

The manufacturer I alluded to has a port in the side of the cooker for the wires, FWIW.

Photo Egg

Or if a Fire fighter is in a fire so bad that Nomex burns a little fume exposure is the least of the problems and the lesser of two evils...
You always have great advice and great variety of knowledge.
Darian

Photo Egg

That's a very good point.
Darian

Photo Egg

If you find out any more from Rutland could you contact me on the side?
We have a MSDS book in our lab as well and I don't show any risks of this kind.
Thanks again,
Darian

Unknown

That port sounds like a good idea. From the photos I've seen posted from some of you guys showing the multi-tiered multi-racked all-wired-up with 300 lb.s of meat in the smoker, that port better be about the size of a 4" water main!

The Naked Whiz

The only other thing I can think of which maybe Rutland can answer, is that Rutland's MSDS on their gasket says that it also contains graphite. But I'm really confused about why would Rutland say their gasket material is a hazard to a fetus and not mention it in the Rutland MSDS for their gasket? Here's a link to the Rutland MSDS:

http://www.rutland.com/maintenance_html/MSDS%20Maint/MSDS%2095%200904.pdf

Grandpas Grub

What I responded with was what was told to me when I was talking with BGE.

I did have the same thought about contacting Rutland with regard to the 'fetus'. I haven't specified as to death or harm as I don't recall exactly how it was presented to me. However, I was shocked when discussing the potential problem.

If you are going to contact Rutland I will hold off. It will be interesting to learn the outcome and if there is a specific (or known) health issue.

I am not sure if it was with Ron, but I remember talking about the Rutland and the fact that the Rutland is used on the bottom rim and the food is not being dragged over the gasket material.

As with everythig in the end people have to decide for themselves.

Looking to reading about your follow-up on this.

Kent

Photo Egg

I understand and respect your concerns on the health issue.

I have 3 eggs and not one of them look like they have a hand turned flat surface on the dome or base. All purchased at diferent times from different vendors.
I did talk to BGE and they said molding is not exact and every one is different and that'a what the gasket if for. I agree but the gasket can only do so much.

Thanks again for your posts and it's nice to talk and hear different views and respect the views of others.

Darian