Gaskets - Is the mothership even listening?

FlaMike

Here we go again with the gasket problem. It seems like the forum members are answering the questions, giving the advice, posting the photos, etc.

Why are we not hearing it from the Mothership?

Do they not read this forum?

They may be working on the problem, but the info we read seems to be nothing more than speculation.

Surely the Forum deserves a word or two from the "Horses Mouth".

Or are we not that important to them? ...... I'm beginning to wonder.

aaind

Boy Ya , Can we hear from you Mother ship

PhilsGrill

They have new gaskets, Nomex. Just call and order one. Now if you think they are going to swap over to the new ones when they have 853,947 of the old in stock, you are mistaken. As soon as these are gone, the new ones will be put on.

Buster Dog BBQ

Well, it's not the BGE's forum for one. I don't think it is their job to patrol various forums. However, saying that, they do have people that do post on these boards from time to time and I am sure they get feedback from time to time.

What about the dealers or distributors that don't tell buyers about getting the gasket set or not check the assembly of the egg before selling? Those are the ones that you want to be here more than the mothership.

FlaMike

Good point.

aaind

I was in manufacturing for years ,if we got calls from 6- 12 folks with a bad part we them pulled the ones out of instock and sent new at our cost to ones that called .
This is a 1st class outfit they will do the right thing
Dave

BobS

Sorry, but it is not clear to me what people expect. I bought a spare gasket when I bought my Egg, two years ago, but I have never had a problem.

If I have to replace it I will use the one I have and then I will switch to a Nomex or one of the after market gaskets.

Bobby-Q

This is a forum for sharing and cooking and enjoyment. It's not a customer service forum.

We have phones and e-mail for customer service.

Some folks feel the need to share and help on here and they often times are very helpful and know what they are talking about. Each situation is usually different and it needs to be addressed individualty. That is how we handled customer service.

Call us if you have a problem or e-mail us.

Here is some contact information that can also be found on our web site.

Customer service:
customer-support@biggreenegg.com
770-938-9394 ext 108

If you need to buy something or want to talk to me or Randy or Annie call us at 770-934-5300. You can also e-mail us at retail@biggreenegg.com.

We want this to be a place to share your food and your stories about the EGGs and EGGheads. If you have a problem feel free to contact us through the appropriate channels.

aaind

Well there you have it ,Just like I said 1st Class
Thanks Dave

FlaMike

Bobby,
You're right. This is not a customer service forum, and ran my mouth off without thinking first.
I've always praised BGE's customer service, and think it's second to none.
I guess I'm frustrated that so many people have the same gasket issue, and it's not going away.
I think I'll stick to cooking.

milesofsmiles

Sorry, I for one like the felt gasket. I sell lots o eggs...and never to tell new eggers to keep the first 10 cooks below or up to 400. I blame the sales persom on his problem, not the mothership. If the student hasen't learned the teacher ( sales person ) has not taught. Just my two cents worth. Felt gaskets are cool. Miles out.

PhilsGrill

There aren't that many having issue. This forum maybe... maybe has less than 0.1% of the total users that have eggs here. I bet if you look back on this forum you would be hard to find 100 people that have and issue out of the total number of eggs sold. Since the mothership is offering a new type of gasket, this has to be great service for their customers to support the few.

NOLA Doc C

I have found customer service to be nothing but great.
I've been through a couple of gaskets and they have been a source of valuable info and promptly addressed my issues.
Call and speak to them

Midnight Smoke

1st time EGG owner here. Blew out my gasket on 1st couple cooks. Dealer failed to advise about setting the gasket.

Call BGE and talked to John, replacement gasket (nomex)personally sent out by him. No charge!!!!!!!!!!!

How much better can it get than that?

Mainegg

I have 5 eggs total and one gasket that has a slight issue. And I also know it was due to me doing a high temp cook when it was new. A pizza level with the felt seal did it in. One needs major adjustments as it does puff smoke out the side :blink: but it's felt is fine :( go figure. none of my eggs are over 2 years old and the oldest has the best seal and a lot of seasoning on it. Customer support is there for ME to contact when I need help. This is a great cooking forume :cheer: but know to contact them if I need them. LOL Julie

East Cobb Eggy

The question is when should we expect the NOMEX to be standard on the new BGEs.

Personally, I bought a new EGG in May, and it has the old felt style.

Also, would it be possible to show the new NOMEX at the EGGtoberfest?

Greg

GatorEgg

What is the longest period of time anyone has had a BGE gasket last. I've had my lg BGE for 1 1/2 years (atleast 400 cooks) and it is still on strong. However, I don't sear my steaks at 800 degrees just 600 degrees. It still seals nicely for my long slow cooks.

Gandolf

I gotta step in here. Fact is...there's nothing really wrong with the felt gasket. Many of us have used them for years without the need to replace. The Nomex is, in my opinion a vast improvement, and when I finally had to replace my gasket as a result of an unfortunate operator error , I used the Nomex. Adhesive could use some work, but the gasket seems great!

But the point is, Bobby-Q, try as he might, cannot post here as simply an Egg enthusiast like the rest of us. Every time you post, you do so as a representative of the Mothership. Just the nature of the beast. Given that, some information on the Company's understanding of this problem would serve BGE well. Thanks

Grandpas Grub

I have all eggs but the XL.

I have not as lucky as a lot of other eggers. I have been one of those folks who does have gasket problems.

Before I continue, whenever I have talked with BGE they have helped. The help has been of better quality then anyother company I have ever worked with.

The adhesive/gasket issue for 'ME' had been somewhat of a problem from my first cook. My sharing this is not complaining about the eggs or the company.

There have been past posts regarding BGE testing new gasket resolutions. One person I now of has come on this forum and stated he has been testing Nomex for BGE at that time for about 2 years. That post was quite a while ago possibly even as far back as Dec last year.

In my oppinion and in defence of BGE, any company testing something is not going to broadcast what 'MIGHT' be comming. There are a lot of things that must be taken into consideration. Once something is figured out, tested, known to work and is safe for us their customers, I am sure BGE will let us know. That information will probably come through the distribution and or dealers. Until one person on the forum knows then her on the forum.

This is not ment to pick on Mike, I think his post was valid. Further, Mike's later post also explained BGE has great service and he understood the situation. (not trying to speak for you Mike - but that is my take).

My sharing is due to my wanting to find out some answers to my questions. I have had 5 and what I call 1/2 gasket failures with 2 eggs.

Therefore, I had decided to do some testing on my own to try and get some more answers. This last round of 'testing' created more questions which will reqire further testing. Some of that testing will have risks and costs to me which I am willing to do. I will contiue to share what I think I have discovered and the forum members can comment or not, benifit or not as they wish.

My best to all, Kent

Grandpas Grub

Some folks have told me they are still on their original gaskets with many years of use.

I believe eggs with proper alighment and adhesive/felt without being exposed to extreme heat stress will last a very long time. Eventually I think they will 'wear' out and will need replacing. That could be many years down the road.

GG

PhilsGrill

Since the 'failure' rate is probably less than 1% nothing needs to be done. 1% failure rate is perfectly acceptable in the corporate world. It would be a problem if it started to reach 5%.

Grandpas Grub

Phil,

One person may not have a problem and another person may have a problem.

I just got off an extremely long phone with Bobby-Q.

Percentages are tracked but are not at all shared. As far as getting something fixed it doen't seem to matter what the percentages are.

I can share with you and others is that Corporate is very concerned with anything to do with the eggs and does pay attention to this forum and the posts that are made. They are more than happy to help when
'they' are contacted.

The forum is a fantastic place for help from other members. However, if someone needs help with a potential warranty issue they should contact Corporate directly.

Enough for now...

Good egg'n all. GG

WADoug

This issue/problem rises often in the short time I've been in this great forum. I really enjoy my Egg and the experiences shared here in this forum. But, why...why does this issue come up so often? I believe the BGE is a good product and company, that's not really the issue for me. I spent hard earned dollars for the premium price of my Egg. The cooking results are great, but it's not the only show in the BBQ tent, I can get great results from other products. This forum makes the BGE work for me, not the product. It reminds me of the Apple when it first came out in the 70's. Techies liked it (me too), but IBM/MS-DOS got the market. I'm sticking with the Egg, but, really, should I have to be concerned about the dollar test, and what gasket works best.

Grandpas Grub

WADog,

I too was in the apple world from day 1 then because business began going to "IBM" that's where the bucks were going.

Anyway, back to bge's, with my testing and observations with the 6 1/4 adhesive/gasket loss. I feel the alignment 'dollar test' is critical.

For example, a very short time ago I replaced a failed gasket with a new felt gasket. I got the surfaces as clean as they possibly could be other than if the was new.

I applied the felt gasket making sure there was no tug or pull when putting the gasket on. I got the alignment done.

I did the dollar bill test. I use 20# copy paper in dollar bill width rather than currency. I just don't want any dirty money.

I recorded the test with a rating of 0 to 5. '0' being no resistance to the tug at all (this is a gap) to a '5' the tug will result in a terror of the paper and little or no movement. I test at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 o'clock positions.

This alignment went from a high of 5 to a low of 1 or 2. I thought that was a pretty good alignment and proceeded to the cook & testing.

I don't agree with the cure theory that is floating around other than keeping the egg below 500° - 550° dome temp or even lower (some say 400°) will definitely avoid adhesive/gasket failure.

In my testing I managed to get the medium up to 700° in 2 tests. I did not let the egg hold at 700° for any length of time at all, I shut it down.

I was feeling pretty good because the adhesive/gasket was holding when the dome got that high. The last test I got to 700° and thought I would see if my medium would get any higher in temp. I waited 3 minutes and no increase past 700°. I decided to shut the test down.

3 minutes later the dome was at 550° but I smelled the adhesive/gasket and I realized I had probably had a failure.

I waited another minute, dome now 530° and opened the dome.

I have a picture up of the failure and anyone looking at the pictures can easily see where the light pull on the test was.

Sure enough the adhesive had melted. The felt was pretty much fine. There were two spots that wher the dome was not completly aligned with the base and those photos show clearly in the photo's and the scorching can be seen.

It was me that allowed the egg to remain at those high heat levels.

This is what (I think) I know - this is my opinion.

I have observed 3 or 4 times the adhesive will fail before the felt and in most of my cases the felt hasn't failed.

I also believe most adhesive/gasket failure are due to the user in one way or another.

1. It is critical to make sure the dome/base are aligned and have a good seal (tug test).

2. If #1 is correct, normal cooking ranges in the egg will not cause adhesive/gasket failure.

3. If at high temps and the 'old style' of burping the egg is used, that is open the dome a small amount, there is a very good possibility the owner can cause adhesive/gasket failure. I would recommend going to TNW site and read about the vent opening procedure rather than what we all refer to as 'burping'.

4. Lump that is orange - lava looking is at about 1100° - dome temp will depend on how much of the lump is at lava state and how far the level is away from the dome thermometer.

5. The safest way to sear a steak is to get tjv's spider and put your grid closer to the lump. Searing at 800° to 1100° is going to give a better sear than at normal grate level. The dome temp can be well below the 500° - 700°. Further the adhesive/gasket will not be subject to stress or failure.

6. Even if the dome is in the 450° range any fixture mass placed close to the gasket area can create excess heat radiating to the gasket which could result in failure. Example #3 failure for me. At that time I thought the curing of the adhesive/gasket was the answer. I had 40 cooks under 400° and lower on by the dome thermometer. I needed to season a very large dutch oven for my egg/DO pot roast and stews.

I put the DO in the egg, because the DO was so large it had to go down to the lump and lean against the side. The upper edge of the DO was about 1 - 2 inches below the gasket level - just above normal grid level. Dome at 450° and guessing the temp at the DO would be about 400°. I let the DO season for 45 minutes before removing.

I opened the dome and I had a failure just above the cast iron Dutch Oven. I replaced the gasket and put the DFMT on the grid in the center. I got the egg to 450° dome. I bought a IR remote thermometer and measured the DTMF. 750° checked the dome thermometer 450°. I tested the dome thermometer in boiling water and it was reading correctly.

Thus any mass, DO, Pizza Stone or what other furniture one might place close to gasket level can/will generate more heat and if close to the gasket could result in failure.

7. Blocking the air gap between the outer wall of the fire ring and the inner wall may allow quicker startup (have not tested yet) but it will allow higher dome temp, that has been tested and documented by myself.

That air gap seems to act as an insulator between the fire box/fire ring and the outside wall.

The potential danger with blocking is higher temp in the outer egg wall which can radiate heat up into the adhesive and gasket and a high enough outside egg wall to physically burn someone. I touched the outside of the egg wall and receive a very burn. The burn wasn't bad enough to blister but it did sting for 10 to 15 minutes and hurt for probably a half hour maybe longer.

If you are going to use your egg in high heat situations I suggest contacting BGE and get and install Nomex and install per instructions.

I will document and report on my Nomex install and subsequent tests.

This is too long as it is so enough for now.

GG