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Lid alignment - I give up

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sjmh
sjmh Posts: 13
edited May 2012 in EggHead Forum
I did a burn-out cook on my egg a week or so ago.  Mostly to clean it out and also because I had a nice new rutland gasket waiting to go on.

After removing the lid and cleaning off the melted remains of the old gasket, I applied the new gasket, let it cure and everything was looking great.  That is, until I tried to put the lid back on.

No matter what I do, the lid sits off and to the left, probably about a 1/4 to a 1/3 of an inch.  I've loosened the bands, the hinge bolts, the side bracket bolts, everything.  I've even had my wife standing on a chair and pushing down on the dome while I tightened ( I don't have clamps big enough to do it myself ).  But whenever I tighten the screws back up after alignment, the thing is back in the exact same position.

I did the dollar bill test and when I don't have my springs on, it works decently.  The right side ( where there's about 1/3 of a inch of gasket showing ), gets a little sketchy.  Once I put my springs on however ( I have one of the newer spring hinges, where the springs are easy to remove ), both the left and right side are almost to the point they are frictionless.

I threw a little bit of lump in and a piece of oak right ontop of it and got it smoking really good, closed the lid and put on the green top to see if the smoke would slip out some hole on the sides.  Fortunately, it appears to be too tight and I see more smoke leaking from the top and back out through the intake.  Didn't really see anything drifting out of the sides, so I'm guessing I'm ok.  I'd just rather not have so much of the gasket showing - it just looks bad.

I saw there was a mod on the forum to get more play in the side brackets ( both of mine are fully extended ). If I pull the lid forward anymore, I can't even get the side brackets to reach to fit onto the top band.  I can loosen the band and adjust the lid, but whenever I re-tighten, it just seems to creep back to the left and I'm exactly where I was before.  I'm just at my wits end with the thing.  If someone has some suggestion to try, I'd be grateful.  I've done a bunch of searching but most people seem to have the older hinge style with the springs on the back rather that on the sides.
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Comments

  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    All I can say is never take off your dome again. I've changed every gasket I've done for 7 years with the dome on.

    I'm sure guys here can help, but there is no need to take your dome off in the future.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • XLBalco
    XLBalco Posts: 607
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    good tip.  i plan on replacing my gasket hopefully in the near future.. i didnt plan on taking off the lid and was gonna put the new gasket on the bottom.  i also didnt plan on cleaning the old gasket off of the upper - is there a need to?
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    If you use the standard gasket, you should clean top and bottom and replace. If you are using Rutland or the others, I'll have to let others chime in.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • XLBalco
    XLBalco Posts: 607
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    yea - was thinking of a rutland.

    i havent been overly abusive with the cooks since i got the egg last fall and the gasket is just shot.  i dont want to make it part of the routine of replacing it

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  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
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    Did your bands shift when you loosened them? Make sure they are centered on the dimple on the body of the egg.
    Mark Annville, PA
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  • FxLynch
    FxLynch Posts: 433
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    good tip.  i plan on replacing my gasket hopefully in the near future.. i didnt plan on taking off the lid and was gonna put the new gasket on the bottom.  i also didnt plan on cleaning the old gasket off of the upper - is there a need to?
    I recently replaced my fried gasket with a Rutland.  I did remove the upper gasket because of how thick the Rutland is.  However you don't have to do an excellent job cleaning the top since you won't be adhering anything to it, which I realized halfway through cleaning the lid :)  With a cheap razor type paint scraper I got for $1.49 with 5 blades, it came off easy.  Finish up with a 3M type pain remover.

    To the original poster: I saw this video recently about adjusting the hinges on ceramic grills, but it uses washers.  It seems if yours had already fit together before, it's more of an actual adjustment rather than a need for extra parts.  

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  • RichardBronosky
    RichardBronosky Posts: 213
    edited May 2012
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    I passionately hate that video. Nothing on that egg is stock equipment. Unfortunately it is all we have to link to. I would love it if one of us could make a more relevant video.

    @sjmh I would suggest removing every bolt and starting off like it is a brand new egg.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
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  • sjmh
    sjmh Posts: 13
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    Thanks for the video - unfortunately mine is an x-large BGE and it has a different hinge assembly - ie, it doesn't have the black hinge in the back. Mine looks like the one from this post:


    At one point I was so frustrated that I took the bands off entirely - I made sure to realign them with the center dots when I put them back on.


    I have a feeling what happened is that during my burn out cook ( it was above 900 degrees ), the side spring brackets warped a bit and didn't settle right. The bracket on the right side it pressed quite a bit closer to the egg and I think it's allowing the left side bracket to pull the lid over towards it side.
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  • RichardBronosky
    RichardBronosky Posts: 213
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    @sjmh, that sounds like a warranty issue. Call BGE and ask for replacement springs.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
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  • JEC23
    JEC23 Posts: 131
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    This sounds like the same issue I had with my XL after replacing the gasket, there just wasn't enough adjustment to slide the dome further forward because of the side assist hinges, I ended up slipping 2 cut washers between the rear hinge bracket and the band, worked a treat and allowed me to shift the dome further forward and gave perfect alignment in all planes.
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  • sjmh
    sjmh Posts: 13
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    @JEC23 - When you say two washers, do you mean stacked ontop of each other or one on each side of the rear hinge? I assume you mean where the rear hinge assembly connects to the top band as well.
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  • JEC23
    JEC23 Posts: 131
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    One on each bolt, you may need up to 4 depending on the issue, I only had one side to adjust so only needed 2
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