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Dome doesn't align with body

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Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hey folks... I posted many months ago about my folks getting an egg, down in Emerald Isle NC. We (I) used it a few times and had good results. The egg does seem to keep food edible even if you overdo it, which I have now demonstrated with shrimp, salmon, chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and even a turkey on Thanksgiving. Still mopping my brow from THAT one... [p]Anyway, the folks actually bought me a large egg for Christmas since I'm the one that has used it the most so far. I assembled my egg and have noticed that the dome does not align with the body. Front to back it's good, and it does seem to keep a seal all the way around, but it sits about 1 to 2 eighths of an inch to the left. This exposes a bit much of the gasket to the heat inside the grill, and just plain feels wrong to me. Is there something I can check to see if I've assembled wrong? Is the dome supposed to be aligned a certain way with the band and hinge? I also noticed that the thermometer hole is not drilled above the logo, it's several inches to the left; I set the dome so the thermometer is in front, and the logo is offset; would that make a difference?

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  • tach18k
    tach18k Posts: 1,607
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    Will Thinkofgoodnamelater,
    [ul][li]trythis[/ul]
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Interesting. [p]I sure hope you took that photo later -- if you did all that work while wearing only socks on your feet then you're braver than I am! :)[p]

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  • tach18k
    tach18k Posts: 1,607
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    Will Thinkofgoodnamelater, at least there were no holes in the toes! I needed a quick pic for someone and never looked at the ground.

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  • BrianP
    BrianP Posts: 147
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    Will Thinkofgoodnamelater,
    I posted this a few days ago in response to the same question - just my $0.02 worth:[p]Mine's the same way - my dome and bottom are off by about the same amount as yours. Also, my seal WAS good until, in my ignorance, I let the thing get real hot to clean off the grill. Then I discovered this forum and learned that this technique is somewhat unwise as it has the potential of melting the two gaskets and freezing the two halves together, which it did in my case. I couldn't open my egg. 30 minutes later using a hammer and putty knife, I was able to free up the two halves and I'm cooking again. This is all to say that even without perfect alignment and with fried gaskets (my egg leaks like mad now) my egg still works amazingly well. I am able to keep low grill temps using a Guru (225 degrees) for long periods to do low-and-slows.[p]Bottom line is you're probably fine. If you want to obsess over it, you can try to exchange the ring/hinge assembly. Other folks with the same problem have done this and have achieved near perfect alignment. On the other hand, I live very close to the mothership and I can tell you many of their demo units on the display floor are also slightly out of alignment.[p]Or, you can try tach18k's method. Myself, if it starts to bother me, when it gets warmer out, I'm thinking of removing the top ring and fliping it over placing the two bolts in such a position that they are pulling in opposite directions when you tighten them. I'm thinking that the movement of one may cancel the other and with equal pulling in opposite directions, maybe this will help the alignment.[p]don't worry - be happy with your new toy.[p]
    Brian

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  • trackman
    trackman Posts: 47
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    When you have the hings off does the top mesh evenly with the bottom?

    I had a similar issue with my extra large egg and ended up rotating the L bracket 180'. I have no idea if the L bracket is the right word for it but it is the piece of metal that you attach to the lower hinge. When I first put it together I had the lip of the L on the bottom. After replacing it so that the lip is on the top I found that the seal around the back is much tighter and the left to right difference in the egg is better.

    My only comment on the gasket part is that I've fused mine together also and had to pry it open with a kitchen knife. I put the heavy duty gasket on (again the name escapes me) that is often discussed on the forum on the bottom only and it has worked great ever since.
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    You're right, of course, and thanks to both you and tach for the assistance. I think perhaps I'll treat the problem with a glass of scotch rather than a socket wrench for now! Later I might feel like tinkering.
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