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Am I the only one to freak out over 120-inch-pounds on the strap tension bolts?

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BillsBayou
BillsBayou Posts: 4
in EggHead Forum
I assembled my first egg yesterday.  I was initially using the picture-only instructions, but I soon switched over to the more verbose version.  I'm glad I did. 

The picture-only instructions show some weird graphic for the tension bolts.  I had no idea what they were trying to tell me.  The graphic shows a particular distance for the upper and lower tension bolts, but does not give any numeric value or measurement scale.

I had already switched to the worded assembly instructions by this point.  When I got to the 120-inch-pounds instructions, I had that "Ah ha!" moment when I remembered where my torque wrench resided.  I slowly ran the bolts up to 120-inch-pounds passing earlier settings just to get a feel for how tight I was making it along the way.  Was I wrong to be nervous about the tension?  I kept expecting the dome to suddenly shatter.  No such thing happened and I'm happy with my egg's first output.

I read through the instruction's alternative to actually using a torque wrench.  While I am not usually shy around math and science, the thought of learning inch-pound physics in an assembly manual gave me pause. 

I found the entire thing to be nerve wracking.  Anyone else?
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Comments

  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,458
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    First, welcome to the forum. It does seem excessive at first, you'll come to find the egg is tougher than you think although still very much breakable. If you think about the way that force is being applied to a round vessel, it's not as surprising that it will hold it.
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  • scottc454
    scottc454 Posts: 94
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    There's nothing to worry about. I maintain that you'd break the bolts before you'd crack the dome.

    The band will be looser when the egg is hot. If you don't have it tight enough, then you will have real problems. 



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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 14,627
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    I did not have to build my egg, the store where I purchased it did the assembly which I am grateful for.  I have only made adjustments once and have never had an issue with the bands with many pizza cooks and clean burns behind me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you don't have to watch this.  I'm just saying that the store must've tightened well beyond where I would've felt comfortable for this to be the case.  I still check them, but the bolts in the back are bent from how much they were tightened.
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    edited February 2015
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    @Skiddymarker was kind enough to post this excerpt from the 2012 assembly manual:

    ....................................................

    STEP 4 Position the dome onto the Egg bottom and inside the upper band taking care to align the front of the dome (the ceramic dome has a small hole in the band attaching surface that indicates the front) with the band front (midway between the handle attaching bolts)
    Insert (1) 5/16" x 2” carriage bolt through the square hole in the band flange then through the round hole in the opposite flange. Install (1) 5/16” flat washer and (1) 5/16” hex nut (    hand tighten only). Check to make sure the dome is centered and seated evenly against the
    egg bottom. next, position the hinge / band assembly so the lower band is as low as it will go alll the way around on the egg bottom. The upper and lower bands will be properly spaced by the hinge assembly at the rear, but the bands are flexible and you should move the upper band as needed to make the space between the bands equal to the rear on the sides and front also. Next, securely tighten both the upper and lower bands to approximately 125 inch lbs.     (bending of the bolt and the flanges during tightening is normal / recommended, Don't fear, the ceramic will not break).

    Make sure the dome is still evenly seated on the Egg bottom and proceed to tighten all (8) Keps nuts that attache the hinge assembly to the bands. At this time, you should also tighten the 1/4" Acorn nuts tat attach the handle assembly to the upper band.  IMPORTSNT: You must check the band carriage bolts and the hinge / band studs for tightness regularly, especially after each of the first two or three uses.  Failure to follow these instructions may cause the dome to slip out of the bands and break; this will not be covered under warranty. (NEVER TIGHTEN THE BANDS WHEN THE GRILL IS IN USE)

    .........................................

    You'll notice that the BGE company goes out of their way to tell you not to be nervous about breaking the ceramic.  The 125 in-lb torque is only 80% of the normally recommended torque for a grade 5 bolt/nut assembly.  Thus, the bolt is under-torqued and the people who warranty the ceramics aren't afraid of you reefing on the band bolt.  You should be more afraid of the dome doing a dance step with gravity ... where you're responsible for the cost.

    As you've already found out, most folks get nervous and stop well before the correct torque is achieved.  My bands were tightened to ~100 in-lbs when I did it by feel ... now it's done with a torque wrench and I feel much better.

    By the way ... welcome to the forum ... hope you enjoy it.

    Edit ... the copy paste is really messed up and reformatting doesn't help ... there now it's fixed ... sorry.



    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • MeTed
    MeTed Posts: 800
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    Welcome to the forum. Make sure you are not using a foot lb. torque wrench. If not 120 inch lb. does seem like a lot but it is not. Trust the instructions.
    Belleville, Michigan

    Just burnin lump in Sumpter
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,897
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    Welcome aboard! I can remember in the not so distant past, when there never a mention of foot pounds, nor the need for a torque wrench. You were instead merely advised to tighten until the bolts bent. Life was simpler then! LOL
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • BillsBayou
    BillsBayou Posts: 4
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    theyolksonyou said:

    First, welcome to the forum. It does seem excessive at first, you'll come to find the egg is tougher than you think although still very much breakable. If you think about the way that force is being applied to a round vessel, it's not as surprising that it will hold it.

    I was very aware of the circular tension I was applying.  It's just been 30 years since my high school physics class.  I was very glad to think that for as much tension I was applying, it was being applied evenly around a circle.  Didn't make me any less nervous, though.
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 19,107
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    Especially when any defect or OT condition could cause a stress riser.

    Maybe I've broken to many clay pots but I agree with your hesitation.
    They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin
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  • Coastalcooker
    Coastalcooker Posts: 185
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    Hey 120 inch pounds. Normally things are torqued in foot pounds. At the store, I was told to "really torque down" on the bolts. I found the right spec and found the small wrench so I could go that low. Really torque down means to me several hundred foot pounds. Drain plugs for transmissions and rear drives are the only things I can think of with so low a torque. I'm not saying sit down on it, but this is 1/4 inch wrench torques. No worry.
    Bob
    Cookin' on the coast
    Shellman Bluff, GA
    Medium BGE

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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
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    it's inch lbs.
    120 inch lbs is only 10 foot lbs.
    My 1/2 inch drive torque wrench can't even go that low.
    My 3/8 torque wrench is no problem, but by hand you can easily exceed 120 inch lbs with a normal wrench, so to not over-tighten, it's a good idea to have a torque wrench and not be guessing going by hand.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • Tinyfish
    Tinyfish Posts: 1,755
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    My dealer assembled my XL and the band is tight. He tightens the bolts till the band is almost 1/4" apart and bolt is bent.
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    edited February 2015
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    Welcome - the 125 inch pound didn't concern me when assembling my MBGE - what did give me some concern was the fact everything loosened to <100 inch pound after the first couple of cooks. After the first year I changed the gasket and have not had to adjust since although I do check it every quarter or so along with calibrating the dome thermo.  

    Like @Zmokin says, larger wrenches don't read low enough, 10 ft pounds is not too much at all. Some one else posted about Harbor Freight having a sale, <$12 I think, I have their 1/4" drive wrench (for egg duty) and it is quite accurate (compared it to my Snap-On which cost about 20 times what the HF cost)
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,897
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    $9.99 and it has to be a loss leader for HF. Cool looking, nice to have and for the price it can't be beat! Even has a nice hard plastic case!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • berndcrisp
    berndcrisp Posts: 1,166
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    No, we all freak about this.
    Hood Stars, Wrist Crowns and Obsession Dobs!


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