Mini Max Design Flaw?

Picture?

I wonder if there has been any issues directly related to said design flaw, if it's even a flaw.  No one on that thread specified having any actual problems besides being an OCD violation  )

CoalCreek said:

Curious to hear replies, am thinking about splurging on a mini max with Uncle Sam money..

That's your money.

Here's mine with the woo in, even then the ring looks to be a better size fit than what u have.
Don't mind the other stuff, she's I the basement until I get a cover.

I took a grinder to the high spots on the bottom of the fire bowl it took about 30 seconds to fix. 

shaw988 said:

Took my MM back to the new BGE store today to have them check the rocking firebox. The issue was the fire ring. They changed out the fire ring. That was helpful. However, the fire ring on the MM is the same as the Small. Therefore the bottom of the ring will not align with the top of the fire box. WYSIWYG.
I know I am being overly picky, but for $600 you would think BGE would engineer a fire ring to fit the MM instead of re-purposing the small fire box. Just another example of cost out BS companies are foisting on thier customers.
I know, I know, get over it and start cooking.

I have to agree. The company goes to the trouble of designing a new product because they know that they can sell them to BGE enthusiasts like us, not the first time buyer. Lets face it. The guy off the street isn't likely to cough up $600+ for some overweight charcoal BBQ when they could buy a Hibachi for about $50 or less unless they new the advantages of the BGE. Then the company wants to go on the cheap and use a ring that they don't have to spend money on to design. Who cares if it doesn't fit properly. They sure don't! BGE claims to be an American company yet contracts all of the labour out to Mexico where they can pay a wage of a buck or two and pocket the huge profits. I don't know for a fact but my guess is that BGE doesn't have any more than 50% of the purchase price invested in any of their products. And they can't afford to develop a new fire ring? WTF??? Those of you that have purchased the MM should be complaining to the mother ship until they change the fire ring to one that actually is made for the product that they're selling. That's my 2 cents.

Just start using it. It's all fine, it works. I have used the crap out of mine with NO issues. I do advise getting a Woo today. Mine is as you discribe, works just fine.

theyolksonyou said:

@FlashkaBob for the record, BGE doesn't own the factory that manufactures the ceramics in Mexico. Not sure where the other parts come from, but likely they don't own that either. I suspect, but don't know, that they package and distribute their product and farm out the manufacturing.

That's pretty much what I was saying. The company says we are going to charge you the highest price on the market for our products but we are also going to farm out the whole thing to the lowest bidder. I am not against any company making as much profit as they can but when your products are very expensive to begin with, they should at least put the effort in to make it the best possible product instead of putting mis-matched pieces together and dumping them on the market to see if it flies. If the people don't demand the quality that they have payed for, then the quality over time will only get worse until they are no longer in business. What about your lifetime warranty then?

I'm sure somebody has already said this...the MM has a newly designed fire box but, has the exact same fire ring as the Small. Haven't had an issue with it but, I noticed this right away too. It's all good.

Mexico > China
That is all >:D<

"its real.....its real to me damn it"!

@FlashkaBob no complaints on the fit but, I'm also using a WOO set-up. W/out the WOO I guess it's a lil loosey goosey. I'm very happy with the purchase.