MiniMax owners: PSA pertaining to the carrier handle.

bgeaddikt · June 2016

What i originally asked and i might have said @Sea2Ski was my friend LOL
". I had a concern regarding my Mini-Max carrier/handle. Attached should be a picture showing the screw end or bolt detaches from the actual carrier for the Minimax. This happened to my friend and mine felt loose as well and I haven’t moved the my Minimax since I noticed this and was concerned the my egg would fall and shatter if the handles are prone to breaking in this manner. Is there any way to prevent this? I don’t want my egg to fall and break and then be told I am at fault but no guarantee coverage. Many other Mini-Max owners I have talked to are very concerned as well and are looking into the Egg Carten or some other alternative."

Sea2Ski · June 2016

@bgeaddikt. Thats cool. You can call me a friend. And thanks for the info!

Whoohoo! I have a friend on the interweb!

Sea2Ski · June 2016

And I am not sure I will go get a new carrier. If others are having issues, what is to say I will not get another bad one. Odds are low, probably super low, but if @pescadorzih can get me something made that positively and permanently fixes it, I will go that route. I mean why not?

Focker · June 2016

I agree.
This is a simple and cheap diy mod guys.
Fix the issue, and carry on.
Whining to BGE isn't going to be much help at this point. What do you expect them to do? Mod it for you?

I have a ton of things, too many to list, I've made better along the way. It's what we do. This isn't hard folks. Most would laugh at my tools and equipment, or lack thereof. But it gets the job done.

Yeah it's a little more money, and time, fixing something that you felt shouldve already been addressed. But it's a better,and safer, product doing so. I find reward, in that.

pescadorzih · June 2016

Sea2Ski said:

And I am not sure I will go get a new carrier. If others are having issues, what is to say I will not get another bad one. Odds are low, probably super low, but if @pescadorzih can get me something made that positively and permanently fixes it, I will go that route. I mean why not?

Check your inbox.

Legume · June 2016

Focker said:

Legume said:

theyolksonyou said:

Looks like a weekend project coming up! Thanks

You need to cut down a couple of wood baseball bats handles for yours. Think of the kids Jason, think of the kids.

Was looking at a wood bat for my boy the other day.

Everything is so light, too light for good swing mechanics IMO and fosters bad habit development down the road. Don't like the 2 3/4" barrels at age 6-8 either. -12, -13 is crazy. Wood was -9 and $60....not cheap.

Had to opt for the -12 31"er. He didn't want wood, and crushed a double into left with the whiffle bat second AB. So what do I know. Lol

Ordered decent wood bats for my boys years ago that they used for batting lessons, cage work. They hated the weight at first but got used to it. The instant feedback on the quality of contact is invaluable - better than a coach saying it looked like this or that. They switched off practicing with those and their game bats that had a bigger drop.

Focker · June 2016

Legume said:

Focker said:

Legume said:

theyolksonyou said:

Looks like a weekend project coming up! Thanks

You need to cut down a couple of wood baseball bats handles for yours. Think of the kids Jason, think of the kids.

Was looking at a wood bat for my boy the other day.

Everything is so light, too light for good swing mechanics IMO and fosters bad habit development down the road. Don't like the 2 3/4" barrels at age 6-8 either. -12, -13 is crazy. Wood was -9 and $60....not cheap.

Had to opt for the -12 31"er. He didn't want wood, and crushed a double into left with the whiffle bat second AB. So what do I know. Lol

Ordered decent wood bats for my boys years ago that they used for batting lessons, cage work. They hated the weight at first but got used to it. The instant feedback on the quality of contact is invaluable - better than a coach saying it looked like this or that. They switched off practicing with those and their game bats that had a bigger drop.

The feel and sound of a good hit is undeniable. As a young Card fan, I was forced to watch WGN and Harry Carey growing up. My favorite Cub by a long shot, was Mark Grace. No batting gloves. Had a sweet stroke. He didn't go yard, but you knew he would make solid contact. He'd put his shoulder down at home plate. Good glove on 1st. Good guy all around. Hustled. First guy off the bench for a brawl. Played the game like it should be played. At Busch, we applaud good efforts, by both teams. Mark has my utmost respect. At Wrigley the drunks throw the ball back on the field. A league of their own at the friendly confines. Lol

McStew · June 2016

I missed this thread sorry for the late reply.
Yah I ditched the stock handles the moment I opened the box as I new they would fail.
Anthing solid will work I just wouldn't use wood

egger ave · June 2016

2 of the 4 screws on my MM handles are stripped. Easy fix. see attached image

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27410600491/

Legume · June 2016

@Focker hopefully you never had to hear Mark Grace the announcer when he was calling games for D-Backs. Better you remember him as a player.

Focker · June 2016

Legume said:

@Focker hopefully you never had to hear Mark Grace the announcer when he was calling games for D-Backs. Better you remember him as a player.

Oh man.
Isn't he a coach with them now?

The_Buffalo · June 2016

The handles and hardware were changed very early in production, so you may have one of the few first generation handles -- your dealer can look with you to see or you can also check by unscrewing the handles.

If the handles and screws match those in the image on right (see image below), then you have first generation handles, and BGE will be happy to send you an upgrade at no cost.

Please email us and request the upgrade at
Customer-Support@BigGreenEgg.com, with "handle upgrade" in subject line.

Be sure to provide your name, address, date purchased, name and location of authorized dealer.

Thank you.

updated picture

yljkt · June 2016

So the fix is a longer screw?

Jupiter Jim · June 2016

yljkt said:

So the fix is a longer screw?

If you look close you can see in the picture on the left it not only has a longer bolt but also a much better welded star nut on the handle. It looks like a good fix to me.

egger ave · June 2016

One handle was stripped too. Two threads holding the handle on one end. I installed my fix; 1/4"X20 threaded rod, SS cap nuts, washers, locktite. Had to drill out the holes in the handle for 1/4" rod and cut to length. Big C-Clamp to hold the bracket when I measured the length of the rod.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/26874282434/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27452498766/

The_Buffalo · June 2016

yljkt said:

So the fix is a longer screw?

not just the screw, handle itself is different at the end where screw goes in.

different welding process.

egger ave · June 2016

FIXED! I used a threaded 1/4" X 20 tpi rod cut to 7" long after I realized the the handle was stripped. Easy project. The big c-clamp took the tension off. Less than $17.00 in parts, $300 for tools.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/26879748443/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27388907772/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27453477396/

Sea2Ski · June 2016

Unfortunately, I had the "new" handle failed me. The part that failed was the welded 6 pointed "nut" that the bolt feeds into. If you look at that part, the whole thing snapped out, and the welds failed. According to the picture that is to be welded in the handle, on mine, it is on the screw.

Focker · June 2016

egger ave said:

FIXED! I used a threaded 1/4" X 20 tpi rod cut to 7" long after I realized the the handle was stripped. Easy project. The big c-clamp took the tension off. Less than $17.00 in parts, $300 for tools.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/26879748443/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27388907772/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_in_texas/27453477396/

BOOM. DONE
Nice work.

Focker · June 2016

Sea2Ski said:

Unfortunately, I had the "new" handle failed me. The part that failed was the welded 6 pointed "nut" that the bolt feeds into. If you look at that part, the whole thing snapped out, and the welds failed. According to the picture that is to be welded in the handle, on mine, it is on the screw.

Looks like second gen is a failure too.

chuckytheegghead · June 2016

Yes it sure does. Not sure why they just don't use solid round stock and tap it out, especially considering what the cost of mm is. I'm sure it's well within the budget.

egger ave · June 2016

Sea2Ski said:

Unfortunately, I had the "new" handle failed me. The part that failed was the welded 6 pointed "nut" that the bolt feeds into. If you look at that part, the whole thing snapped out, and the welds failed. According to the picture that is to be welded in the handle, on mine, it is on the screw.

Center punch it, drill it out if you have too or don't use it. Can you use a cap nut and rod like I did?

yljkt · June 2016

This is why why I asked Buffalo breath if the solution was a longer screw. I have a habit of buying older Harleys and restoring and selling them. The factory solution is usually a band-aid. As is this. I'll hand turn some handles and figure it out. Sad that I have to as expensive as the damn thing was tho. Forever to get to market, and still issues? Really?

Sea2Ski · June 2016

@egger ave yes, I think I have a fix already figured out. I think I am going to be in fine shape. Thanks.

Still bugs me though.... $599 MSRP for a 13" grill, and you get short cuts on certain critical parts. They have to know that there is going to be some good stress at that point when carrying it at a weight of 80+ lbs. You would think they would make the handles rock solid, and if anything over build them.

I also wonder if an egg broke due to this, if they would replace the whole thing. I mean, it seems like a warrantied part failed resulting in breakage.
Thankfully, I heard/felt a pop and got it to the table safely, but I still question that.

Jupiter Jim · June 2016

Ok so we have 1 second gen failure that did not cause a broken egg! I'm sure BGE will get a replacement for it at no cost. I could see some alarm if we had at least one broken Mini Max from this but we don't even have evidence of one broken egg, just a broken handle. Certainly a lot of home remedies that could fix the one broken handle but this is not a big deal for sure. The fact that the handle failure did not result in a broken egg is evidence enough for me that it's just a very limited slight problem. Let all of the Mini Max owners relax and just enjoy egging on our Eggs.

yljkt · June 2016

Sea2Ski said:

@egger ave yes, I think I have a fix already figured out. I think I am going to be in fine shape. Thanks.

Still bugs me though.... $599 MSRP for a 13" grill, and you get short cuts on certain critical parts. They have to know that there is going to be some good stress at that point when carrying it at a weight of 80+ lbs. You would think they would make the handles rock solid, and if anything over build them.

I also wonder if an egg broke due to this, if they would replace the whole thing. I mean, it seems like a warrantied part failed resulting in breakage.
Thankfully, I heard/felt a pop and got it to the table safely, but I still question that.

Well it would break your foot easily. Lands wrong and shards could easily cut others. Or take out an eye. Guess I'll be working on mine to ensure safety. Pretty much unacceptable. So much for R and D.

egger ave · June 2016

Jupiter Jim said:

Ok so we have 1 second gen failure that did not cause a broken egg! I'm sure BGE will get a replacement for it at no cost. I could see some alarm if we had at least one broken Mini Max from this but we don't even have evidence of one broken egg, just a broken handle. Certainly a lot of home remedies that could fix the one broken handle but this is not a big deal for sure. The fact that the handle failure did not result in a broken egg is evidence enough for me that it's just a very limited slight problem. Let all of the Mini Max owners relax and just enjoy egging on our Eggs.

It's more than one 1st and 2nd gen mini max. The handle on mine came apart this morning by twisting the handle. I have heard the same thing about millions of air bags, steering hardware on Subaru's and emissions on my VW diesel. The list goes on and on. In my experience, most mfrs are concerned about liability first then everything else. I can pursue this with the mother ship now that I can move my mini-max safely. Your mileage and BGE may vary of course!

egger ave · June 2016

Replacement handle kits are available from the mothership.

caliking · June 2016

The_Buffalo said:

The handles and hardware were changed very early in production, so you may have one of the few first generation handles -- your dealer can look with you to see or you can also check by unscrewing the handles.
If the handles and screws match those in the image on right (see image below), then you have first generation handles, and BGE will be happy to send you an upgrade at no cost.
Please email us and request the upgrade at
Customer-Support@BigGreenEgg.com, with "handle upgrade" in subject line.
Be sure to provide your name, address, date purchased, name and location of authorized dealer.
Thank you.

This is the first mothership intervention on a thread about a BGE defect that I can recall... and its awesome! Haven't seen much of that here before. Very helpful, and appreciated.

caliking · June 2016

@egger ave your mod looks like it takes care of the problem. Filed away for future reference.

MiniMax owners: PSA pertaining to the carrier handle.

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