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Noticble gap between lid and main ceramic area

Well, the title pretty much says it all. I noted a couple weeks ago there was a slight gap forming on the egg surface, (Pictures to follow soon), but didn't think anything of it. Well today I was getting ready to do a low and slow, and noticed smoke pouring out from the front of the egg. I probably should replace the gaskets, but I am unsure about how to fix the gap issue. Is this something I take apart the top and recenter, or am I way over my head. 

Going to take some photos to show what I mean. 

Cooking for others enjoyment is not only a passionate reward, it's one of the greatest ways to use what God has given me. Wilmore, KY MBG, LBGE

Comments

  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Your bands have loosened and shifted so the planes are way out of whack! I have a bon-a-fide step by step method posted by another egger...I just need to get my wife off my computer to find it and post it for you. Want to wait a few minutes for that to happen? 
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • These are the picture that I was referencing. Notice that gap? 

    Cooking for others enjoyment is not only a passionate reward, it's one of the greatest ways to use what God has given me. Wilmore, KY MBG, LBGE

  • RRP said:
    Your bands have loosened and shifted so the planes are way out of whack! I have a bon-a-fide step by step method posted by another egger...I just need to get my wife off my computer to find it and post it for you. Want to wait a few minutes for that to happen? 
    Yes! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. 

    Cooking for others enjoyment is not only a passionate reward, it's one of the greatest ways to use what God has given me. Wilmore, KY MBG, LBGE

  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    As promised:

    Tier1Terrier said:

    Crisis averted!!!  I called this morning and spoke to Dewayne at BGE HQ Customer Service.  He was extremely helpful and guided me through the steps to level out the top.  It was extremely simple to do, even for someone who didn't understand the way these things are put together.

    So basically here's what was the problem and what I did.  The first problem was that the lower band was not wrapped around evenly - it was lower in the rear than in the front.  He explained to me that the lower band should come right up to the edge of the lower gasket all the way around the lower half.  So I loosened the carriage bolt on the lower rear band and GENTLY tapped along the band using a block of wood and a rubber mallet until the band was placed evenly around the whole bottom.  Then I tightened the band.  From that point, the underbite had improved significantly, but there was still a bit of unevenness along the planes where the gaskets met and it still did not pass the dollar bill test.  In fact, the gap on the rear side between the gaskets was slightly worse, but I wasn't worried because I knew there were a couple more steps to

    Next step was to adjust the front to back placement to fine tune the sitting of the top to the bottom.  There are two slotted acorn nuts on the top part of the hinge (above the spring) on both sides of the top that needed to be loosened so that I can 'wiggle' the top into a centered position.  So I loosened all 4 nuts, wiggled it into position, then tightened.  Now the top was centered properly (no under or overbite), but there was still unevenness on the plane of contact - in other words, it still failed the dollar bill test.

    The last step was to somewhat repeat the first step (loosening the carriage bolt) except for the upper band.  Wherever there was the largest gap between the two gaskets, I GENTLY tapped the band upward which essentially pushed the lid downward by it's own weight.  Once I saw that the upper band was positioned in such a way that the entire top part of the egg sat nicely and evenly on the bottom, I tightened the carriage bolt of the top band and vuala!  It was fixed.  Dollar bill test passed all the way around the egg.  No more underbite (or overbite).

    I'm happy as a clam!


    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Thank you so much for this. I am going to work on it this weekend and hopefully get it fixed! I have been in summer classes, so I apologize for the late response of thanks! 

    Cooking for others enjoyment is not only a passionate reward, it's one of the greatest ways to use what God has given me. Wilmore, KY MBG, LBGE

  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,352
    I'm in the same boat and much appreciate the help Ron!  Both my fire ring and fire box are shot and in pieces right now, so were down while waiting for a warranty repair.  The Mini and MiniMax are getting a workout in the large's absence
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95