Help - LBGE dome has an underbite after Nomex gasket replacement.

jfarley

I finally replaced the original burned through gasket that the mother ship sent several months ago. I'm planning to do a 16 lb pork butt overnight this weekend. To my dismay the lid that previously was perfectly aligned now sits back about half an inch. It also does not pass the "dollar bill test at the front. Is this normal after the gasket replacement procedure? Does it just need to compress a bit and will that happen over time or do I need to take corrective action? Does anyone have any experience here? Any help would be appreciated.

Jonathan1970

I'm not one of the experts on here, but I had the same problem when replacing my gasket. Try this: Loosen the bolt on the dome so you can reposition. Then keep constant pressure on the back of the dome (pushing toward the front) as you tighten the dome back down. Hope this helps out.

jfarley

Thanks Jonathon. I might give that a try. I've studied this a bit further. The issue is clearly related to the new gasket being thicker than the old. This causes the back of the dome to contact the base sooner and at an angle as it is being shut. I closed it while putting a lot of forward pull on the dome and it reduced the gap a bit without any adjustment. I think this might settle in. My weekend cook is going to be an over night at around 230 degrees. If I can get it closed close to being aligned I don't plan on opening it for about 12- 14 hours. I may just see how that goes.

canegger

I think there is a YouTube video on realigning

Fred19Flintstone

Yes there is.  Here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Jplxn4yAg

edit.  sorry the link should work now.

Bullibe

IMO, I would go ahead and loosen the bands and try to line everything up, I wouldn't want to risk ruining my new gasket.

bo_mull

My LBGE had a bad underbite like that. I followed some instructions I found on the net and cured most of it.

 I copied and pasted from the other thread

Thanks to insight from a prior post by "Grandpas Grub" my problem was solved. GG's solution is below, in italics. Here is the modified version of what I did:

- open dome, remove springs.
- close dome, loosen the 8 nuts securing hinge to bands.
- align dome to base, tighten the 8 nuts.
- open dome, reattach springs.

Kind regards,
dbCooper

From BGE Service (in part)

... The dome needs a little adjustment. It looks like the carriage bolts that tighten the bands down onto the grill are not tight enough, this will cause a little slack in the bands which give the spring assembly a little play. What happens is the springs try to open the dome but they are not strong enough to do it.....they can pull the dome up in the back area. I'm sending the gasket but here is how to adjust the dome

1.) Have someone hold the dome open for you
2.) With a set of locking pliers clamp on the top of the spring and pull the spring up and off the assembly.
3.) Once both springs are off carefully close the dome
4.) Loosen the carriage bolt on the dome band and remove the dome
5.) When the gasket gets to you follow the instructions on how to apply
6.) Now the important part....when you put the dome back on tighten the carriage bolts until the bend away from the grill. Don't worry you will not break the ceramics.
7.) Have someone open the dome while you put the springs back on.

jfarley

I had seen the video months ago and found it again just as you posted the link Fred. Thank you and everyone for the advice! After viewing the video I went out with my wrenches and started doing the techniques. The front and back adjustment would not be obvious to me without the video. You do need  to apply a bit of forward pressure on the hinge with the Crescent wrench while tightening the attachment nuts. Loosening the dome ring and making sure the dome sits evenly all the way around before re tightening is simple and effective. While the alignment now is not perfect, perhaps 1/16" off, I suspect it is better than before the new gasket was installed. Re aligning the dome should be the last instruction supplied with the gasket.

I feel kind of bad. I haven't posted a lot lately and the first time I do is when I'm in a bit of a crisis. Now I need to pay back by checking and helping more.