'Fused' gasket?

berndcrisp

Did a clean burn in the mini yesterday. I cannot open the dome and it appears as though the gasket(s) have fused together. I tried a stiff putty knife and hammer to no avail and quit before I had to use excessive force. Do you think that top loading hot lump will loosen it? These are the original gaskets.

RRP

Hammer??? Never use a hammer on an egg! Your best bet is a putty knife and work it in and around until it frees up. BTW most likely your gasket is toast anyway.

DMW

Never had this myself, but have head of loading through the ash door and lighting a fire there to heat it up and getting it to release.

Seanr7

So, would aluminum foil between the gaskets keep this from happening in a clean burn?

caliking

Did you have the older gaskets (darker color)? They melt pretty easily. Call the mothership and they will send you a new set, unless you want the Rutland gasket from RRP.

If the gasket fused then you probably need a more than just a starter cubes worth of heat in there. Light up a chimney of lump and start dropping in pieces from the top or build a fire from the bottom intake. I don't know if the base will tolerate lump directly on it though.  

berndcrisp

Thank you all. I got it open with a very sharp knife. There were about 5 spots where grease or food glops glued it shut.