Lid Won't Stay Open

TN2TX

The lid on my large won't stay open. I have to fully open, hold, and almost balance it to keep from closing on me. Has anyone else had this issue? I am assuming it has something to do with the hinge but I don't know exactly what to tighten or loosen. Thanks in advance for the help. 

RRP

Your hinge is probably on upside down! Got a picture? Or you are on an unlevel area.

Carolina Q

Make sure the egg is level. Doesn't take much to throw it off.

Moleman

If it used to stay open most likely one or some of the screws worked themselves loose. I just went through that a few weeks back after about 7 years of it operating just fine. After tightening them back down it worked just fine again.

TN2TX

I did some investigating and it looks like the band got loose and created a large underbite. Tried to get the band back to normal but it can't get those white plastic pieces on the hinge. Did the best I can with a rubber mallet but it's still not even. 

theyolksonyou

Take out the guts, loosen bands, run a ratchet strap thru bottom vent and top vent. Align, tighten strap, try to get bands level, tighten bands. Remove strap, replace guts, cook. 

SemolinaPilchard

Maybe RRP will post the pic again showing a great way to tighten the bands

TN2TX

theyolksonyou said:

Take out the guts, loosen bands, run a ratchet strap thru bottom vent and top vent. Align, tighten strap, try to get bands level, tighten bands. Remove strap, replace guts, cook. 

Yep, this is exactly the idea I needed. Thank you sir. 

Little Steven

A lot of people think the bands sit tight to the ridge on the some and the base. They don't. They don't sit flush with the bottom of the dome and the top of the base either necessarily. There should be an even space between the bands all the way around. That space is determined by the hinge. 

BilZol

Little Steven said:

A lot of people think the bands sit tight to the ridge on the some and the base. They don't. They don't sit flush with the bottom of the dome and the top of the base either necessarily. There should be an even space between the bands all the way around. That space is determined by the hinge. 

Exactly! You work them around even from the hinge. I keep all eight hinge bolts loose-ish and start tightening bands and adjusting them. Then when it's all good I tighten the hinge bolts. Works first time every time. Hinge determines band gap every time. 

egret

TN2TX said:

The lid on my large won't stay open. I have to fully open, hold, and almost balance it to keep from closing on me. Has anyone else had this issue? I am assuming it has something to do with the hinge but I don't know exactly what to tighten or loosen. Thanks in advance for the help. 

If you're egg is level as always and this problem is new with no other changes, it's most likely the nuts shown in the photo need to be tightened. Just tighten the "inside" nuts, not the ones on the outside of the spring loop.

cssmd27

egret said:

TN2TX said:

The lid on my large won't stay open. I have to fully open, hold, and almost balance it to keep from closing on me. Has anyone else had this issue? I am assuming it has something to do with the hinge but I don't know exactly what to tighten or loosen. Thanks in advance for the help. 

If you're egg is level as always and this problem is new with no other changes, it's most likely the nuts shown in the photo need to be tightened. Just tighten the "inside" nuts, not the ones on the outside of the spring loop.

Thanks egret!  That helped a ton to show exactly what nuts to tighten.  Each time I've had this problem, I end up mucking around and probably accidentally fixing the problem, but without direction and took up a good amount of time with a lot of frustration.  I just went out and in less than 5 minutes had things back to normal.

njl

I'm glad I googled and found this.  I was just prepping the LBGE for a brisket I plan to start in the morning, and the dome would not reliably stay up.  I was looking to see where to get new bands/hinges, figuring the springs must have finally gone bad.  I checked the indicated nuts, and they were visibly loose.  They're not exactly easy access with the egg in a table, but with 1/2" and 13mm box wrenches, I was able to turn the bolt until the 13mm was able to grab and hold the nut in place, then tighten by continuing to turn the bolt.

DavidFalls

Just found this fix. Photo was all I needed. All back to normal.Thank you so much!