Problem assembling large egg (hinges)

MacThespian

I'm putting together my new egg (a Large), slowly, trying to follow the diagrams exactly. Today I put the bands on the egg, placed the top within the bands, and tightened everything. But I can't figure out how to attach the hinges. The only "slots" I can see for the hinges are about 6" to 8" apart, and the hinge is so tight there's no way I can attach it to both.
When I was assembling the bands, I pretty much kept them parallel.
I'm assuming I did something wrong. If I take photos of this area, would someone be able to look at it and let me know where I screwed up? What areas should I concentrate on?
(Also--in case this is relevant--the lid doesn't open to a full 90º, only about 80º or so. I could certainly work with this, but wanted to let people know, in case this has some connection to the hinge issue.)
Thanks.

pgprescott

I assemble the two bands and hinges prior to placing them on the bottom portion of the egg. You must pay close attention to the orientation of the hole pattern on the bands. Also pay close attention to the hinge orientation to make sure the hinge is right side up if original style or the "L" bracket style is on the correct side. Those new ones will have a right and left hand  bracket. The diagrams are very good, you just have to take your time and pay close attention to those details. Good luck. 

MacThespian

Thanks. One of the support guys at BGE asked for photos; I'm sure I'll get this solved soon.

SamIAm2

Find the thread on this forum for "New band design for the large BGE" that 1voyager posted, including photos of his installation.  I spent a good part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning helping to build nests and bands for XL and Large eggs for the 2017 Sunshine State Eggfest. We did 100 total and I learned a few tricks that should help. First, build the bands loose and make sure the bolt heads faces left and are in the square hole for both bands.


It helps when tightening the band later to be able to pull down on the wrench because there isn't room for a socket and wrench and pushing up and tightening is a real pain.



Once you have the bands together, put them on the bottom and adjust the bands and handle where you want it to be. Put the dome into the top band, slipping the ledge under the two retainers on the handle and into the top band at the back. Adjust the top band to allow the dome to drop down on the bottom of the egg. The elongated holes on the top band should help with adjusting. Now is the time you adjust the dome front to back and side to side to line up the dome and bottom,

Then tighten the back nuts on the bolts enough to keep the bottom band from slipping if you push it up. Put the 4 blue spacers at the proper locations and push the bottom band up to meet the spacers all around. Now tighten the bolts until they bend.

Tighten the bottom nuts all the way around the bottom band, then tighten the top band nuts.  Open the dome and add the springs at the back bottom and top and put the black protectors on the ends of the springs. Don't forget to retighten the two nuts in about a month. 

Your observation about the angle at opening is correct and this shows what kind of space the rear of a table requires to be able to add the new bands.

The best part of the new band for me is how easy the dome can be lifted. If you like to take the dome off to clean and replace the gaskets, this is easily done if you have new bolts.

Take your time and you should be ok. I made enough mistakes during the eggfest builds so don't worry, it happens.

MacThespian

Great description. Actually, I went to an Eggfest and met a BGE employee there who followed me home after the event and fixed all my problems. He probably spent an hour making sure everything was perfectly aligned. Now all I have to do is learn how to cook on this thing... and practice, practice, practice!