Help please, cracked my ConvEGGtor and need some advice on the best glue to repair this

Luckky

Hi all, this Forum has been amazing with help in the past so I’m hoping you can help again.

ive seen many options on line from silicone to superglue. I have an extra large egg (which is still amazing a few years on) so clearly the size and weight means any glue will need to be very strong.

Equally I cook pizzas often (as well as lots of low and slow) so the conveggtor and the corresponding bonding agent will need to keep taking the high temperatures.

please please help me out. It’s not broken yet however it’s cracked all the way across and I think snapping it and glueing it will be needed shortly. Let the experts offer their advice 😀

Gulfcoastguy

Ceramic Grill Store

Ozzie_Isaac

They have a 3 year warranty.  Ask your dealer for a warranty claim?

Or ditch it for a Woo and Stone from There Ceramic Grill store as mentioned above.

brentm

I would resist the urge to snap it and glue it.  I know it's like resisting a hangnail in traffic without nail clippers.  But resist!

There are not many adhesives that can hold up to the temperature range of the Egg.  You might see some folks use JB Weld or some high-temp epoxy.  But are you really going to be satisfied with that?  I wouldn't be.  

I don't see how superglue (cyano) would work.  If I were hell bent on using a glue, I'd probably call http://www.cotronics.com/vo/cotr/index.htm - and ask them the best course of action.  They have some high-temp stuff that may fit the bill.  It'd probably be more suitable for a larger item repair, as the glues are fairly spendy and you're still just fixing something you should probably consider replacing.

FWIW - My fire ring has cracked all around and has not failed yet.  It's been like that for years.

HTH!

Luckky

Gulfcoastguy said:

Ceramic Grill Store

Thank you, I’m in the UK and the cost is £135 for a new one, can’t see a replacement on the ceramic grill store and imagine it would be unlikely they would ship to the UK but I appreciate the idea 

Ozzie_Isaac

Luckky said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

Ceramic Grill Store

Thank you, I’m in the UK and the cost is £135 for a new one, can’t see a replacement on the ceramic grill store and imagine it would be unlikely they would ship to the UK but I appreciate the idea 

Yikes, ok.  Now I understand the issue...being in the UK changes things.  I still recommend talking to your dealer because they are warranted for cracks for 3 years.

If you must fix it, JB Weld makes some high temp adhesive for these types of applications.  Need something that is good for 2000F.  My concern has always been out-gassing during cooks, or giving up the ghost during a cook and your food falling in.

Personally, I would use it till it cracks, then get another cheap grid for like a Weber that will sit on the fire ring and just use the pieces.  It will still work the same.

Canugghead

Take a look at the last post in this thread, perhaps you can do something similar?
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2513109#Comment_2513109

brentm

Ozzie_Isaac said:

If you must fix it, JB Weld makes some high temp adhesive for these types of applications.  Need something that is good for 2000F.  My concern has always been out-gassing during cooks, or giving up the ghost during a cook and your food falling in.

Personally, I would use it till it cracks, then get another cheap grid for like a Weber that will sit on the fire ring and just use the pieces.  It will still work the same.

I found it.

JB Weld ExtermeHeat - "When fully cured, this metallic compound can be drilled, machined or sanded. It is great for repairing cracks, small gaps, seam connections or holes in exhaust manifolds, pipe connections, mufflers, catalytic converters, outdoor grills, fire boxes, gas and commercial furnaces and water heaters. " 

Maybe they're not worried about off-gassing since most grills cannot achieve 2000 degrees. 

cookingdude555

Ive used JBWeld Extreme Heat to fix fire boxes, fire ring, and a base.  It has held up well, but only about 5 cooks on it.  I even picked up the fire box by the broken piece and it was solid like it was made that way.

Ladeback69

I went through three plate setters in my first three years of owning my egg.  I have had my current one for over 3 years and no problems.  I don't do mega high heat cooks anymore like pizza on my XL. Also went through a fire boxes.  Not sure it was the high heat,  but since I haven't gone much over 500 degrees in a long time nothing has cracked.  I know the heat is probably not a factor, just interesting that it holding up nicely because of not going so high.

If my current one brakes I will probably do BGE's version of the adjustable rig.

brentm

cookingdude555 said:

Ive used JBWeld Extreme Heat to fix fire boxes, fire ring, and a base.  It has held up well, but only about 5 cooks on it.  I even picked up the fire box by the broken piece and it was solid like it was made that way.

Was this just cracked and you tried to force the JB Weld inside the cracks?  Or did it already break apart completely in the photo above?

cookingdude555

brentm said:

cookingdude555 said:

Ive used JBWeld Extreme Heat to fix fire boxes, fire ring, and a base.  It has held up well, but only about 5 cooks on it.  I even picked up the fire box by the broken piece and it was solid like it was made that way.

Was this just cracked and you tried to force the JB Weld inside the cracks?  Or did it already break apart completely in the photo above?

Firebox was in pieces, the base just had cracks. Just an experiment to see if it works. The base was a warranty cast off from my brother in law. I made a Frankenstein egg from various old parts. It’s in a table I got really cheap at my moms house ($150 with a large egg in it). Still works. 

 

alaskanassasin

If it’s cracked in the middle. I would take a piece of all thread and a couple pieces of angle iron, drill a hole through the angle iron, hook them onto the plate, run the all thread underneath through both pieces and tighten nuts

alaskanassasin

It would kinda look like a pipe clamp 

alaskanassasin

If it’s a leg 

brentm

@alaskanassasin did you do that with a hand drill or a press?  and it looks like it was just cracked and not fully separated.

I just took apart my Egg for cleaning, in preparation for this evenings pizza.  And I noticed my firebox is all cracked and ready to come apart.  I hope I took a picture of the receipt.  How many iphones ago was that?

@cookingdude555 - yeah, I'm not sure how much of that epoxy on the outside is adding any structural support to the cracks.  I wonder how much epoxy you were able to work in there?

It looks like a paste, I wonder if it can be thinned and injected.

alaskanassasin

Two pieces, freehand with cordless Dewalt.

alaskanassasin

I was thinking something like this may work if it isn’t broken all the way through yet.

brentm

Here's a good recommendation.  For some reason, this stuff seems safer than JB Weld High Temp.

https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grillmaster-tips-1/how-to-fix-a-cracked-or-broken-big-green-egg-fire-box-or-plate-setter/

Luckky

Thanks I’ll take a look at some welds, here’s the update. There’s an interesting black ring in the centre, so we think this is a fault or something different?

Luckky

Mattman3969

If you’re having a hard time accessing a new one I would take a couple piece of steel and lay across the fire ring like a bridge and lay the setter on them.  

CtTOPGUN

Marine Tex epoxy is what I would use even over the JB Weld product. We have repaired cylinder heads on racing engines with it. 

Canadianegger2020

  I broke 3 of these for my XL, in 2 years..... purchased a Cast Iron one ..problem solved forever . 

EagleIII

Lots of good suggestions on here, so use those to make an informed decision.  I will say, I broke a leg off my platesetter 10 years ago and used the High Temp JB Weld to fix it.  10 years and it's still going strong.  Some will voice a concern over off-gassing into your food and that may be true, may not, but I put the newly repaired platesetter in the Egg without any food and burned off a load of lump just to be safe. Offgassing can't last forever!

brentm

Is that "black ring" where the existing crack had started to manifest itself?  It might just be soot.  Can you wipe it off or change it's appearance with a wet towel?