Good News Re: Auto Lock Bands Near Disaster!

Anthony Up North

I spent the morning working to fix the bands that had slipped off the dome of my BGE. Many of you gave me the necessary hints and suggestions to solve the problem. At least I think it is solved.[p]Char-Woody told me that it might be the dimple on the band not penetrating the hole in the front of the dome. I looked at mine. Sure enough! The dimple was riding the hole rather than being in it. [p]So I reamed out the hole in the front as he suggested. Drilled it very slow and went in about 1/16th of an inch plus getting out the debris that was in there before. Made a nice clean cut. The dimple fits the hole so well now, that you can barely tell where the dimple is. At the point of the dimple the band is now flush with the ceramic. It wasn’t before. [p]I suspect that was a good deal of the problem.[p]Tim S. suggested putting a few strips of emery cloth on the upper band. Emery cloth is very thin and a bit more substantial than the non-slip tread paper that was on the EGG originally. Then I got some 600 degree silicone bonding. I bonded the emery cloth onto the ring at 5 key spots, using three 4 inch long strips, one in the back where the company had the old one, and one on each side. Then I bonded two shorter ones in key spots.[p]I tightened the screw so it began to bend a trifle. A number of you mentioned that the bolts might have been too loose. As far as I can tell it is now tight enough. But it might not have been before, because the bolt was not bent.[p]The emery paper slipped just a bit in one spot when I tightened it and the band moved a trifle, but not significant enough to make a difference. I don't think the band can move anymore with that emery cloth pressed tightly into the side of the dome. [p]I really do think the problem is solved. I hope so anyway. Only time will tell if that is so.[p]And I thank many you who gave me hints and suggestions. That helped me immensely, since then I had a number of possibilities to consider when trouble shooting the problem. [p]The key seemed to be reaming out the hole for the dimple. Char-Wood put me on to that. He said he got it from King of Coals. However, all your other suggestions helped also, and I incorporated them into the solution. [p]I wonder if the company knows that the hole for the dimple is sometimes cluttered with ceramic as it comes out of the mold? That affects the dimple in that it rides the hole rather than penetrating it as it does now after my treatment. Since it was not deep enough originally, it could slip off much more more easily. More unlikely now.[p]Thanks again to all of you. I really appreciate it.[p]Anthony[p]

Tim M

Anthony Up North,
Yea man, sounds like that should do it!! If the dimple and hole don't match - its problem time. The fact that you can even remove the bolt tells me it wasn't tight enough too. All the other things will help but those are the two main problems . Its like an airplane crash, they say it happens when more than two problems happen at the same time to cause a major problem. You had atleast two also. Smooth sailing from here.............................>[p]
Tim