New Egg and the gasket

TechnoBob

My wife and I have been researching the BGE and are sold big time. We will be buying the large egg just as soon as I get our table built. In the mean time, I have been reading this forum about the felt gasket issue. I'm assuming BGE is still shipping new models with the felt gasket vs the white Nomex gasket. I would think that all new eggs would come with Nomex now - that's just a no brainer! I do NOT want to install the felt gasket but go directly with the Nomex one to save the eventual hassle of removing the old one and it's burn glue. Does anyone know if Corporate will send me one in advance so I don't have to wait after assembly for them to ship one, or alternatively, is there a 3rd party source for the gasket material? As soon as my egg is unboxed, my wife will be waiting patiently with steaks in hand!

SoonerChris

Don't know if they will send you one beforehand but Fred's sells the gasket kits.

http://www.fredsmusicandbbq.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=gasket&Search.x=0&Search.y=0

civil eggineer

First you should realize only a very small amount of people have gasket issues. Many have had the felt gasket for years without an issue. If the seal around the egg is good and you don't go nuclear for the first half dozen cooks it probably won't be an issue. The nomex gaskets can also fail or I should say the adhesive holding the gasket can fail. The problem is with the adhesive primarily. Break it in with temps below 400 and you probably won't have any issues.

Fidel

The felt gasket is not the issue - the adhesive that was used is the issue. The gaskets are pre-applied and there is no way to tell if the gasket on any particular egg was applied with the defective adhesive.

I would say cook on it as it comes, if you have a problem, then call the HQ and they'll take care of you. You can still cook on the egg without the gasket, just be careful shutting the dome. In many cases the gaskets that come loose can just be re-applied using some new adhesive. If you don't have a problem, then it will be a long time before you have any gasket maintenance to perform.

Morro Bay Rich

From the "As soon as my egg is unboxed" comment it appears you are getting it over the Internet. If so, you might want to read the warrantee info on the BGE home page first.

skihorn

While it may be true that overall it is only a small % of gaskets that havae failed, for the last year I do not think it is a small %. Granted, this is anecdotal but here is my evidence:

I bought my Large in July. I carefully broke it in per instructions on here (note that the BGE instructions never mention break-in). On my first high temp cook (650) both top and bottom slid right into the fire. When I called my dealer they said that in 10 years of selling Eggs they had NEVER had this happen. I knew from on here that it had become a problem. When I talked my dealer again a few weeks later they said they had now had 3 more failures reported since mine. So, 10 years with no failures and then 4 in less than a month. Coincidence?

They came to my house to replace it with another felt gasket supplied by BGE. I carefully broke it in. It again failed.

In December (six months after my original purchase) I bought a Medium. Same result - slow break in then fail on first time over 500. Many others on here have had similar stories to mine - two different failures on Eggs bought at different times within the last year.

Therefore, based on my anecdotal sample (and from reading here) I can only conclude that it is far from a small % that currently fail. The good news is that the Egg cooks just fine without a gasket. I know. I have done numerous cooks between gaskets. Also, my dealer (ChimChimneys in Leagaue City, TX) has been great! They again came to my house and replaced both Eggs with nomex. Would not even accept a tip. So, don't let this scare away anyone reading this. My two Eggs are the best purchases I have made. I love them. It really is a minor deal and can even be ignored as many on here say they have cooked for years with no gasket. Or, you can go with nomex and probably have no problem. So far so good for mine which have done numerous high temp cooks.

Freddie
League City, TX

TechnoBob

Nope, getting it from a local dealer. She has two in the back of her store still in the original shipping boxes.

Grandpas Grub

Freddie, with all respect and not directed specifically at you...

There are a lot of people spouting X percent of failures and/or X number of eggs and/or BGE sells X.

The fact is, BGE does not share their knowledge, their sales, the failures with anyone. I was told, in part, BGE doesn't want competitors to get a hold of that type information.

Maybe, when folks begin to state 'facts and numbers' we should ask there where they are getting the numbers.

We have learned that BGE is not going to discuss egg problems over the forum.

So the 'stuff' that is being stated over the forum, including what I say, is each of our own experience and what we read here on the forum.

Some things we know is, as Rod stated above, the latest problem is the adhesive and NOT the gasket.

If any gasket, felt or Nomex, has the 'bad batch' of strip adhesive on it, most likely it is going to fail.

No one has come up with a way to identify a gasket with the 'bad adhesive'.

If one person buys 500 eggs and all of those eggs have the 'bad adhesive' in all probably they will have a 100% failure rate.

Felt gaskets with 'good adhesive' have worked well in the past and will work well in the future. The question is, which adhesive is on the gasket.

At some point in time the 'bad adhesive' should work its way through BGE direct, then the distributors and finally the dealers.

What we do know is if someone has a gasket with 'bad adhesive' BGE has been replacing the gasket with Nomex.

We also know that Nomex material will withstand higher heat than felt. We also know that felt with 'good adhesive' lasts a long time, years.

It is very understandable that if a person has bought one egg or multiple eggs with 'bad adhesive' they are disgruntled with the gaskets.

We don't know if some of the so called 'bad adhesive' gaskets are working. BGE does not share that information - so on both sides we are guessing.

I have 4 eggs and have had gasket problems on 2 eggs. Of those 2 eggs I have lost 9 gaskets. Not one of those gaskets had any of the 'bad adhesive'.

Some of my gasket failures were my fault.

We all know there has been a problem, so rather than trying to beat up on BGE, lets just help the folk with the problem and get them to get the new gasket on the egg and let them get cooking.

GG

TechnoBob

skihorn

Kent: That is why I was careful to say all of my evidence was anecdotal. I just laid it out. Yes, I did it partly to refute those that imply (or even outright state) that it is a very small % of gasket failure. I think they are using their own anecdotal evidence from the last several years that is not particularly relevant to today's Eggs.

Freddie
League City, TX

Sooner Egg

have had my egg since January and have done everthing from t-rex steaks to low and slo ribs, to this day I have had no gasket issue and should I at some future time I will simply replace it and start cooking once again

TechnoBob

Thanks to everyone for their input - what a great site! If the felt is already installed, I'll wait and hope it was installed without defective adhesive. If not, I'll put a Nomex gasket on and skip a "potential" issue. Either way, I can't wait to start cookin'. Wife wants to do a turkey and pizza. Will post pic's of my setup when it is done.

Morro Bay Rich

Well, that's good. If or when your gasket fails you can go back to the dealer.

skihorn

GG, I know you said you weren't necessarily directing your post at me, but I do want to be clear - in no way was I beating up on BGE. In the same post I said my 2 Eggs were the best purchases I had made and lauded my dealer for their great service. Likewise, my goal in this and other posts has always been to help the new guy. I reassure them that the gasket is not even technically necessary and, furthermore, there are solutions.

For the most part, I ask questions rather than answer them on this forum as I am a newbie. However, I am quick to jump in a gasket discussion, especially when they seem particularly mad. I want to reassure them that all will be okay. Some folks on here (certainly not you GG) tend to downplay the problem and are sometimes almost hostile and accusatory with those that have gasket problems. Of course, when I was blew my first gasket (and lost my temper) you GG were one of the most helpful and level headed on here. I am just trying to return the favor for those now in my shoes.

Freddie
League City, TX

Dave Shady

CHANGE IT NOW!

I am a dealer and got part of the bad batch of glue and they all came with a "SPARE" Gasket in the box. I delt with 6 of them total out of 19 eggs since november. The only ones that failed were the ones that came with the spare gasket.

If you put your own together and there is no spare in the box dont worry just COOK! If it does have one in the box change it now its easier to do before its together I think.

We should be getting passed the bad glue issues as that was a while back but old stock in dealers store rooms still exists.

I just put a NOMEX on a mini had a bad OEM and a bad replacement.. so far so good. Did cut it down to fit width of the lil guy.

My personal egg was the 1st i had seen with the 2 gasket bit. well 1st cook she came off. That was in October. put on the new one with 3m adhesive and its still FINE many many cooks latter!

Bordello

Hmmm,
I have 4, 2 I bought at BBQ Galores and they were in boxes, 1 I got from Atlanta, it of course was boxed, one I got from a pool supply out of Texas, not an internet order but a phone call from AZ. to them as I knew they had a sale on, it was shipped on a pallet in a box.

The pool co. did not mean to sell like that but the sales man made the deal so they honored it and BGE honored the warranty becasue it was not an internet order.

Just saying, ya never know.

Keep on Eggen,
Bordello

Egg-N-Tino

I know this topic is getting old, but just thought I would say my gasket is fine. Bought the LBGE in June of 2007. I would say it is a bit charred and getting crumbly, but no smoke is leaking.

Fritz

Had my new large for 10 days and after a few cooks, fried my gasket by making pizza. Replaced it with the Nomex and have made a few cooks with no problem including some pizza.

So far so good.