My name is Ron and......

Bacchus

...I haven't been tightening my band bolts.
Working from home today, I decided to take a break and take care of a few areas of procrastination. 2 Eggs, 4 bolts, all tightened for the first time in well over 6 months. I achieved several turns on each. :ermm:

eenie meenie

bad boy

fishlessman

yep, gotta check those, the bend were it bolts opens up over time and ive noticed that it gets looser when doing alot of real hot cooks over time, they may even be expanding over time with the constant heatups. i dont believe its the nuts loosening

Dave in So Cal

We are just about ready to reset the clocks for daylight savings time. This is a good reminder to check your bolts and snug 'em up if needed.

Thanks for the reminder.

Kenny 13

I noticed when I was assembling mine that there are actually recommended torque values for the band bolts in the assembly instructions. I think it was something like 123 inch pounds if anyone actually has a small torque wrench handy to do the job.

Village Idiot

A good reminder. Thanks.

Bacchus

I believe the general consensus is that over tightening is not possible. I have never heard of anyone cracking or otherwise damaging anything.

Grandpas Grub

 
Thanks for the post, I haven't checked mine in a year now.

But, it is snowing and I will do it tomorrow, maybe.

GG

RRP

I haven't checked mine in years - ever since I double nutted them. Four more nuts for less than a buck...really cheap insurance!

Kenny 13

Bacchus wrote:

I believe the general consensus is that over tightening is not possible. I have never heard of anyone cracking or otherwise damaging anything.

Not sure if this was aimed at my post about the torque values. If so, my concern wasn't about over tightening, but rather making sure it's tight enough. Those kinds of things just stand out to me because I work for a company that manufactures torque tools and does industrial bolting work. I guess I was just thinking out loud, but I have seen applications where a bolt seemed too tight and turned out it actually wasn't tight enough when a torque wrench went on it.

fishlessman

you will still want to check them after a few cooks, then after a few months, then twice a year, either the bands stretch a little or the bends give out a littlebut they do loosen up over time. with thermal expansion and a high temp cook, they can get real loose

Kenny 13

Yeah, you definitely need to check them periodically as heat causes expansion too, so they will expand & contract as they heat & cool.

fishlessman

it expands and contracts, but over time it contracts a little less each time. never seen the math that would back that up but i work with some pretty hot systems and i know its true

Kenny 13

Yeah, you're correct on that. Kind of like stretching a rubber band. As you keep stretching, it starts returning less and less to its' original size.

Weekend Warrior

Ron, I really don't think the second nut does anything to help keep the bands tight. I think that second nut is giving you a false sense of security. I think you properly tightened the oem nuts in the first place and that's why you've been lucky and never had a problem. There is no mechanism in place(vibration, etc.) that would cause the oem nut to loosen by itself. As fishlessman said, band tightness or lack of same is a product of heating and cooling and expansion and contraction of the bands. I hope you don't loose a dome someday because you've convinced yourself that double nutting is a failsafe. I check my bands every couple of months for tightness and adjust if necessary. Just my 2 cents.

Mark

Capt Frank

Good advice, thanks!

Capt Frank
Homosassa, FL

Florida Grillin Girl

Hi Ron. I have never tightened mine. Guess it's a miracle that the 14 year old large even opens and closes! It must be a guy thing - you guys just like to fiddle with your nuts and bolts!

Faith

RRP

for kicks and giggles I just went out and checked all my nuts and could not tighten a single one! Keep in mind fishlessman cooks his pizzas over 1,000° so maybe he sees more metal expansion and contraction than most of us.

cookn biker

Whew, I'm not alone. Me neither Faith. Sam, my boss/friend had my medium for a bit and I told him to tighten those.

thechief96

I've only done a few low temp cooks but will check tomorrow