New gasket + new grate = bad temp control

WiltOnTilt · January 2014

Hi, I've been egging for over a year now and have had good luck the vast majority of the time. The problem started a few weeks back when my egg got frozen shut during an ice storm and it took me an hour of dropping lit fire starters down the top vent to semi thaw it. Well, it wasn't thawed enough as when I opened it the gasket ripped off pretty clean (top and bottom).

I followed the directions on naked whiz to replace it with the Rutland gasket using the copper high temp adhesive. The gasket replacement process took some time but wasn't too hard. I noticed after putting the gasket on the bottom (nothing on top) there is a bit of smoke leaking out of the back. Nothing crazy but its there on occasion.

Shortly after that I received the new grate from @stlcharcoal which allows for significantly more air flow.

I've done 3 cooks since (300 degrees and below) and I've noticed that the temp variation is significantly wilder than before. It appears that I'm always in heat up or cool down mode. I can't seem to ever hold consistent despite tweaking vents every 10-15 minutes to try to find an equilibrium. I have the maverick gauge and I watch the temp either slowly climb or slowly decline and rarely ever hold steady.

I suppose the answer is to do the next cook with the old grate and see if only changing the gasket is the problem, but is there anything else I can do to identify what is causing the problem?

Is it worth putting another gasket on top?

Thanks for any thoughts!

RickyBobby · January 2014

Maybe a couple high temp cooks are in order ... might help that gasket form a better seal.

Little Steven · January 2014

Try making no adjustments. Air in is a constant and shouldn't affect performance. If you are leaking a bit it is outbound and won't bother anything.

RRP · January 2014

Did you "bunch" the gasket which makes it much thicker and denser and covers the entire edge? The amount of Permatex which you spread is also a factor. When done properly it impregnates the Rutland and provides a nearly solid band re-enforced by the gasket itself. What minute air passages that still remain will be filled in short order after a few cooks with the creosote laden escaping gases. BTW those directions on TNW site are highly condensed from my written instructions for the 999 Rutlands I have sold over the past 11 years so I might know what I'm talking about!

Little Steven · January 2014

I want to order one large please

henapple · January 2014

Haven't had the frozen shut problem but I always read here people starting the fire from the bottom. Too late now. Sorry

stlcharcoal · January 2014

If you're tweaking the vents every 10 minutes, that's most likely the problem. For 300F, set the bottom draft door and daisy wheel so you could just fit a pencil through them. That should put you at about 300F or at least give you a reference point for wherever it ends up. Make a minor adjustment and let it sit.......it's not like a thermostat and an electric coil. It takes a while for that charcoal to react, adjust, change the temp of the ceramic, etc.

BTW, what kind of charcoal are you running. That could also be part of the problem if it's more wood than charcoal.

EDIT: Forgot to add that if you're unsatisfied with the grate, you're more than welcome to return it. I would keep experimenting though--I think you'll get the hang of it. I've sold 500+ of them and have yet to have one come back.

WiltOnTilt · January 2014

RRP said:

Did you "bunch" the gasket which makes it much thicker and denser and covers the entire edge? The amount of Permatex which you spread is also a factor. When done properly it impregnates the Rutland and provides a nearly solid band re-enforced by the gasket itself. What minute air passages that still remain will be filled in short order after a few cooks with the creosote laden escaping gases. BTW those directions on TNW site are highly condensed from my written instructions for the 999 Rutlands I have sold over the past 11 years so I might know what I'm talking about!

Hi thanks for the reply. I did bunch the gasket, in fact I used all 84 inches of it. I didn't have any leftover to cut off! The directions I followed said there might be 3-4 inches to remove at the end, but I guess I might have bunched too much?

WiltOnTilt · January 2014

stlcharcoal said:

If you're tweaking the vents every 10 minutes, that's most likely the problem. For 300F, set the bottom draft door and daisy wheel so you could just fit a pencil through them. That should put you at about 300F or at least give you a reference point for wherever it ends up. Make a minor adjustment and let it sit.......it's not like a thermostat and an electric coil. It takes a while for that charcoal to react, adjust, change the temp of the ceramic, etc.
BTW, what kind of charcoal are you running. That could also be part of the problem if it's more wood than charcoal.
EDIT: Forgot to add that if you're unsatisfied with the grate, you're more than welcome to return it. I would keep experimenting though--I think you'll get the hang of it. I've sold 500+ of them and have yet to have one come back.

Hello and thanks for the reply. I was not trying to imply its a faulty grate, sorry if that's how it came across. I was more trying to figure out why my temp control seems to have gotten worse and since taking off the new gasket didn't seem like a good option, I thought trying the old grate might be a way to help isolate the difference. Perhaps it will take some getting used to as you suggest, I just thought it was a bit weird that I was upgrading to a better grate and gasket but having worse results. While I am not an expert, I have had good success smoking/cooking a few times per month over the past year and only now my results have changed. I will stick with it and try to wait longer between vent tweaks.

I was using some ozark coal. I got it because it appeared semi local. You might know the company, it's based out of Columbia MO.

Most of my cooks are low and slows (250ish) so naturally I'm a bit nervous to let one go overnight with wild temp variations. I will keep at it though. Thanks!

Skiddymarker · January 2014

Fresh load of lump, 1/2 way up the fire ring, start it on the top in the front, open the vents per the pencil size noted above and go away for 30-45 minutes. Let it stabilize, I'm betting no wild fluctuations. If you adjust every 15 minutes or so you are to quote my Dad "Chasing a fart in a wind storm".

shadowcaster · January 2014

I agree with others. Sometime when I make adjustments on my egg it ttaks up to an hour at times to stabilize. Sometimes 30 mins depending on the adjustment and how long it have been burning. Be patient and take your time, do a test run and see if you can figure it out. Better to waste a bit of lump then a whole meal! Good luck

Kortneys · January 2014

My temperature control problems were completely solved when I learned to be patient, and more importantly, to stack the charcoal consistently; large chunks at bottom (I stand them up onto each other or at least cross them to provide maximum air flow -- think "teepee"), then medium chunks, then smaller chunks on top. When I do this, I have less temperature deviation and micro control of the temps (literally adjusting a millimeter at at time on the upper and lower). Hope this helps!

WiltOnTilt · January 2014

thanks guys, i will have more patience going forward!

jhl192 · January 2014

I have one other possibility. It is most likely a bunched gasket, fiddling with the vents, etc. as mentioned above, however. Was it windy? I have found that the windier it is the harder it is to stabilize the temperature. Especially with some of the strong, cold winds we have had lately. It will increase and decrease the airflow which will increase and decrease the the burn rate.