Smoke leak

I don't have a large, I have an XL but I wouldn't call that normal.  Looks like maybe they twisted up the vent as they were installing it.  I've seen people put gasket material around the vent to make them more air tight but if your dealer is willing to replace at N/C then I'd say let him.  He's just replacing the vent, right?  I can't imagine why he'd need to replace the whole bottom.

That bottom vent isn't sealing right. Are the tracks clear to allow the vent to close all of the way? 

I suggest you try a low n slow and see how she holds a temp. I'm guessing you won't have a problem.  

Frontal head on shot of the vent please. Almost looks like the solid piece is on bass ackwards. And if there's a boat load of smoke and you just shut it down the smoke will find the path of least resistance whether it be a gasket, DFMT, SW, lower vent or whatever. However, minimizing leaks is preferred. 

Edit: Disregard.  Now it's letting me enlarge your day pic.  Likely a loose channel. 

severtlaw said:

Hello, I recently purchased a large egg last week and have done 3 cooks all below 350.  I really enjoy the egg and have not had any problems except when I close down I get smoke pouring from the bottom vent.  I have sent pictures to my dealer and he offered to replace the bottom which is great.  I am curious if this is normal or sign of problem.
Thank  you

You obviously are a long way from the "no gasket" level of Green Egg cooking.  A little leaking smoke doesn't hurt anything, or compromise your ability to control temps.

RRP said:

Those still aren't very clear, but does it have a second sliding door behind that solid one? It would look like a screen.

@RRP ... looks like everything is in place and assembled correctly.  See the double black tabs on the left from the screen.  The center tab on the left (w/o the black cover) is part of the back-plate guide and is aligned with the screen tabs so the screen is fully closed.  And, the solid door is on top with the tab to the right ... as it should be.

@severtlaw ... Does the smoke come out of the gap between the egg and the back-plate?  If so, then a little RTV around the inside of the cover-to-egg gap would solve any leakage escaping out between the back-plate and egg gap.  Also, the RTV around the bottom gap will help keep ash from collecting there.  Said another way ... open the doors (screen and solid) add some clear RTV to the small gap you see between the back-plate and the egg.

If the smoke is coming from around the back-plate to solid door gap, then you can tighten up the gap a little.  Lay a small board on the rolled edge of the back plate and then hammer lightly to slightly add additional bend to the slide track and tighten it up.  Too much tightening and the doors will bind ... so go slowly.

Let your dealer look at it, but I wouldn't worry about it.  There is no-to-little smoke when folks shut down their egg, so they don't see the leakage that takes place.  Would be willing to bet that if they added smoke wood, got it going good, and then closed the egg down they'd see the same amount of smoke as you've pictured.

When I start my egg up on the FB or Guru, it looks like a miniature rocket on the launch pad ... smoke leaks out of every tiny gap.

SmokingPiney said:

RRP said:

Who ever attached the bottom vent did a lousy job of applying the underlying beads of silicone! I'm very surprised your dealer didn't know that. 

No offense, @RRP, but can you really see the problem from the pics?

I would really like to see a dead on pic of the bottom vent to actually see if it's seated right. 

My stab from the pics is the bottom vent isn't fully closed..............for whatever reasons. 

no offense taken, but when I posted that reply this afternoon I based it on two things. First it appeared to me that the smoke was rising from underneath the vent meaning it MAY have not been seated properly in the silicone. Second, this would not be the first time a vent wasn't seated/sealed properly coming out of the factory. Turn over happens with the best of companies. 

I think the vent just needs a reseat in the silicone. 

Looks pretty minor to me. Are you using a bunch of smoking wood and what exactly is the temp at shut down? Not out of the question to have the heat seek the pAth of least resistance. Might be a sign that you have a really good gasket seal. On higher heat cooks <300 this back draft can occur. 

When it's dark, close the vent completely and shine a light bulb or flashlight from inside bottom and 'see' the gap(s)?

severtlaw said:

Thanks for the light suggestion.  The top left is not attached to the egg.  Thanks to all for your advice and input.

Glad it worked out for you, it was just a hunch.  Now I wonder if we can use this instead of the dollar bill test, but it's not practical to wait till dark to mess around with dome alignment though