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Underbite, spacers not connecting

garthb4903
garthb4903 Posts: 116
edited January 2017 in EggHead Forum
I have an underbite on my medium, and the spaces don't line up.  I've read through the prior posts, but do not know the terminology.  Can someone please walk me through what to do?  I tried the dollar bill test, it is tight in the back but loose in the front half.
L, M, MM "These pretzels are making me thirsty"
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  • 4Runner
    4Runner Posts: 2,948
    Me too.   I just tossed them.   
    Joe - I'm a reformed gasser-holic aka 4Runner Columbia, SC Wonderful BGE Resource Site: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm and http://www.nibblemethis.com/  and http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html
    What am I drinking now?   Woodford....neat
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,983
    Please read this.

    Overbite/Underbite: A quote from a poster


    "I called this morning and spoke to Dewayne at BGE HQ Customer Service.  He was extremely helpful and guided me through the steps to level out the top.  It was extremely simple to do, even for someone who didn't understand the way these things are put together. 

    So basically here's what was the problem and what I did.  The first problem was that the lower band was not wrapped around evenly - it was lower in the rear than in the front.  He explained to me that the lower band should come right up to the edge of the lower gasket all the way around the lower half.  So I loosened the carriage bolt on the lower rear band and GENTLY tapped along the band using a block of wood and a rubber mallet until the band was placed evenly around the whole bottom.  Then I tightened the band.  From that point, the underbite had improved significantly, but there was still a bit of unevenness along the planes where the gaskets met and it still did not pass the dollar bill test.  In fact, the gap on the rear side between the gaskets was slightly worse, but I wasn't worried because I knew there were a couple more steps to 

    Next step was to adjust the front to back placement to fine tune the sitting of the top to the bottom.  There are two slotted acorn nuts on the top part of the hinge (above the spring) on both sides of the top that needed to be loosened so that I can 'wiggle' the top into a centered position.  So I loosened all 4 nuts, wiggled it into position, then tightened.  Now the top was centered properly (no under or overbite), but there was still unevenness on the plane of contact - in other words, it still failed the dollar bill test. 

    The last step was to somewhat repeat the first step (loosening the carriage bolt) except for the upper band.  Wherever there was the largest gap between the two gaskets, I GENTLY tapped the band upward which essentially pushed the lid downward by it's own weight.  Once I saw that the upper band was positioned in such a way that the entire top part of the egg sat nicely and evenly on the bottom, I tightened the carriage bolt of the top band and vuala!  It was fixed.  Dollar bill test passed all the way around the egg.  No more underbite (or overbite). "

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  • garthb4903
    garthb4903 Posts: 116
    @RRP thanks for the post.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what any of this means...
    L, M, MM "These pretzels are making me thirsty"
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  • garthb4903
    garthb4903 Posts: 116
    1.  What is a "lower band"?
    2.  What is a "carriage bolt?"

    L, M, MM "These pretzels are making me thirsty"
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  • Grillnugget
    Grillnugget Posts: 71
    When I went to readjust my Lg. the original "retainer" pieces didn't fit on the bolts, exactly like yours in the pic. I used heavy duty zip ties (2 one each side) to keep the spring tension. Basically as the og pieces would have done if they had fit. 
    Turns out I fixed the small gap at the hinge but created over time a pretty sever under bite. The egg seals fine so I've not monkeyed with it, I'll attempt a fix when I break it down to put it in my new table. 
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,983
    garthb4903 said:
    1.  What is a "lower band"?
    2.  What is a "carriage bolt?"

    Your dome (top half of BGE) has a metal strip (band) that goes clear around it.
    Your base (bottom half of BGE) has another metal strip that goes around it also and it is therefore called the "lower band". 

    Each band is held together with a bolt and nut and the style of those bolts is a called a "carriage bolt".
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