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Large BGE base crack

Powak
Powak Posts: 1,412
in EggHead Forum
Goin on my second large BGE base that has cracked. First one cracked with the cast iron fire grate, this one with a KAB so I don’t think there’s any correlation there. Could it have more to do with moisture and covering/not covering my egg? High temp cooks?  Or is it just a roll of the dice?  Mine‘s on the standard nest not a table. 
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  • alaskanassasin
    alaskanassasin Posts: 8,930
      You will get all different opinions, here is mine. Had the egg for at least a year cooking pizzas etc. bought the kick ash and took the cast iron grate out, next pizza cook my base cracked.
      Since warranty replacement I no longer do high temp cooks and I rest the kick ash basket on the iron grate. Haven't had any problems since.
     For me personally it is such a huge pita to get a warranty part its not worth cracking the base and missing out on months of good bbq.
    South of Columbus, Ohio.


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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,584
    Powak said:
    Goin on my second large BGE base that has cracked. First one cracked with the cast iron fire grate, this one with a KAB so I don’t think there’s any correlation there. Could it have more to do with moisture and covering/not covering my egg? High temp cooks?  Or is it just a roll of the dice?  Mine‘s on the standard nest not a table. 

    its stresses from a rectangular opening in a roundish egg,  ive had two crack during lower heats, i was right there with it when it happened. moisture has a different type of crack, more a delamination
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • alaskanassasin
    alaskanassasin Posts: 8,930
    @fishlessman Yap mine cracked center of the bottom opening
    South of Columbus, Ohio.


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  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
    Powak said:
    Goin on my second large BGE base that has cracked. First one cracked with the cast iron fire grate, this one with a KAB so I don’t think there’s any correlation there. Could it have more to do with moisture and covering/not covering my egg? High temp cooks?  Or is it just a roll of the dice?  Mine‘s on the standard nest not a table. 
    I keep both my LBGE's in nests exposed with no issues to date. I dont do many high temp cooks so that may play a part. I also try to keep them from coming up to temp too quickly. Very well may just be luck of the draw. 

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    I have a crack in my now 2nd base. First one cracked like 3 years ago along with the fire ring. Replaced both with a new hinge at the time. Now with this 2nd one cracked I’m thinking of replacing the hinge and band system again with the new style hinge system. I could use a new nest as well as the original nest from this now 8 year old Egg has about had it. Would lime to find a slightly used large nest from someone that is using a table to save a little and do all this upgrade at one time, replacement base, new hinge band and new nest. 
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    500 said:
    I have a crack in my now 2nd base. First one cracked like 3 years ago along with the fire ring. Replaced both with a new hinge at the time. Now with this 2nd one cracked I’m thinking of replacing the hinge and band system again with the new style hinge system. I could use a new nest as well as the original nest from this now 8 year old Egg has about had it. Would lime to find a slightly used large nest from someone that is using a table to save a little and do all this upgrade at one time, replacement base, new hinge band and new nest. 
    Man I love the new hinge system. Just upgraded to that this spring after my 2016 one wore out.
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    By staying away from high temp cooks- what’s high temp cooks? 650-750? I do pizzas at 500 max but steak tips and reverse sears at 650-750. I’m entertaining throwing back in the cast iron shower drain under the KAB. I notice with just the KAB there’s much more heat and reflection from the coals down on the bottom interior of the base.
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  • JethroBodeen
    JethroBodeen Posts: 526
    My last base cracked during a slow and low all night butt cook. It was only a year old. Cracked at center of bottom vent and across the bottom. I wonder if that there isnt a quality issue. It may just be me but it seems more and more cracked parts are appearing than I remember seeing.
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  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,196
    Cracks are pretty normal, always have been. Although all of our combined thoughts of what is normal may be pretty irrelevant. We would need access to warranty and sales data over time to see what is really happening. There are far more people with eggs now that ten years ago, and they all have internet connections to let their occurrence of a crack be known. 
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  • 7smcb7
    7smcb7 Posts: 27
    I have a 12 year old L with a badly cracked base at the bottom - bisecting the area around the bottom vent - some spider cracks along the side. I've put in a request for a warranty replacement base, but it has been 3 weeks and I don't have any word on timing of getting a replacement - I am told by my retailer that the part is on backorder, and BGE have given them no timetable on getting stock to them. 

    2 questions - 

    1. Any idea how safe it is to keep using my egg? The cracks seem external - the inside of the egg shows no cracks at the bottom.

    2. Anyone have any intel about the legitimacy of the claim that L bases are on backorder without timetable. That seems unlikely to me, but who knows these days...

    thanks...
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 23,179
    edited September 2020
    7smcb7 said:
    I have a 12 year old L with a badly cracked base at the bottom - bisecting the area around the bottom vent - some spider cracks along the side. I've put in a request for a warranty replacement base, but it has been 3 weeks and I don't have any word on timing of getting a replacement - I am told by my retailer that the part is on backorder, and BGE have given them no timetable on getting stock to them. 

    2 questions - 

    1. Any idea how safe it is to keep using my egg? The cracks seem external - the inside of the egg shows no cracks at the bottom.

    2. Anyone have any intel about the legitimacy of the claim that L bases are on backorder without timetable. That seems unlikely to me, but who knows these days...

    thanks...

    I have a good friend who is a dealer and he is saying the same things you are hearing. He's having a very difficult time getting inventory of any kind from BGE. He also said warranty parts are weeks or longer delayed. Sales are through the roof and nobody anticipated that so many people would be shifting from eating out to cooking at home because of a virus. The supply chain is disrupted in a big way right now. I don't anticipate it getting better any time soon.

    As far as the cracks go- They normally won't even warranty cracks until they go all the way through the ceramic so I'm guessing you are fine.

    I would be a little more careful if your egg is in a wooden table or on a flammable surface like a wood deck but I would continue to use it if it were me.

    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,584
    brush the inside out, wipe it with a damp rag, you will see the cracks. im going on 8 weeks waiting for teltru to ship a thermometer, dont even know why i ordered it, havent had one in the dome for many years.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,184
    I have had a crack in my now 2nd base for about 6 to 8 months when I noticed it.  I'm gonna hope it makes through until Spring.  
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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