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Egg-maintenance

Central IL Egger
Central IL Egger Posts: 260
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Just read the post by "remdog" about his lid getting out of alignment, and all of the responses were great!
It got me kind of nervous that I may not be doing all I can to take care of my large BGE. Has anybody ever posted or do you have a routine list of maintenance items for your BGE? (i.e.- lubing, tightening, aligning, scraping, tweaking, etc, etc . . .)
I'm gonna walk outside right now and check mine over just to let her know I care . . .

Comments

  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    I don't recall anyone posting a list, but various issues have come up.

    From recollection:

    Somewhere, perhaps the DVD, there's a recommendation to re-tighten the band bolts once a year. Some folks have commented that the bands can get a little loose after a really high temp burn.

    Place the daisy wheel onto the grate after a cook, and put the ceramic lid on to shut down. This helps burn off the gunk that gets on the daisy. The ceramic lid will damp the coals faster, and keep rain out. The Daisy will not keep all rain out, and lump ash hardens to stuff about as stiff as plaster after being wet.

    An occasional high temp burn will both get rid of accumulated grease, and blow out any creasote that has formed around the top vent. One fellow mentioned that he did a high temp cook on an Egg that had only ever been used for low temps, and the shell oozed a greasy fluid.

    A cover is a good idea, especially in wet seasons. The Egg will absorb some moisture, and that can make it slow to heat up. It may even sweat drops from the shell if it has been sitting in heavt rain for several days. Also, the metal parts have (I believe) a 5 year warranty, so keeping them dry and rust free will reduce hassles.

    Occassionaly, Eggs that have been out of use for some time get some mold on the inside. I believe the recommendation is to wipe the effected spots with dilute bleach, then follow with a hot burn.

    Both of mine have had lid alignment problems, but loosening nuts, and re-seating have solved the problem. I've also sprayed the hinge assembley with silicone lube. Seems to help a tiny bit.

    I wash the outside with dish soap every few months, just to keep them shining.
  • I don't per say have a list that I follow exactly but cleaning the major parts throughly and tightening all of the bolts happens about once every six months when I have a cooker cleanup day. A few weeks ago this occurred and on the BGE I disassembled the top, worked on it for more than an hour due to the black residue that builds up on it. It had reached the point of the small holes on the upper damper getting noticeably smaller in size. I scraped, cleaned, degreased then reseasoned the whole thing just as you would when reseasoning a cast iron skillet. Other than that, I scraped the inside gently to remove some of the more prominent residue from the walls of the cooker. Just a general overall cleanup. My top damper is now restored to the condition it was in when new yet again. Which means it is back to flopping around every time you open the lid, lol. Some gunk is nice in the fact it will maintain the damper where you set it but before this cleaning it was getting to the point of being very difficult while the BGE was cold to manipulate. It is kind of a chore but I actually have fun playing with the BGE whether cooking or not!
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    I have a 9 year old medium and a brand new large (well, the inside is totally black now, so I guess it is no longer "brand new" :laugh: )

    When I bought my new large, I decided to give my medium some love, so I decided to finally install the new gasket I bought almost a year ago. I just couldn't find a time when I could go 24 hours without starting a fire!

    The first thing I did was build a big hot fire, with no intention of cooking anything. That burned off a good bit of accumulated crud on the sidewalls, fire box and fire ring. Since I was replacing the gasket, I didn't have to worry about burning one up!

    The next day I took the Egg completely apart.

    I replaced the old painted draft door with a shiny new stainless one. That was a simple upgrade, and one I would recommend to anyone with an older Egg. I was kicking around the idea of upgrading to the new spring assisted hinge, but changed my mind for a couple reasons. For one, I like the safety pins in the old band design. I also like the fact that the old bands tightened from both sides, instead of just one. The lid on a medium isn't that heavy either. It also shows that this medium is an ol' timer. I cleaned the bands up, put some spray lube on the stays and hinge parts and replaced the bolts.

    I used a wire brush to knock the soot off the sidewalls and dome. I removed what little was left of the old gasket and cleaned all the residue off with a razor blade and some rubbing alcohol. I opted not to use acetone, as for some reason, I can smell it for days after it has been used, even a little bit. Didn't want that near my food.

    The gasket installation went smoothly. I had done it once before. I think the big key is to avoid the temptation to stretch.

    When I got it all back together, unless you knew about the change in the band/hinge design, you wouldn't be able to tell it from a brand new one. This is a grill that has been used an average of 3 times a week, 52 weeks a year for 9 years. It has never had a roof over its head or a cloth cover and I am not kidding, it looks brand new. Know any metal grills that you could say the same thing about?
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    Should have mentioned that I put the daisy wheel top in the Egg when I did my high temp cleaning burn. All the crud was burned off without any work at all. I started doing it every cook, but it stays too clean that way. :ohmy: Now I put them inside the Egg at shut down about every third cook.
  • Gonna have to plan a Saturday afternoon cleaning soon!

    As for tightening the bolts, is it pretty standard just a basic hand tightening, or do you really wrench it hard?
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    Use a wrench and get after it.
  • when you retighten the band bolts make sure you use the official BGE torque wrench and torque them only to specs and no more.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Mark,
    What I did from the get-go was to tighten my bolts until they start to bend and then buy a second set of nuts and run them up tight against the first set. That's an old mechanic's trick called double nutting and they will never work loose! My large is going on to 9 years and I've never had to tighten loose nuts!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • JalopyBob
    JalopyBob Posts: 175
    Not too long ago I bought a small at a garage sale. It is about ten years old, and looks to have been used maybe 2 or 3 times. It had been sitting for a long time. The lid was mis-aligned and the hinge was stiff. I used a few drops of bike chain oil to lube the hinge, loosened and correctly aligned the lid and bands. These things are fairly simple, and not much maintenance is required. I keep them covered most of the time, but sometimes forget about it if it has not cooled down enough to put the cover on. I look at them as a lifetime investment, and try to care for them as such.
  • elFloyd
    elFloyd Posts: 50
    Had my large now for 14 years!. It's used 3-4 times a week in rain/snow/hot/cold. Still using the original hinge although I did upgrade to the stainless draft door. Egg has been outdoors all this time... no cover and no problems. I did double nut the bolts on the band... and they never get loose.

    Major maintenance/repair includes: Gasket was replaced once (I DO cook on high... pegged the dial more than once). The mother ship did not offer a replacement gasket when I replaced mine, so I used a fireplace gasket. One edge is now coming loose, so I need a little touch up. About six years ago my egg fell over and a large piece (6"x12") broke out of the side. I used fireplace cement and 'scar face' has been good as new every since and has a perfect seal. I also use a wire wheel on a drill to clean the inside of the egg and the top of the rim on the fire box when I get real ambitious.

    Recommendation:
    1. Keep the bands tight.
    2. Do a high burn every so often.
    3. Put the daisy wheel (metal top) inside the egg when doing the high burn.
    4. Use lump charcoal only.
    5. Know how to unfreeze the dome on really cold days.


    elFloyd