Day 3 with egg. Disaster

Ironballs · March 2009

Day 3 of the egg, 4 cooking sessions down, and Disaster Strikes, notorious gasket style....

With the meal inside, I started to smell plastic burning. I opened her up, and the upper gasket was drooping down, sagging, melting. I tried to fold just that piece to the outside of the egg, but it was lost... mush of the gasket was drooping in towards the egg. I pulled the food and it was tainted by the burning plastic, so I tossed it.

Yes I seasoned her, 4 cooking days, including 8+ hours in one cook. Yes I burp prior to opening.

I called BGE direct,... they said a bad batch of gaskets went out. They are sending me a Nomex gasket (free, it just got here), and told me to buy 3m Super 77 spray adhesive (on my own dime, which was just under $10 at homedepot).

I had a real heck of a time cleaning the surface to prep. Not only fighting off the original underlying tape (which was melted into pores) but also the felt gasket which must be made of some petroleum plastic product, as it too melted into the egg. I finally got it 'good enough'. Then sprayed the glue into a cup, painting it on, and rolling out the Nomex... little sections at a time and repeating. She is sitting closed now to cure.

This experience sucked, both personally and from a customer service perspective. The egg is like a million dollars, and to have it malfunction on day three, ruining a meal, and then to (only) receive just the gasket, was simply a piss poor customer service imo. I not only lost a meal, but then spent hours cleaning it up removing the failed gasket, had to run out and buy glue, then install. I spoke with my local dealer, who basically said no returns, but I am welcome to come and pick up a new felt gasket, adding that they have never herd of any gasket issues or of the Nomex upgrade.

When I originally spoke to mothership, they said email what happened... I did, and listed a 'future purchase wish list' of their products I was planning to buy, mentioning that anything they can do to make up for things would be great... but only the gasket came. No little freebie. Shocking. I would really expect for my local store to at least come out and install the gasket, but this was not on the table.

I can understand needing this upgrade years from purchase, but to be left in the cold on a 3 day old egg... seriously not cool. I know for a fact that most companies would have gone above and beyond this.

Anyone from the mothership care to comment.

Ironballs · March 2009

Oh, and I should add that my firebox simply will not sit level... it wants to rock back and fourth. I was thinking of tossing in a little bit of sand into the bottom of the egg to help her find level... just a handful. What do you think?

TXTriker · March 2009

Sorry to hear of your problems. I have never had a problem with my large. I asked and paid for my nomex gaskets from the Mothership but my dealer did the removal of the rest of the felt on the small and all of the large. I'd guess his man spent a good hour removing and replacing both gaskets at his cost excluding the gasket. He said I should have called him about the nomex.

I assume there are good dealers and better dealers. I feel I have one of the better dealers. I used both eggs with the new nomex gaskets tonight for the first time with good seals.

Best of luck to you.

BENTE · March 2009

ok iwas not going to post a reply because i have been drinking and some of my frustration may bleed out on you and that is not fair to you

but it is also not fair not to address your situation.. or maybe not friendly.. so here is what i will tell you

1 gasket failure is something that you will come to accept.. this one was the factory's fault.. i have had several that were my fault here is one!!

notice there is no drip pan.. well that is 40 lbs of pork there was no place for the grease to catch so it went into the coal.. after i had removed those butts i decided i wanted a steak that night so my logic was i better clean it out so i took the top off and opened the bottom and walked away.. the 2+ cups of pork fat caught the egg on fire.. i came back to the egg needle resting at 220 the second trime around.. there was smoke everywhere i trhought the neighbors were going to call the fire dept but i melted the gasket!!

or how about this one

notice the gasket at the front? i hit it with a pizza peel

or how about this one

yep i cracked it!! i had a nomex gasket on there it was one of the ones john from R&D sent me to help him test... so i go to atlanta and take my base with me.. they gave me a new base!!

notice the felt gasket?? well i ripped that thing off there first thing and replaced it with a nomex gasket

notice how the dome is still black.. it is the only original egg piece i still have.. (not counting the egg mates) and i have had my large for 7-8 years..

you are just mad right now and i can understand.. but you have to give a little here also.. and here is what i mean there are several thousand people who are regestered here and several hundred who post here on a regular basis.. we all know how great our egg is and how much enjoyment it has meant to so many of us.. my advice is stick with it and stick with the people here there are so many people here who are willing to help you cook better meals than you ever thought you would get off a grill...

i know this does not ease the pain but you will be glad you changed that gasket it will last you awhile just don't hit it weith a pizza peel

CITYSWINE · March 2009

Fried my gasket on 4th cook as well, doing high temp pizza. emailed HQ and they sent me a new nomex gasket for free.
Have not replaced the old gasket yet but have done a few cooks since and to be honest thinking about just leaving it as is for now.

Any downside to just leaving my half fried gasket in place? Does not seem to leak.

Grandpas Grub · March 2009

Sorry you, along with others, have had a problem.

Cleaning off the felt gasket (dome & base) on a large should only take from 15 to 20 minutes - cleaning time.

As far as 'Anyone from the mother ship care to comment', they already have, you will need to search past posts.

Basically, BGE asks you contact them with your warranty issues.

BTW, I lost my gasket on the first cook. I too got a free gasket and replaced it myself, my dealer offered to replace if I would wait until the next Monday. As it was the weekend I wanted to cook, and did the change out myself.

I did 40 low temperature cooks on that felt gasket and it went burned out on the next cook.

To be clear both failures were most likely my fault. Too much heat at the gasket level.

Your dealer offered you a free felt gasket and you are getting a free Nomex.

Take the free felt gasket, as I recall $15 or so, as a backup, which you probably won't need, and you will be ahead of the game other than the labor you did cleaning and replacing.

Get cooking and enjoy your egg.

GG

usc1321 · March 2009

I will have to agree with Bente. Gaskets failure is common. I must say I think they are well... over rated! :pinch: My friend Randy (AZRP) told me long ago that he cook his meats on an egg with no gasket. :blink: I now do the same. If you get your dome to fit the base properly, you don't need a gasket. Mine burnt out well over a year ago and I still cook everything and almost everyday on my large. :evil: I can hold a temp of 220 dome with absolutly no problems. Who needs a gasket :laugh:
I hope you do not get a bad taste for BGE off of this experience. They really are a wonderful company with an amazing product!! :woohoo:
Just my 2 cents

BENTE · March 2009

leaks aren't so bad

temps are all that counts!!! to be honest i had a 4cfm fan blowing in when these picks were taken!!

but melting while food is in there is SAD!! just sounds

i hope everything works out for him his first cook was a brisket!! i waited 4 years before i even tried it!!! so ironballs is a great handle for this guy!!!

BENTE · March 2009

watch out agreeing with me is a gateway drug

:evil: :ohmy: :laugh:

usc1321 · March 2009

Gateway to happiness maybe :laugh: :laugh:

BENTE · March 2009

if you don't mind Please explain that to my wife :P

btw i ride every friday with a auctioneer that used to live in so cal and is a usc die hard.. so kudos on a great productive program.. although the pac 10 is not what it was there are teams but usc is such a powerhouse that they throw away talent because they have so much... just kinda sucks the power out of the division... pete is a bada$$

DryFly · March 2009

Try as you will, guys, you can't rationalize putting out a substandard component on a very expensive piece of equipment. With the cost of the original unit, or units in most cases, and accessories from BGE and CeramicGrillStore we are in it for a bundle. I agree that problem is compounded by people cranking the unit to ridiculous temp levels, but BGE says you can do it. Claiming that it happens to all of us sooner or later or the warrantee covers a replacement only lets the company off the hook. The gasket material is bad. There are options available like the Rutland gasket or the Cotronics ceramic gasket material that's rated, in some cases, to over 3000 degrees.

usc1321 · March 2009

:laugh: :laugh: Bente, maybe we could sell the gateway theory to both of our wives :laugh: :laugh:
However, the USC is the great University of South Carolina. I am SEC all the way. :evil:

flatso · March 2009

I had a problem with the gasket too after the 4th cook on my new BGE back in January. I had a buddy of mine who owns a few eggs guide me on how to break it in correctly in addition to the help of the forum. I was at the beginning of a cook with some pork butts when the original gasket was coming apart. Fortunately, it was just the bottom one and I peeled it off completely and had no problems the rest of the cook. I called the mothership but they were giving me a hard time about sending out the Nomex and wanted to send me a out the standard felt instead. I agreed but after thinking about it for a few minutes and how much I just spent for this thing I called back I told the guy point blank that I was having a party for 40 for the SuperBowl and when people start asking me about my new BGE I would like to be able to say good things about it. He changed his tune and sent out the nomex. I'm a business owner myself and the initial unwillingness to send the nomex left me a little confused and concerned should I have a real issue some day.

AzScott · March 2009

The uneven firebox is a pain. It's just one of those things that drives you nuts after a while. Talk to your dealer and if they won't get you a level firebox talk to BGE. If you have a belt sander and feel you could fix it by knock off the high spot that may be worth a try but it would be my last resort.

Best of luck!

Day 3 with egg. Disaster

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