BGE: Cast Iron Lid Stuck

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RayZorback

Found some matches.
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Hey everyone. Long time no see.

I picked up a small BGE the other day for the low low price of FREE! It looked to be in pretty good shape and I got the nest with it. It looks like the previous owner left the cast iron cap on and it is stuck. I have only tried to remove it with my hands and a lot of pulling force and it is a no go. I don't want to start taking tools to it yet because I don't want to hurt the BGE or damage it.

Has this happened to any of you? Do you have any suggestions on removing the cast iron cap?
Once off, I'll restore the cap cleaning and reasoning it and I think that should take care of it in the future.

Also, what are somethings that you would do before smoking on the BGE if you purchased it used? I'm not sure how to clean it since you can't use water.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hopefully the CI cap has a lot of crud making it stick to the chimney. Might try to get some lump going and see if that loosens the cap.
HTH
 
loco_engr said:
Hopefully the CI cap has a lot of crud making it stick to the chimney. Might try to get some lump going and see if that loosens the cap.
HTH
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that propping the lid open a crack for venting would result in a hotter temperature to loosen it. I'd try this before striking pottery.
 
I'd let it warm up with some lump in there or if you can't/don't want to a small propane torch on it for a little while should do it. You get some grease in the smoke that will sometimes seal it on and once warmed up is easy to deal with.

To clean you can brush whatever out inside (dry) and then load it up with lump, open the vents full open and light it up. It'll get going super hot and self clean burning everything off.
 
I had my Vision get stuck.I have a hand held propane torch that I use to start my charcoal and I used that to gently heat it to soften the crud and it came right off.Then I thoroughly cleaned it.
 
A little WD-40 and a match should do the trick
 
why do you want it off? Most of us have a hard time keeping it on when we open the dome.
 
Bill-Chicago said:
I've been waiting to see what the result was, figured I'd trigger the answer....


Couldn't imagine a world in which my thingy was stuck for 6 years
Click to expand...


Yeah, but in this day and age, nobody appreciates anything given to them.



Or, maybe the guy broke it, and was too embarrassed to say anything on an anonymous forum.
 
THIS sets the record for a boomerang thread!!!
 
My guess is, he tried to do a clean burn and the gasket melded together.

Easiest way to fix it is take a thin blade putty knife and see if you can find a gap between the gasket. Once you find it, turn the handle against the egg and use a hammer to gently tap all the way around the egg.

If worse comes to worst, just tap around and get it opened. Then, you can remove the old gasket and replace it. It's a little work but not a big deal.
 
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