Fed up with my XL Big Green Egg misaligned lid...

[Downr@nge]

I've had my XL Big Green Egg since about 2015 brand new. I used to cook on it several times a week for the first few years. And over time, I have noticed the lid become more and more misaligned and the underbite develop more and more. Now, the underbite was so bad, smoke leaked out the back of the Egg causing my temperatures to go astray. Don't get me wrong, its a fine cooking machine that has served me well. However, no matter what I do, I cannot get the lid to align properly. I have watched every YouTube video under the sun on this and even when I seem to correct the underbite, it simply returns after a few times of opening and closing the lid. I'm going to need this cooker to last at least until I order and receive my Shirley Fabrication cooker :-D

On Mother's day, I thought I fixed the underbite and only after opening and closing the lids twice, it returned with a smoke leak. Any suggestions?

 

[Rockinar]

Im not familiar with the Egg hinge. Maybe it's just been heated/cooled so many times its warped and only fix is to replace it?

 

[BGEChicago]

I have 2 XL BGE, my suggestion is painful but I think it will work as I had your problem and fixed it... Replace the gasket (top and bottom) because this will reset the seating and replace the hinge assembly... the new hinge assembly has tabs to prevent the lid from accidentally falling off in case your top band isn't tight enough... I think I bought my XL BGE in 2014 so were pretty close in the wear... You have lifted the lid.. it's pretty heavy, I think it's hell on the hinges... I think your hinges are worn out and have too much slack... FWIW...

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Downr@nge]

I have 2 XL BGE, my suggestion is painful but I think it will work as I had your problem and fixed it... Replace the gasket (top and bottom) because this will reset the seating and replace the hinge assembly... the new hinge assembly has tabs to prevent the lid from accidentally falling off in case your top band isn't tight enough... I think I bought my XL BGE in 2014 so were pretty close in the wear... You have lifted the lid.. it's pretty heavy, I think it's hell on the hinges... I think your hinges are worn out and have too much slack... FWIW...

Thanks,
Greg

Thank you for the suggestion. It's what I'll do.

 

[masque13]

I've got the same problem on an XL about the same age. It's aggravating for sure. Especially since it's such a great cooker.

 

[SmokerKing]

I usually have to re-align and adjust the lid on mine once a year or so.

 

[Tannhauser42]

My regular BGE had a similar problem, and it was because the hinge was sticking when I closed it. Lubricating the hinge solved the problem for me.

 

[Shiz-Nit]

replace both top and bottom gaskets.
once replaced close the lid and loosen both base and lid ring and hinge.
wiggle around just a bit until your sure the lid reseats itself to the base good and retighten up your rings and hinges.

That should take care of your issue as it fixed mine with the same issue.

 

[BGWolf]

Here is a post that has help me align my XL bands and it works:

Crisis averted!!! 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).
I'm happy as a clam!

Good Luck,

Brian

 

[larrsz]

I have 2 XL BGE, my suggestion is painful but I think it will work as I had your problem and fixed it... Replace the gasket (top and bottom) because this will reset the seating and replace the hinge assembly... the new hinge assembly has tabs to prevent the lid from accidentally falling off in case your top band isn't tight enough... I think I bought my XL BGE in 2014 so were pretty close in the wear... You have lifted the lid.. it's pretty heavy, I think it's hell on the hinges... I think your hinges are worn out and have too much slack... FWIW...

Thanks,
Greg

I am going to agree with this. I had an even worse result in that the misalignment put pressure on my bands to the point that it ended up shearing off the top of the ceramic as if it had been cut with a saw. The company replaced my body and top under warranty but did tell me misalignment showing means something should be done quickly in the future. It is usually caused by not tightening the bands periodically as we should. Actually this experience scared me enough it is why I ended up going to the KJ with the feather hinge.

 

[miked125]

I had bad bands from the start, replaced them under warranty and it fixed much of my issue. Given the age of your egg, you may want to get new bands and give it a whirl.

 

[hurricanedavid]

Here is a post that has help me align my XL bands and it works:

Crisis averted!!! 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).
I'm happy as a clam!

Good Luck,

Brian

I tried to adjust mine this AM according to your directions and unfortunately my Large BGE does not have those two slotted acorn nuts on the top part of the hinge as you referenced. :sad:

 

[ichbin73]

I’ve used BGE’s every day the last two plus years in my commercial kitchen. We went through 2 XL’s and had all kinds of misaligned lid issues. Then BGE decided the heavy lid/hinges on the XL just isn’t made for every day use. So they swapped the XL for 2 Larges and the last 6 months have been problem free. ����*

 

[pmad]

I’ve used BGE’s every day the last two plus years in my commercial kitchen. We went through 2 XL’s and had all kinds of misaligned lid issues. Then BGE decided the heavy lid/hinges on the XL just isn’t made for every day use. So they swapped the XL for 2 Larges and the last 6 months have been problem free. ����*

But aren't the hinges on the XL identical to those on the XXL?
I can't imagine BGE would do that if they are not adequate for the XL.

 

[harrybbq]

Guys, this will fix your alignment problems 100%, but it will cost you 100 bucks. It is the best thing I could have done. Zero leaks, and forget about aligning the lids! There is so much gasket cush that the lids can be of different sizes alltogether and it still seals

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1221373/ordered-the-new-kamado-joe-wire-mesh-fiberglass-gasket