Did I apply the Lavalock gasket wrong?

[Lost in China]

A while back, RonB sent me a Lavalock gasket for my Weber 22". (In return I sent him a package of chicken feet and the local specialty of duck tongues.) After losing it in my stuff, I rediscovered it the other day and applied it to my grill's lid. There aren't any instructions for it, but it was the perfect width to fit in the lip of the lid, so that's what I did. On my cookout Sunday, I found out that it doesn't fit snugly any more. The lip used to fit into the bowl, but now with the gasket in place it just sits on top of the bowl. Since the top is slightly out of round (probably what was causing it to leak in the first place) I can't get it to sit flat, and hence it still leaks.

Did I install the gasket wrong? Is it supposed to do this? I looked on the manufacturer's website and there are no instructions about how to apply it, one of those "of course it's obvious to us" things.

[Steve R.]

Since you know the lid is out of round, why not just go ahead and fix that? The way I do it is to set the lid on a hard flat surface (my garage floor is good for this, since it is also very smooth). Any rocking becomes obvious right away and then I can see which parts stay on the floor and don't rock. I can then press the ends of that very slight oval toward one another until it becomes a circle and the rocking stops. You probably want to go ahead and test the roundness of the bottom section while you're at it.

[DWCowles]

[Mudkat]

According to the video the manufacturer recommends that you install the gasket on the kettle not the lid.

[RonB]

That won't work. The surface of the base is just the width of the metal. There is a lip inside the lid and that's where it should go. The inside of the lid should be squeaky clean before instillation or it won't stick.

[MBMorgan]

Actually, they specifically say that the gasket is installed on the grill lid (37 sec. into the video). The video is confusing until you realize that they've just set the inverted lid into the kettle to hold it steady while the gasket goes on.

[Mudkat]

Yup. I was totally wrong on that. Doh!

[Cheapboy]

I too just installed a gasket on my kettle's lid, and I'm having the same problem here, the lid just won't fit snugly anymore. I had some leftover gasket after I installed in it in my PBC. It worked great in the PBC, and so I thought "Meh, might as well for my kettle!" I think that was a mistake, or at least my gasket was maybe too thick. Did I just ruin my kettle?!

[Jerod Broussard]

I have gaskets on both kettle lids. I can run probe wires without any problems. The 22 has the hinge so I use a clip to keep the "side" opposite the hinge tight.

[Cheapboy]

I have gaskets on both kettle lids. I can run probe wires without any problems. The 22 has the hinge so I use a clip to keep the "side" opposite the hinge tight.

Jerod Broussard Does your kettle lid still close snugly into the main body?

[Jerod Broussard]

Yeah, no leaks. If I leave the clamp off the 22 I'll get a little smoke to escape, but nothing that affects the cook.

[SledgeHammer]

My lid is slightly out of round, but it is as round as I can get it. I installed the lavalock and it didn't help at all. I won't blame the product since my lid is slightly oval, but it didn't help seal my 22". I do have leftovers, so I'm contemplating adding it to the base. But I'm also contemplating just getting a new kettle since mine is starting to shows its age.

[jecucolo]

I have the same problem.