Smoke from the lid seal?

[Chewey]

So I recently moved and the movers lost my COS and squeezed my PBC so it wasn't perfectly round any more. I have massaged the barrel back to pretty much round, but I still get a touch of smoke coming from between the lid and the barrel. I can't remember from my half dozen cooks (it's only a few months old) if it would seep smoke from the lid/barrel joint. So my question is this: do your PBCs leak smoke from that joint or do I (meaning the movers) need replace it?

[HawkerXP]

Normally no. I need to use a brick or two on the lid once and a while. There is a gasket some people have used to stop leaking lids.

[jecucolo]

I use a lavalock product. You can get it on amazon. You can also buy fire rated caulk at Lowe’s. It really prevents leaks.

[SmokeyGator]

Tell the movers the COS was a Yoder or a Lang. So find it or else let’s talk compensation.

They will invariably make a settlement offer. But starting off negotiations at Lang or Yoder prices will see that you get what is due and then some.

I would also complain about the damaged PBC. I mean I can easily see how things can be damaged in a move. I would be inclined to chalk it up to "I hate moving" if it were just that, but losing something like an offset smoker? How do you manage that? Unprofessional. They owe you for their negligence.

[N227GB]

I know someone that years ago worked for a well-recognized moving company for a short time. The amount of "shrinkage" in that industry is not insignificant.

[Chewey]

It's a military move and they do pay to replace what was lost or damaged (if it can't be fixed). I just need to figure out if I fixed or if it needs to be replaced.

[wu7y]

I would complain and tell them what it was they lost and the cost to replace. I would not inflate the value no matter how attractive it may seem. That could be considered fraud. Even if you win the trial it will wreck your whole week.

[smn1285]

My PBC blew over in a storm and dented the lid and the barrel mouth is also not quite a perfect circle anymore. So I bought the lavalock seal as mentioned above which works quite well. At 1st I still needed to use bricks on top. But the more I cook I guess I am building up more of a grease seal and don't need to use the bricks as much anymore. Mine seems to cruise along right in the 270-300ish range.

[Spinaker]

I would try putting some wieght on the lid and giving the underside of the lid, where the lid meets the barrel, a spray with oil. This will help some. Obviously, you want to have the lid back to round as well as you can.

[UncleFester]

Yeah I'll second the weight on lid approach. That's usually my first step. I did a turkey on thanksgiving and had a little leaking going on so I just popped a brick on top and it helped. Cheers

[Chewey]

I appreciate the input on how to make it work and I probably will. But what I really need to do is figure out if this is normal or not (ie did I fix it?) so I can get compensation for it if it is not correct.

[jecucolo]

File a claim. It’s not worth your piece of mine.$300 dollar to a moving company is not that big a deal.

[SmokeyGator]

I agree. Claim it. For peace of mind if nothing else. Also I will gladly testify that I personally saw your sweet Lang offset cooker

[fzxdoc]

I'm sure if you ask the Pit Barrel Company folks, they will say that leakage around the lid is not normal. That would be the definitive place to go.

In my own experience, my PBC works as it should ONLY if there are no leaks around the lid. For the first couple of years, I had no lid leaks, and then the PBC developed one where the barrel seam is. I fixed it with the LavaLok gasket that others have mentioned. It doesn't take much of a leak to make the temperatures shoot way up.

Kathryn

[JimLinebarger]

Chewey Almost everything can be massaged to get "working" but that really isn't the point. You shouldn't have to. The military will look at things as "repair or replace". The "repair" from the PBC company would be a new barrel and possibly a lid. You can contact PBC and ask what the cost is for a new barrel and lid (I could not find it on their site but I thought the barrel was around $169) Or, as has been suggested, just claim the entire thing. I had to file a claim when half of my stereo was stolen during my move from Korea to Guam. I think I just had to make sure that they were line items on the shipping invoice.

[Chewey]

Thanks guys. I will definitely claim it based on your input. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't replacing something that was perfectly fine. Unfortunately the inventory lists the offset as a Chargriller already, but I'm making sure I claim every mod I made to that thing. When I talked to the PBC folks they said it was $115 for a new barrel.