Smoke leaking out of lid, how to seal gap?

[jjdbike]

Hello friends,

A while back Uncle Bob, realdocBBQ , TomfromtheSoo , Murdy, & Oak Smoke helped me figure out how to fix a bent lid on my Treagar Fremont grill. Now I am noticing that due to the edges being a little bent, smoke and heat is leaking around the seems of the lid when it's closed and cooking.

Is there an easy fix to block this gap without creating other issues? I have seen rolls of high heat resistant felt that had a peel and sticky backing that is intended as a gasket on grills. Do you think that would work without creating more gaps? Any other ideas?

Respectfully,
JD

[Jerod Broussard]

That is what I did on my cheap offset. Sometimes layers of that stuff to seal it up. Hit it real good with acetone to remove any residue before applying adhesive seals.

[Michael_in_TX]

This may be much ago about nothing. The lid on my Grilla doesn't close all the way and my cooks have been just fine. I have about a 1/4" gap.

[mrteddyprincess]

I have an offset smoker and most of the time some of the smoke leaks out a bit around the lid to the cooking chamber with no problems regarding the temp, cook, or flavor. I'd say if it's cooking at the temp you want a little smoke leak is no big deal.

Brian

[realdocBBQ]

You can absolutely use a lid gasket or sealant. The felt style from Lava Lock is about the best one I've found, and I've used it many times for offset all the way to pellets and my Fireboard Rings on my Webers. 1/8 or 1/4", up to 1/2" wide. It'll work fine. Good stuff.

If it's not pouring out and you don't have noticeable heat blowing onto your hand when running, it's probably no big deal - but I sympathize with being anal about it and wanting the leaks. to. stop!



<edit> Clean and scrape the hell out of it first, degrease it. If you have a grinder with a flap disc, , do that. You want that surface as clean, dry and adherent as possible. The Lava Lock stuff works great.

[Uncle Bob]

A nomex seal around the door perimeter might work for you. The width wouldn't be so important as the thickness. The potential problem would be the strip along the top portion of the door. If the hinges don't have enough slop that upper strip could hold off the lower edge of the door. The first thing I'd do is see if the door is bent at the corners or along the side lengths to see if that is what's causing any gapping. Given the thin metal you could again use the wrench "trick" to bend the metal, or a stick under the edge if it's on the sides to put a bid more curve into the door. If you don't take that approach then see what the largest gap is and use a gasket no thicker than that area to attempt to seal the entire mating surface.

[realdocBBQ]

Right, sometimes I'll use some 1/8" x 1/4" on top edge, and use 1/4" x 1/2" on bottom, with a dividing line somewhere in the middle - even the width, not just the thickness, can matter here, especially on the top edge. Use thinner AND narrower on the top edge and maybe couple top inches of the sides. But, it does compress some more over time, as well, so it will fit down slightly better in a few weeks once it's sat in the closed position.

[jjdbike]

A nomex seal around the door perimeter might work for you. The width wouldn't be so important as the thickness. The potential problem would be the strip along the top portion of the door. If the hinges don't have enough slop that upper strip could hold off the lower edge of the door. The first thing I'd do is see if the door is bent at the corners or along the side lengths to see if that is what's causing any gapping. Given the thin metal you could again use the wrench "trick" to bend the metal, or a stick under the edge if it's on the sides to put a bid more curve into the door. If you don't take that approach then see what the largest gap is and use a gasket no thicker than that area to attempt to seal the entire mating surface.

Thanks,

Yes, I looked at the edges. The inconsistencies in the straightness and bends are very soubtal. So subtle that I worry trying to bend them that little but would cause other inconsistencies. I do worry that the 1/8 height of the nomex might be too much at the top of the lid, like you mentioned. I'll need to take another look.

I just looked. Not enough slop in the hinges. I wonder if I can snug the nomex up against the opening on the outside. That way it wouldn't prop the lid more open.


Thanks Uncle Bob !
JD

[realdocBBQ]

You can get the foam 1/8 for the bottom and maybe partway up the sides, and get a plain super thin black foam gasket for the top. Or even do without. You can play around with it. Bottom line, though, a little smoke leakage means nothing. If you're losing HEAT, then you could have a slight issue, but still, it's unlikely to be enough to hurt your cook.

[jjdbike]

Thanks @realdocBBQ,
Can you please let me know what “thin foam gasket”, you’re referring to?
Thanks!
JD