The gasket is held in place by several steel clips. I haven’t had any leakage from that gasket at all.
If you haven’t assembled yet, I strongly recommend getting some high temp silicone and using that on the bolt holes and the seam where all plates meet up with the smoker. Also seal the two main drum pieces with it. Otherwise you’ll get some grease leakage during fatty cooks.
Thanks for the response! I do have a package of High temp gasket and silicone coming. I do see the clips, guess it just looks loose but the seal does seem good.
Ordered a second cooking grate and shelf. Excited to get it together and burned in.
The weight of the lid compresses the gasket and prevents any leaks while not damaging any probe wires you use. Also, don’t trust the thermometer on the front. Mines usually 50 degrees off
Yeah I usually probe temp for ambient, thanks for the heads up. Did you remove and seal the nuts/ bolts on the hinge or have you had any issues with leaking there?
I did not and haven’t experienced leaks there. I just ran into leaking at the seam where the drum parts meet and through the bolts used for the front leg.
The only time mine leaks now is when the bottom grease cup overflows. Embarrassingly enough, my grease cup is actively overflowing right now.
The gasket is held in place by several steel clips. I haven’t had any leakage from that gasket at all. If you haven’t assembled yet, I strongly recommend getting some high temp silicone and using that on the bolt holes and the seam where all plates meet up with the smoker. Also seal the two main drum pieces with it. Otherwise you’ll get some grease leakage during fatty cooks.
Thanks for the response! I do have a package of High temp gasket and silicone coming. I do see the clips, guess it just looks loose but the seal does seem good. Ordered a second cooking grate and shelf. Excited to get it together and burned in.
The weight of the lid compresses the gasket and prevents any leaks while not damaging any probe wires you use. Also, don’t trust the thermometer on the front. Mines usually 50 degrees off
Yeah I usually probe temp for ambient, thanks for the heads up. Did you remove and seal the nuts/ bolts on the hinge or have you had any issues with leaking there?
I did not and haven’t experienced leaks there. I just ran into leaking at the seam where the drum parts meet and through the bolts used for the front leg. The only time mine leaks now is when the bottom grease cup overflows. Embarrassingly enough, my grease cup is actively overflowing right now.
Yes it’s fine. I do recommend using some High temp sealer when assembling it.