Innovation

[Tyrus]

Just the other day I was finishing up on a country ribs cook and my KK latch ended up coming off in my hand. To say the least I was surprised and my pork was still a ways out from finishing. Obviously without a latch the lid springs back up, so I had to come up with something nearby to hold the cover down in order to finish my cook. This was it and a day later an improved model was developed in the lab, needless to say I called Dennis and another is in the mail. Just keep in mind all our latches aren't created equal, Dennis stated they increase in size the larger the KK.
So as to why it broke. Well, if you ever closed your KK and didn't have the latch pulled out from  the bottom catch you might on an isolated occasion suddenly find your lid stops abruptly slamming the latch against the catch. There is a preventative measure Dennis built in though, a roller bearing on a small shaft, but even so on occasion it will hit just right and fail. It happens very seldom, but on occasion that disturbance would occur and the resulting accumulation of these incidents add up to popping the weld on the attached plate. Now I'm not a math major but the applied science here dictates that when a moving object suddenly stops against another object, it's kinetic energy is instantly converted into other forms, as potential deformatiom being one or damage more precisely. It's cumulative effect causes the failure way down the road...it may never happen to you, but if it does all is not lost. So keep in mind these innovative alternatives if and when it does to finish your cook.

[C6Bill]

Well at least the pork came out great !!!!!! Great job improvising.

[jdbower]

Finally, a use for exercise equipment other than as a clothes rack! 

[tony b]

I actually had the upper latch handle break on my KK. I could still latch the lid using pliers.

 

Dennis sent a replacement and instructions on how to replace the whole upper latch assembly. There are some "cosmetic" welds that need to be ground out to remove the old one. The Dremel came in very handy for that task. All is well now. 

[Tyrus]

6 hours ago, tony b said:

There are some "cosmetic" welds that need to be ground

As I stood by my KK talking with Dennis and I looked for those spot welds, there were none. Apparently it came down to the year of manufacture, that's all, other than that removal with a Dremel cutting wheel would make easy work of any tack weld as you stated. Looking at your break, I'd call that an oddity. For moi, it's pretty straight forward to install, remove the two cap nuts and replace. Weird how it happened though, I opened to take a temp on the meat and the latch stayed in my hand. I said, "this ain't good." So I posted this for those unaware to be mindful of the possibilities, reassure them it's only a speedbump. That's all Folks

[tony b]

No warning on mine either, just "plink" and I was holding the handle in my hand. You're correct, Dennis told me that mine had the cosmetic welds after looking at the picture I sent him. He was surprised by this failure; had never seen one do this before. Later years didn't have those welds. Once removed, the cap nuts came right off, and it was an easy repair. 

[jdbower]

What I love is everyone seems to have slightly different failures (in other words, not a design flaw but a random assembly error) and everyone says "Dennis sent me a replacement part" - the worst I've had on my KK was a wooden knob that fell off during a move and after a runaway fire and I also got a replacement. Compare that to the MexiK sites where all the tiles fall off and people need to fix it themselves because the manufacturer is useless and you see the real reason a KK is a great investment.

[Tyrus]

This past Monday I was stepping out from my truck when the mailman appeared, he had the long awaited pkge plus some bad news as he stated. Apparently the postage was shy $11, this post wasn't leaving and I quickly forked over the cash and shook the box. Ahh the sound of joy lay within...at least I thought so. I opened the big box and found a tiny box, inside was my latch, catch and assorted nuts and washers. I wondered why such a big box for such a little item, was it all that was available, I dismissed the thought and concluded this was the reason for the added postage. Now the game begins.
When I spoke with Dennis first he made aware there might be two spot welds on each side of the latch faceplate. My first glance inspection didn't reveal that obstruction but on further review under closer scrutiny... they were there. This required as Dennis had stated the use of a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel attachment. I had this tool within my arsenal, all seemed pretty straight up to this point. However, the handle on the KK isn't removable, an obstacle, so any straight cut to remove the weld required some clever hand manipulation with tool to remove the faceplate. If your unaccustomed to working in tight positions with some tools the way forward could be a bit arduous/difficult. I would best describe the situation as trying to start a screw in a comprimised position with worn threads, the task is challenging yet attainable. It was, and after finding the correct cutting wheel a task that came to fruition. There are 3 cutting wheels, the first is the cheapest for very light jobs which breaks within 5-10 seconds upon use, then the thicker more reliable wheel that'll last, does the job but wears before your eyes and also needs replacement. Lastly the reinforced wheel, it wears slowly, is thicker and reinforced for a more reliable cut. So after quite a few rounds of experimentation of changing this and that the plate came off.....finally. Your going to scratch the bottom plate it sits on a little, it's unavoidable but if your careful it's minimal. After all the work was completed I realized at the bottom of my Dremel tool box there was an attachment for tight working areas, sometime your focus is just straight forward and you forget, anyway I posted the pic to show what it was next to the Dremel.
The positioning of the latch needed some tweaking, keeping in mind my worn gasket that needs replacement so for a tight click and good spacing it took a few minutes to find. I wouldn't want to do this everyday, it requires an approach, not too difficult given the obstacles but it's within the field of achievement. Mind you now, after all was said and done.............I like my old one better, call it nostalgia, change, feel, it just seemed to work better....it'll pass.