Firemonkey Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I am thinking that my 15" heat shield, which came with my K is the source of some of my woes. I have noticed that the cracks in my base really open up when I use it. I think it doesnt leave enough room around the stone for heat to escape. There is about 1 to 1.5" around it, but I think it needs some more. In order to achieve 350 indirect in my Mexi-K, i need quite the raging furnace. All of that concentrated heat, and worse, the difference in heat between the firebox area and the rest of the cooker opens up some serious fault lines! I know I have seen some pics of the KK heat stone in place, but I cant find them. Anyone know where to look? I want to see it in the grill and compare the open area around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I did the MAJOR (there's a minor and major) band adjustment to my #7 this week-end and still fail the paper test from about 8 oclock all the way to 12 oclock. I'm gonna now have to add more of the heat rated furnace caulk to make a seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 do you have an upper grill extender? if so, try putting the heat deflector on the main grill instead, and your food on the upper grate. gives you about 3.5" from edge of stone to edge of k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 pics beyond these 2 pics, i guess you'll have to guesstimate, unless some lucky owners want to post some... i imagine that if you put the stone on the "lower" grill on the KK, you'll have plenty of room around the outside. should also be noted that this cookers inner layer is ACTUALLY made from high temp refractories ment to withstand around 2500 degrees, and not cement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted July 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Nope...no upper grill I thought about setting a brick in the center of the lower bracket, and then the heat shield on top of that. That should get me a little more clearance. Major vs Minor? Whats the difference? One uses a hammer and the other loosens the bolts first?!?! I had leakage from 2 to about 5 on mine, but after adjustment, it seems ok. I tightened the bands WAY tight, too. The bolts are bending and it looks like the 90 angle in the band itself is about to bend. Probably not bent, just flexing a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted July 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Those pics are what made me ask for one of it in place The HS is a tad bigger than the Ls in the first pic, and the LS loosly fits the firebox. Seems like it might be tight? Who wants to post a pic? OLops...i gues we are calling LS's charcoal baskets now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted July 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Hmmm... I suppose aking Dennis to cut one in half so we could see a cut-away would be too much to ask It would show the clearances and such, though! Its hard to guage those from the top looking down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 personally, when i do low n slo, i will be loading that whole basket, not just the center, all the way to the top of that firebox. then, the lower lid with the stone, and a drip pan on top of that. then the main grate with a few butts, then the raised grate with a few more butts. betchya i can get 8 butts on that bad boy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 !! I did the MAJOR (there's a minor and major) band adjustment to my #7 this week-end and still fail the paper test from about 8 oclock all the way to 12 oclock. I'm gonna now have to add more of the heat rated furnace caulk to make a seal. Curly, before I sold mine, I wanted to seal it tight too. I went to the auto store and bought some black, high temp silicone. The stuff worked great. I took a scotch bright pad and soap to the lid surface to clean it. Then cut wax paper to fit over the lower gasket. Ran a nice bead in the center of the upper lid all the way around (trying to be constant and not stopping and starting). Closed the lid (I had no material leaking out) and waited till the next day. Man it was tight as a drum after that. It worked so well that I did the same thing to my draft door seal. I should also mention that I used it to repair my guru port and replace my draft door - never had a problem. I had used rutland and muffler repair previously and they bought failed as they hardened were the silicone stayed pliable. Just my 2 cents! -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I did that to my upper and lower dampers in an orange high-temp stuff that I got from the autoparts store. Looks like I need just what you did. So, you just covered the bottom with wax paper, and then cleaned the top and siliconed all the way around the top and set it down, right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Cash Cow I think RJ could generate some pretty big cash if he trained an army of K-fixers to go around the country and fix the K's that are beginning to fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I did that to my upper and lower dampers in an orange high-temp stuff that I got from the autoparts store. Looks like I need just what you did. So, you just covered the bottom with wax paper, and then cleaned the top and siliconed all the way around the top and set it down, right Cleaning is very, very important for the silicone to adhere! But yeah, that was pretty much it. -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
