Jumbo Joe SNAFU

[BMitch]

Yesterday I bought a Jumbo Joe from my local hardware store with the intention of using it at the office. We have a decent office space but out outdoor / grilling space is limited.  So I brought my Weber portable table that hasn't been seeing a whole lot of use at home lately along with a spare charcoal chimney, bag of fuel, and my spare set of grilling tools. My colleagues and I have agreed that every Friday would be a designated grilling day for lunch. So as you can imagine I was excited to unbox this bad boy and get it assembled which was actually pretty simple as it took all of about 15 minutes. 

Here's where I'm not very happy. The lid dampers on the JJ no longer come pre-assembled from the factory and if you install the damper to the lid with any amount of authority not only will it not turn, but the damper will actually scratch and dig into the lid.  If you loosen the nut to the point where the damper will actually move it is way too loose.  Has anyone else experienced this issue with your JJ and what did you do to remedy the problem? I don't really want to order a new lid from Weber I just want to be able to use the damper correctly. Thanks in advance.

[LightningBoldtz]

Are you using all the washers that came with the HW pack?

[Travis]

I have the same issue with mine. Too loose or too tight and scratch paint.

I did a couple of cools on it, leaving the lid damper fully open. It will ease up when hot.

I just went outside to check it again after reading this and it seems not to be diggin in like before, but it's still tight.

I have only cooked on it a couple of times so far. I wonder if we should call customer support?




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[apt323]

Just bought one and its not assembled yet.

[BMitch]

From what I have been able to find on the interwebs it seems like this is a common problem with the JJ. A few guys have added a washer between the lid and the damper to fix the issue. I had some of my nomex gasket left over from sealing another grill I may wedge some of the felt in there and give that a try.

[Harbormaster]

Use a jam nut.
When you have the damper tightened to where it works right, the jam nut won't come loose.

[dwnthehatch]

I used steel wool and polished the edge of the damper before installation. No scratches for over a year.

[Darko]

Mine works good.

[Bustin Butt]

Ditto on mines as well. I just applied some vegetable oil underneath the damper and had no problem since.


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[addicted-to-smoke]

I think the lid damper on mine's OK (but of course, these new ones are NEVER as "right" as the old riveted ones ...).

It's the bottom one I need to add a lock washer or something to. Always gets loose.

[70monte]

I think my JJ's lid damper was like that as well.  I have not used it in quite awhile so I'm not totally sure.

Wayne

[Josh G]

Mine did the same thing.  I ended up using two washers and that gave it the space it needed.  Super smooth now.  I was a little frustrated with mine as well.  @BMitch