Hi all, I've had the 22" Master Touch for about a year now. When I first got it, the cleaning system was replace under warranty because of excessive gaps, not even touching the bottom of the bowl. The replacement fit better, but, still isn't near as flush as on my old 18". I'm currently smoking some beef short ribs, and having a heck of a time keeping the grate temps below 300 degrees, running a 2x1 snake. The bottom damper is completely closed off, and top damper barely 1/4 open. I feel I am still getting way too much airflow. This kettle has never been able to choke out the coals like my 18" does with all vents fully closed. It feels to me like the cleaning system needs a washer between the bottom of the bowl and the handle, as there is about 3/16" of vertical play, where I can puch down in the center, and the blades make good contact. Does anyone know of a washer available that would fit there? I thought about buying a fender washer, and drilling a hole large enough to fit, but, clamping the washer securely during drilling seems sketchy at best.
22" Master Touch excessive air flow
- Thread starter DLogan
- Start date
Richard Garcia
TVWBB Wizard
May-be that the one-touch blades replacement were not installed correctly which may require another replacement.
I double checked the originals, and have double checked the replacements. It's almost as if the holes on the tabs the handle goes through aren't drilled in the right spots. I'm going to stop tomorrow and see if I can find a large enough thin washer that will fit, just to see if my theory will fix it. I guess another option might be to bend the ears outward, which should draw some of the slack out. I still have the originals, so, will have a set to fall back on if I mangle them up too bad. At least with bending them, the little locking tab on the handle will still hold it in place.
If you have any thin wood shims, you can place towards the center of each blade and bend them down towards the bowl. I have an older kettle with a bent up bowl (survived a high wind throw across the yard). For mine, I had to also use a flathead to get enough room to bend it towards the bowl.
Richard Garcia
TVWBB Wizard
I seem to recall I saw this on You-Tube?
More than likely I saw this somewhere as well. I know it worked ok on my bent up bowl.
Slightly bending the tab ears seems to have solved the problem. There's no longer any play in the cleaning system, and the blades seem to do a much better job of cleaning the bowl. Hopefully this will also give better airflow control as well. I don't know if I have a bowl that is slightly out of specs, or just bad luck with two cleaning systems being out of spec, but, I think the issue has been solved, at least for now.