Silicon Sealer Mess!

[D Arita]

Well, I had to try it. I'm having a tough time keeping a steady temp of 225 to 250 and my coals won't snuff out when the vents are closed, so I thought I'd try using silicon gasket maker to seal the door and the joint between center section and bottom bowl.
I ran a bead of silicon around the edges, then I rubbed veggie oil all over the mating surfaces. I let the silicon cure for over an hour, till it felt dry to the touch. Then, I put the surfaces together, thinking the veggie oil would keep the silicon from sticking and make a nicely sealing gasket.
Next day, I went to take off the door and guess what...it was glued shut! Then I tried lifting the center section off of the bowl...stuck!
Took me an hour just to get the pieces apart. The next day was spent scraping and cleaning off all the silicon. I was lucky that the silicon had not fully cured where there was a lack of air, but even at that, it took both my wife and I to pry the center from the bowl. Also, I was lucky that I had the stainless CB door, otherwise the aluminum door would have been bent to s__t during it's removal.
I sure don't like admitting having done this, but I wish I could have found a post like this before doing what I did. Let this be a warning.

 

[J. Malte Stoeckhert]

Thx for the warning. Was pondering this myself. Sorry for the hassle. Malte

 

[timothy]

Dang it you're beating yourself up on this mid-section. Have you contacted Weber CS and asked on a replacement?

Tim

 

[D Arita]

I actually did call for a replacement and got it. It turned out to be worse than the original. I'm wondering if I should call for a third?
This is getting frustrating. When I called for the replacement, I requested that it be taken out and inspected for roundness, flatness and to check to make sure the door fits properly. I don't think any of that was done.

 

[AHurt]

Originally posted by D Arita:
I actually did call for a replacement and got it. It turned out to be worse than the original. I'm wondering if I should call for a third?
This is getting frustrating. When I called for the replacement, I requested that it be taken out and inspected for roundness, flatness and to check to make sure the door fits properly. I don't think any of that was done.

I have called when Weber sent me a replacement part that was damaged. They sent me another part that was packaged better. This time it had no damage.

 

[Steve St]

Used red high heat silicone to seal an offset. Ran a bead on one surface and covered it with wax paper. Closed other surface against it and left for 8 hrs.. That was to long to wait. Paper had attached to sealer and was a bit difficult to remove. Used a propane torch to burn it off. If I were to do it again would check hourly to see if it had begun to set and remove paper when it could be pealed off without pulling the silicone out of shape.
hth
Steve

 

[Geir Widar]

I've never tried to do this on my WSM, but I have done this to my old double glazing windows. I apply silicone, put on a strip of plastic, and close the window. The next day I can open the window and remove the plastic strip without any problems. Might be worth a shot.
If you are in doubt, there is no problems what so ever with trying this on a piece of metal, some silicone and a piece of plastic.

 

[D Arita]

I've given up on silicon sealer. I'm getting some nomex tape with adhesive back. Hopefully that will work.

 

[A.J. Crocker]

Another option is to apply the silicone, let it harden and adhere to both surfaces, then use an exacto knife or razor blade to cut through the silicone creating a seam.

 

[Hank B]

I think you all are over engineering this. Just run a bead of silicone around the groove at the bottom of the middle section and let it cure.

Works for me.

I'm also curious about asking Weber for a replacement middle section because one is out of round. Mine was not perfect but I got it close enough with some gentle pressure.

 

[Shaun R]

Originally posted by WalterWhite:
I think you all are over engineering this. Just run a bead of silicone around the groove at the bottom of the middle section and let it cure.

Works for me.
I'm also curious about asking Weber for a replacement middle section because one is out of round. Mine was not perfect but I got it close enough with some gentle pressure.

I agree with Walter. I have used it a few times and that's the way I did it. The reason I stopped using it was because I had it fail once where it turned back to glue

Now what I do is work things as round as possible and do several smokes to gunk it up. I really don't believe in asking more than once for a replacement part either. I never have even asked for one and always did the repairs and adjustments myself. Good luck in the repair though.