Louisiana Grills kamado hinge issue

[rbstern]

I bought a really nice, used Louisiana Grills kamado on craigslist. The version they sold at Costco a while back. Heavy, well built, good accessories.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting the lid to stay all the way open, and I think it is the hinge. The hinge has springs, keeps the kid about halfway open. Looking at the mechanism, the pivot post on the hinge has a cutout that makes me think it is supposed to move when trying to move the lid all the way open. It was squeaky as hell, and some 3-in-1 fixed that, but it doesn't slide out of it's slotted detent into the lower detent when trying to move the lid all the way open, which is what I think it is supposed to do.

Anyone familiar with this, or mechanically minded, hope you'll comment on what I'm missing. :)

 

[dr k]

I don't have a spring set up in my light weight Akorn Kamado insulated with wood stove insulation in my Avatar pic. Yours looks like the outside hinge with the slot is attached to the bottom band and the inside hinge is attached to the the top band and then there's a middle plate between the two that the pin goes through. It looks like that plate moves between the other two IDK. Maybe it's stuck. You may have to check out a place locally that has the Louisiana brand or a similar brand with that box style hinge. Someone else should have some input.

 

[BigW.]

I've looked at user manual and pictures on the web and have only seen half open lids. Is it possible the lids are so heavy that if they opened to far it would tip over? I'm sure you looked for any release pin/lever/detent to push/pull to open 100%. Hopefully someone that owns one will be around soon. Just throwing out some ideas until someone smarter than I comes along.

 

[rbstern]

Figured it out. It was simpler than imagined.

There is a back cover box panel held on by two small bolts. Under that box panel, were two much larger bolts controlling the spring tension. Tightening them provided more upward force on the lid, and allowed it to stay at about 80 degrees open, rather than the 30 to 40 degrees I was getting. Much better.

Thanks for the reponses, dr k and BigW!

 

[Colin1230]

Glad you got it figured out. That is a really nice cooker!