UDS lid stuck

[Tyler Anthony]

Hi,
I am working on building my first UDS. I bought a food grade barrel from a place that sells food oil. I started burning it out over the weekend. I did a burn out on Saturday for a few hour and then again on Sunday. When I put the lid back on after my last burnout, it got stuck. I am going to use some brute force to get it off but I am more curious on why it is stuck and what I can do to prevent this in the future. Has this happened to anybody? does it have to do with the food oil inside of it? Is there a way to prevent this from happening every time is use it? are their any tricks to getting it off?

Thank you

 

[thirdeye]

That's odd. It's not unusual for a drum to a little out of round so rotating the lid a few degrees will result in a better fit. But I've never had a lid stick. Maybe you have some residue from the burnout that kind of glued the lid on?

 

[DanMcG]

Could it have created a vacuum after the lid was put on and it cooled down? You didn't mention if you had any vents installed yet or not

 

[Fueling Around]

If you put the lid on while it was hot, I suspect a partial vacuum.
Got a bung you can remove?

 

[Tyler Anthony]

Bung holes were removed and there are already 3 air holes cut into the bottom. My guess was that there was some type of glue situation but I was curious if this has happened to anyone or how to prevent it.

 

[chopsaw]

Bung holes were removed and there are already 3 air holes cut into the bottom. My guess was that there was some type of glue situation but I was curious if this has happened to anyone or how to prevent it.

I don't use a drum smoker , but when my WSM was new it did the same thing . From grease residue on the top lip . Lid would NOT come off . I didn't want to pry on it , so I reheated it .
After it was good and seasoned it stopped doing it . Like I said , not sure about a drum .
I would guess the oil solidified when it cooled down causing the problem .

 

[forktender]

Hit it with a weed burner or build a small charcoal fire on the lid, and it will come off.