EKO 25, seal doors help?

I just can not get these doors sealed up. Every year, I deal with this. I bought two new seals. First off, they are very, very hard to squeeze in. Second, on my EKO 25, I see that we can adjust the doors, on mine, only the top hinge is not welded and has movement, but he bottom one is not movable. Is this normal?

Post a pic. Both upper and lower hinges should be identical. At least they are on the green skinned EKO's. I can't imagine why they would change this.

New seals will be tight. Crank the hinges in, and crank that door latch TIGHT. It should not leak with the new seals....

On mine, I did as suggested above for a couple of fires. Then, I squeezed a layer of high-temp silicone sealer (the orange stuff) on the gaskets. Put a layer of Saran Wrap over the sealer and closed the door tightly. Let it set, been good for years.

I can't believe the lower hinge is welded. They welded the nuts so they will bind, making them difficult to turn. Get a bigger wrench. When I installed my new door gasket a few weeks ago, I used silicone spray lube on it and pressed it in place with a motorcycle tire removal tool--- basically a very dull screw driver.

It took some time, but I was able to get the seal in place by force. Adjusted the door, and I think i'm good to go. I forgot to take pictures. Thanks guys.

Rick,

I had the same problem with mine. If you look and the hinge assembly, the post threads into 2 nuts welded to sheet metal. I tried to loosen the post and broke it off. It appears that those 2 nuts were off slightly acting like lock nuts. To fix this I ground off the outer nut, drilled out the post, tapped it and threaded a new bolt in. I added a new lock nut to replace the nut I ground off.

Now I can adjust both hinges.

Good luck

What is temperature range is the "orange stuff" - I found some "red silicone" that is good to 700 degree? Is that OK?

That's the stuff that is considered "high temperature silicone" But after installing the new gasket on my unit I am seeing another advantage. It may be only temporary but there seems to be more resiliency to the new gasket so seems to conform much better when the pressure is applied creating a better seal. After the seal contacts the lip I can give the cam more than a quarter turn.