Philosophical Concern with Kamado Joe

[KamadoWho 0]

So I have had a Classic I Joe for the past 3 years.  Never in that time have the top and bottom fit together well, there has always been an under / over bite and there has always been smoke leakage on the left-front side of the dome.  

 

It has not prevented me from cooking on it, but it does burn more charcoal than my friend's BGE and it does take longer to shut down.  The smoke leakage is also getting worse as time goes by.

 

I have replaced the hinge 3 times and the gasket twice, never does any good.

 

I spoke with the guys at Atlanta Grill Company (authorized Joe dealer) when I was there a couple of weeks ago and they told me that was the problem with the Classic I and why Kamado Joe discontinued it and moved to the Classic II with the counter-balanced hinge.  

 

So Kamado Joe knowingly sold a faulty product for a number of years, then when they fixed the design they did not offer any discount or trade-in for existing Classic I customers to upgrade to the Classic II or any retro-fitted solutions for the hinge.

 

To me that is not a good way of doing business, I have invested thousands in my Joe, parts, etc.  I gave up calling customer service about the issue because they never acknowledged anything other than "try to change your hinge and gasket" - meaning more work for me when they know it wont solve the problem.  

 

I just have to vent a little bit and ask the community two questions:

 

1.  Has anyone come up with a "hack" for the Classic I to solve these hinge and leakage problems?

2.  Has anyone had success with KJ in getting them to acknowledge this problem and upgrade the grill without having to pay full freight for a replacement? 

 

 

[John Setzler 14,344]

Someone has given you bad information.  The hinge problems Kamado Joe had were with the Big Joe and not the classic.  Kamado Joe replaced those hinges for customers who had problems with them.  

 

I have not seen any complaints that I can recall of people having this problem with the Classic.  You may have a unique problem.

 

[John Setzler 14,344]

In fact, Kamado Joe is still selling the Classic 1... And it still has the same original hinge design....

[JaxxQ 697]

I have had my Classic 1 for 4 years now and it has been rock solid, the only warranty claim I have filed on it was for the Firebox, other then that I have changed the gasket once, No need for any hacks just loosen the bands and the hinge get the dome to sit flat and re-tighten and you should be good to go

[Chris Topher 436]

No such problems with my classic I

[Polar Bear 297]

Talk to the BGE guys about band adjustments

Its a common thing for them, they should have some tips

 

Measure your dome and base

Assuming you've replaced your bands correctly, the only other cause of your issue would be a mismatched top and bottom

I'd be shocked if they left the factory like that, but stranger things have happened

 

Also, just for your info, here is how a defective product recall usually works (I work in manufacturing)

A design comes to market in a salable state and into the hands of a consumer.

Once a few are out in the world and being used reguarly if a defect in the design or production becomes apparrent, a warrenty recall is issued and a fix is put in place (replace the item, repair the item, upgrade the item, ect)

The other way a recall happens is a production run of a certain model develops a fault and a batch of the product leaves with faulty parts. The production issue is identified and rectified. The affected batch is identifed and customers contacted with a solution

 

It is VERY rare that a company will identify a fault on a large scale and then ignore it in the hopes it goes away or no one notices.

Even if they do, the fault is typically reported to the company distributers and retailers by thier customer base and the retailers demand a fix on behalf on thier customer base.

 

In order for "Kamado Joe knowingly sold a faulty product for a number of years", you would need their customer base (of which there are many) to not notice/not say anything as well a thier entire retailer base to not notice/not say anything.

Retailers dont like dealing with unhappy customers due to defective products, so sitting on a large scale fault is not somthing manufactueres do as it hurts them from all side of the spectrum (we saw how KJ handled this when the iKamand came to market and had some teething issues, as well as the top vent peeling on the Series 2 when it first came to market. KJ fix thier F**k ups) 

 

I dont mean to victim blame here but, are you sure you swapped the hinge out correctly when you recieved your first replacment?

Also, I believe KJ have a new band design to suit the Classic 1 as the original bands were discontinued when the Series 2 came to market.

If its been a while since you spoke to KJ customer service about this, it might be worth touching base with them again

[Polar Bear 297]

Oh, and welcome to the forum

Please feel free to stop by the Introductions Thread and tell us a little more about yourself

[ExTexOk 4]

I’ve had my KJC1 for about 4 or 5 years now. I’ve never had an issue with it. Best money I ever spent on outdoor cooking equipment. 

[UTVol 481]

I have a classic 1 and dont have your issue.  When my gasket goes I get some leakage and some temp control loss but then i replace it and everything is fine.  Coming up on 5 years and its rock solid.  I like the post above about adjustment may help.  Good luck!

[KJTerp 135]

On 1/29/2020 at 8:32 PM, Polar Bear said:

 

Also, just for your info, here is how a defective product recall usually works (I work in manufacturing)

A design comes to market in a salable state and into the hands of a consumer.

Once a few are out in the world

 

Once I got to this, I just started hearing the fight club "Recall Coordinator Formula" speech in my head and started laughing

[KamadoWho 0]

 

I appreciate there are a few of you out there whos KS 1s are in good shape.  The guys at the store that sell the thing told me it was a know flaw.  Besides who is at fault here, how do I fix it?

 

I've replaced and replaced hinges / bands, and gaskets - and I can never get that front portion of the grill to not leak smoke.

 

Does anyone know of people in the ATL area you can call to come out and service your Joe?  Or are there any hacks I'm missing to fix it?

 

KJ customer service honestly has been no help, they just send me a new band or a new gasket. 

[SmoovD 410]

Can you post some pics? Maybe it will spark some creative ideas.

[Hotblack Desiato 43]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:42 AM, KamadoWho said:

 

Besides who is at fault here, how do I fix it?

 

I've replaced and replaced hinges / bands, and gaskets - and I can never get that front portion of the grill to not leak smoke.

 

 

 

Have you tried the mesh gasket yet? That's much more forgiving of alignment issues in my experience.

[Polar Bear 297]

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2020 at 11:27 PM, KJTerp said:

Once I got to this, I just started hearing the fight club "Recall Coordinator Formula" speech in my head and started laughing

 

That occured to me as i was writting it