My large has had a crack exactly like your XL for almost ten years. It was my first egg so I reported it and they sent me a new one right away. It's still in the box all these years later. I just kept waiting for it to fail and it never has.
+1
Sam we sold eggs for years and this is my exact experience with both BGE warranty & how the egg continues along just fine with small cracks. Issues only arise when/if the crack grows and reduces your ability to control air into the firebox. I’d def get the warranty on the new part so you have it even though you might not need it immediately.
Most issues arise with transporting the BGE’s. I competed on the KCBS circuit and travelled to competitions with my eggs and during that timeframe I cracked lots & lots of stuff - most was covered but not the plate setters. Now that my eggs just hang out on my patio nothing much ever goes wrong.
The steaks look great!
