bump. i broke down the AGA i had laying around and swapped out the center pin seals. so far this has fixed the leaking issue (day 2 lol). i have new seals on order now. thanks for the help everyone!
on a side note: this is the concern i have with the RSST. it's, for me, right on the edge of being a perfect genny. easy to build, insolated wick hole, plastic bottom so you dont have to worry about the wick shorting, spring loaded center post....
....but then there's things that just bug the HELL outta me. the leaking. the lack of replacement parts. the lack of a glass tank. the lack of finish options. the lack of a screw for fill hole.
it's like....if the AGA and RSST had a baby, you'd have the perfect genny. lol