Sad customer service from Weber

[RonB]

First, I guess you could call me a Weber fan boy. That's what I do all my grillin' and smokin' on.

But I have had a problem or two lighting my Performer deluxe that I could not fix. So I called Weber customer support a while ago and it sounded like my call went to the Indian sub-continent.

Problem # 1 - When using the igniter button to light the gas assist, the flame was very small. Using a match produced a normal flame.

Problem # 2 - After lighting the gas it would burn for a few seconds, and then I would hear a whump and the flame would go out. This would continue until the metal parts near the flame got hot enough to ignite the gas.

I had previously cleaned the tube that takes gas into the grill and cleaned the brass part, (can't remember what it's called at the moment ), that the gas comes out of. I didn't think to clean the gas orifice. I also replaced the igniter assembly with a new one I already had.

When talking to the tech rep, I told him all of this. He asked several questions, put me on hold twice, and then recommended I replace the igniter assembly. I said thank you very much and hung up.

While on hold the second time, I went to youtube and searched for my problem. I found a short video that told me to do everything I had already done plus "clean the orifice". I did that, and Bingo - it's back to normal now. I shoulda gone to youtube first...

[Panhead John]

I feel your pain Ron. I absolutely dread whenever I have to call a large corporation’s customer service department. Most of the time you get someone reading from a script in an accent so heavy you can barely understand a word they’re saying. Good luck trying to have a normal "conversation" with them. They can’t even give you a straight answer most of the time without reading from their preprogrammed canned answers! What makes it worse is when they go into this long scripted apology……”I am sorry you’re having trouble Mr………..we understand your concern and we hope that we can,……….” Just shut up and give me the answers!….

[Panhead John]

I got so caught up in my rant, 😂 I forget to tell you I’m glad you got your problem fixed!

[LA Pork Butt]

Apple has only sent me as far away as Canada. So, three cheers for Apple!

[Finster]

How did you know it was Canada eh?

[holehogg]

That would be the jet nozzle thingy you forgot the name of. The orifice is the first place I go to if I'm not getting a decent flame and almost always is the source of the problem.
Yip - You tube is a very resourceful place.
Keep the flame burning.

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[Andrrr]

I have similar issues after awhile with the snap jet on my WSCG where it won’t consistently start. I started with Weber support and they ended up sending me a part (I forget what it was) that clearly wasn’t going to solve the problem, so I started taking the whole tube/igniter assembly apart. For me the orifice in the brass adapter is usually the cause of erratic flame behavior but it’s easy enough to clean out. I wonder why it gets so gummed up in the first place though and if there’s any way to prevent it from happening.

[hoovarmin]

Arrrrghhhhh! Well, thank the dear Lord for Youtube. Even though its run by a bunch of no-good commies, it's sure as hell useful.

[willsands]

Is "no-good" "commies" redundant?

[hoovarmin]

willsands I am captain redundant

[bbqLuv]

"With the shipping, handling and restocking fess it would be cheaper to go buy a new one."
Answer, "I see you understand the return policy."

[Mosca]

Ha! I’m having the same problem. I cleaned the tube, but didn’t take apart the hose end to clean the jet nozzle. I’ll do that now.

[troymeister]

I had the same problem recently. I cleaned the orifice with a wire brush and took a small wire to poke out any debris from the Venturi hole. Well I broke the wire in the hole. So I drilled out the wire with a 1/16" drill bit. Well talk about flames...I thought I might have to grow new eyebrows again. The gas assist flame was double the size...lol. I ordered a new orifice fitting from Weber, works fine now.

[Mosca]

Thanks for the link to the fix, my gas assist works great now!