Weber Kettle design change - an issue?

[drobinson]

Keep cooking!!

[pinot59]

Update: new vanes ("One Touch Cleaning System") on the way. I will let you all know whether these fix the problem...

[Razor]

I don't think you need to open them up except maybe for the instructions. If you take the existing ones apart and re-align them you'll be fine. Keep those new ones as a spare when the current ones get all beat up. Ask me how I know.

[pinot59]

Actually I did take the existing ones apart and reassembled them and it was still misaligned. So either the vane system that was shipped with the grill is defective, or (and this would be frightening) the entire stamping of the kettle is off. I will try replacing them today before today's rib adventure.

[pinot59]

Well, Weber sent me a replacement set of vanes (the "one touch cleaning system"). As you can see from the attached.gif, it didn't help at all!

I was happy with Weber's customer service as they were very helpful and got the new vanes to me right away. But this now makes me think I have a defective kettle. It must have been stamped incorrectly at the factory.

What a pain! To console myself, today I am making Last Meal Ribs, Huskee Shawsh, corn elotes, and chocolate chip cookies.


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[Mr. Bones]

Rats! Sorry that didn't fix yer issue, amigo...
Have a great cook today!

[lonnie mac]

Wow man, something is still a killter. Tell ya what, do you have some better pics of the whole grill, Bigger view looking down at the while top with handle, front, back and side? Something is still off.

[pinot59]

Thanks Mr. Bones and lonnie mac for your supportive words.

I was kind of annoyed about this earlier but I enjoyed some great cooking today which made up for it! And I've got a roof over my head and the sun came up this morning, so I have a lot less to complain about than many other folks...

Here is a pic of what I made today...

lonnie mac I'll take some wide-angle pics tomorrow and post them.

[scottranda]

That looks bomb!!! 😋

[Mr. Bones]

Great lookin food, amigo! Nice Job!
Yeah, it's a nigglin small thing, but still not ideal.
Me, I need to be able to shut off th oxygen to a fire, afore I walk away...Safety, an alla that...
Homemade sauce? Looks tasty...

[lonnie mac]

Ah! EGGCELLENT brother! Learn to cook with the coals you are given. That looks delish!! What is the yeller stuff, and the sauce? They both look delish too! Yea, Just trying to put two and two together with some more pics. The stamping is correct. It's the handle, and the leg sockets that are welded on (drilled) last. So if anything is amis, that would be it. Except one more thing, which is why I was wanting some good pics of the whole ordeal.

In any case, believe it or not, some careful bending, (and not much at all) of the handle rod would fix this issue easy.

[mountainsmoker]

I tend to agree. The connections all need to be aligned and if one is off it prevents the others can be off. I really like the P slots.

[pinot59]

Thanks! The yellow stuff is corn esquites, a Mexican corn salad. Link to recipe below. The sauce is the Huskee shawsh.

I think you are right - a little bend in the handle rod would fix this. That was my original idea but I wanted to wait until I had tried a new one-touch set. Will give that a shot and see how it goes (especially now that I have two handles to play with....)

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/07/esquites-mexican-street-corn-salad-recipe

[jerrybell]

It looks like you just can't rotate the handle (14 in the photo) controlling the vanes quite far enough. As lonnie macsuggested, does it look like you can just bend the handle slightly away from the stop so it would allow a bit more rotational travel? Alternatively, does the Ash Catcher Assembly (15 in the photo) look like it could be rotated relative to the kettle to allow more travel of the handle. I'm not certain how that is attached. Finally, and you might not want to do this, can you use a round file to remove some material from the slot to allow the handle to travel a bit further? As my dad would have said, there's more than one way to skin this cat, and I think there are a number of options to correct this. I'd be totally comfortable breaking out the file but I know not everyone wants to maul a new cooker that way.

Awesome looking cook though.

[pinot59]

Thanks Jerry! Will try a little handle bend and see if that does the trick. I suspect it will.

[pinot59]

Okay! We have a fix!

Per the great and helpful suggestions from lonnie mac and jerrybell , I used a high tech instrument (my shoe) and a difficult technique (stepping on it and pulling) to bend the handle a little bit. See pic below.



This did the trick, as you can see from the gif


Now the vanes fully cover the holes!

I'm now looking forward to seeing how quickly my grill can snuff out a flame. Previously I'd close it up and I'd get continued smoldering for hours. Let's see if this improves things.

Thanks again everyone!!

Oh and here's a rib pic from yesterday just for fun

[Mr. Bones]

Great lookin ribs, Brother, an congrats on gittin her workin proper!
Learnin, an helpin each other out is why we're all here, an I'm glad that ya've joined in.
Love how ya got all Tech, an now ya also got a spare set of ash sweeps!

[ecowper]

Some fine looking ribs! Also, this thread is awesome. I just bought my daughter a Weber Premium. It’s not out of the box yet, but when it is, if she has this problem I know how to fix it!

[pinot59]

What a great gift! She just got more popular thanks to you