Oh No! Melted Plastic onto WSCGC Grate. Advice Appreciated.

[RichieB]

The last time I saw grates that clean is when I brought my new cooker home.

[fzxdoc]

Richie B ,

I bought that WSCGC in 2016. It's been a workhorse, and will be again once it's plastic-free.

K.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, everyone, for the great ideas and helpful advice. This place is the best!

Hopefully I can grab enough time to get the plastic mess cleaned up/burned off that grate this weekend.

A couple of pork butts are singing a siren song to the WSCGC, aka Mr. Fancypants, for later on in the coming week, so having shiny cleaned grate with no chance of dripping melted plastic bits would be a good thing.

Kathryn

[acorgihouse]

I had something like that happen a few years ago. Guest (ahem, family) at my house took a plastic spatula out to the grill, then left it there. We caught the melt fast, but too late to get that stuff off. Was in smaller pieces than yours, so no pushing it off between grates. I used my trusty lawn torch. IIRC, I did it on my patio, with the grate in a large aluminum foil baking pan, with short bursts. Worked pretty well.

[fzxdoc]

Well, I think I've got it fixed. I chiseled off as much plastic as possible, then I took thin strips of folded coarse sandpaper to it. I first reinforced the sandpaper with some duct tape so it wouldn't tear as I pulled it through and around the individual grate bars and the loop on the hinged grate part. I will use some finer sandpaper (have to go buy some) to buff up the metal areas.
Here are before/after photos:
1. Damage done:


2. After chiseling off the bigger pieces of melted plastic:


3. Sandpaper Magic 1 of 2:


4. Sandpaper Magic 2 of 2:


5. Sandpaper reinforced on the back with duct tape, then folded in half lengthwise to fit into the crevices, around the grate bars, and into the loop portion of the hinged grate:


As I mentioned, the next step is to get to Lowe's for some finer sandpaper to buff out the scratches.

I'm really pleased with the results! Whew, that was a close one!

Again, I want to thank everyone for their excellent suggestions, for sharing solutions from their similar experiences, and for cheering me on.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

...continued...
One part of the grate is hanging over the sink and the rest is on the big towel. I rotate the grate in between a scrub/rinse. It takes about 45 minutes or so to get that big 24 inch grate clean. The 22" and 18" grates are much easier to clean since they can fit into the laundry room sink.

For me, it's important to try to keep a grilling grate as clean as I keep my cookware. It's never perfect, but I try to get as close as possible.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

...continued #2...
Purc

The reason why I let the grate cool is laziness. After getting the meal together and doing the cleanup, I'm not really game for cleaning the food grate on a charcoal cooker that evening. So it's almost always the next day that it gets attacked with SOS pads and elbow grease.

K.

[Purc]

Thanks Kathryn fzxdoc I too have one of those water heater pans to soak and clean my grates in. I need to get a ss grate for the 22" other than my SnS Easy Spin.

[RiverJeff]

When you get to Lowe's go to the plumbing area and ask for emery cloth tape you use it to buff copper pipe just before you sweat the joints it is so fine you are not going to find a better product!

[fzxdoc]

Thanks a bunch, RiverJeff . I'll do that.

Kathryn

[yakima]

Pay attention to grit. You used 80. May want to consider 2 grits, perhaps 120 and then finer. Prolly use with water. Wet sand paper also good. But not as strong as emery cloth.

After 10 hours of labor, you will have a nice $25 grate. Probably not smart to use left over paper on shoes.

[fzxdoc]

I've got a 120 grit sandpaper, yakima , but the emory cloth that RiverJeff recommended sounds like a better bet. Plus I think I want to use an even finer grit for the last go-round to make it blend in best. So it's off to Lowe's I go. Note taken about the shoes.

I heard from Weber support yesterday. They tell me I can replace the grate for $149 + tax and shipping. I checked on the 24" Easy Spin grate on the SnS website (as recommended by glitchy ) and it's $89. Richard Chrz , you may be interested in that one, since you don't like the center cut-out on the Weber grate. Sounds like I saved myself a few bucks by not going my usual "throw money at the problem" route.

My original plan was to try to gently pop off as much of the remaining plastic as possible with a small chisel and hammer, then use the Dremel to get off as much of what was left, then use Panhead John 's idea to put it over a burning charcoal chimney and let the heat do it's thing. But the Dremel battery needed charging and I only had a small window of time to work on the grate, so I went with the sandpaper instead and, surprisingly, it did the job all by itself.

Kathryn

[yakima]

Emery cloth comes in grits, like sandpaper.

[fzxdoc]

I saw that on the Lowe's website, yakima . I'll get a couple of different ones.

K.