Wsm vent replacement


 
D

David Guthrie

New member
My Wsm 18 is over 20 years old, and needs the lower 3 vents replaced. I’m not impressed with the stock Weber replacements. Can anyone recommend some after market replacement vents?
 
I have never seen any and I'll be surprised if anyone knows of one. But I'll be watching this thread to find out.:)
 
Kevin L (NKY) said:
What is your issue with the vents you and the Weber stock vents?
Loose hard to control air flow? Or something else.
Click to expand...
When I hand tighten them, they don’t want to rotate, when I back them off, they want to loosen too much. They rusted out in less than 2 years. Maybe it was operator error, but I’m hoping to find a better product.
 
To address the rusting out problem, buy replacement stainless steel nuts and bolts. They should resist rust much longer. But I know the problem you're speaking off with too tight or too loose. The original vents are riveted with tubular aluminum rivets which are nice and snug and fill the holes in the lid and vent completely. The screws don't fill the holes completely, so there's some slop in the movement of the vent, and it's hard to maintain just the right tightness. I've done a few colored WSMs where I had to remove the vents before doing the color change and I never came up with a workable rivet solution that approached the original. You may find some pop rivets out there that do the trick, but won't look original.
 
I ended up getting a Dremel, and cutting out the old vent. I think my issue with tightening was putting the flat washer in the wrong spot…..figures I messed up a 50/50 chance. I replaced one vent, and am keeping the other two as spares, since I usually adjust only one vent. I’m just happy I can start smoking again this weekend! Next step….replacing the grill straps. Appreciate the feedback here!
 
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