The 2009 WSM water pan doesn't fit in the smoker!


 

Mike_V

TVWBB Member
Ok is it just me or does the water pan that comes with the 18.5" 2009 WSM not actually fit inside the smoker once you add charcoal???

I did my first smoke last weekend and thank God I had a brinkmann charcoal pan laying around or I wouldn't have been able to smoke anything. The water pan that came with my 2009 WSM (ordered from amazon a couple weeks ago) is extremely deep and shaped like a serving bowl - its like a smaller version of the bottom of the smoker (only without the vents). It actually holds more water than the Brinkmann Charcoal pan, but it's also about 3" deeper!

Imagine my surprise when I filled my charcoal ring with charcoal and dumped hot coals on there, and then went to go insert the middle section of the smoker and the water pan was laying directly on top of the charcoal and then sitting about 1/2" above the hangars it is supposed to rest on! I poured almost all the water from it into my Brinkmann (again, it actually holds more than the brinkman charcoal pan) and then put the brinkmann in and everything was fine. I feel like I should just throw away the stock WSM water pan since it is pretty much useless - there is absolutely no way it will ever fit in the smoker - with the smoker completely empty it dips down into the charcoal ring
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Is there a difference between the water pan sizes that come with the 18" and 22". If so, is it possible you got the 22" pan?
 
I think I'll try to do that in the next day or two (I have to empty out the charcoal from the last smoke and clean my water pan out first
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Mike

When you put just the center section on the ground/deck does the water pan sit on the tabs or get pushed off the tabs?

Is the charcoal ring higher then the bottom section?

Need to see pics to see whats going on.
 
I'm going to try to get pictures tonight and then post them, hopefully it will clear things up to figure out what is going on!
 
Gregg M wrote:
Is there a difference between the water pan sizes that come with the 18" and 22". If so, is it possible you got the 22" pan?

There is quite a difference between the two. You might have added more charcoal than required but only a pic would show if that were the case.
 
I'll bet it's not the water pan at all, but the wrong size coal grate. Mike, your coal grate should sit just level with the vents. If the grate is higher than the vents, Weber gave you a coal grate for the 22" WSM.
 
...also, do you really think a water pan from the 22" model would actually fit inside the 18" model?
 
How large should the coal grate be in relationship to the charcoal ring? I can tell you that the diameter of the charcoal grate that came with my WSM is quite a lot bigger than the charcoal ring - there is probably 2-3" of grate all the way around the charcoal ring, at least. I'll try to get a picture tonight.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike_V:
How large should the coal grate be in relationship to the charcoal ring? I can tell you that the diameter of the charcoal grate that came with my WSM is quite a lot bigger than the charcoal ring - there is probably 2-3" of grate all the way around the charcoal ring, at least. I'll try to get a picture tonight. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> seems you've found your problem Mike... I'm not home to measure mine, but I do know there is only about one and a half inches TOPS all around the outside of the grate with the coal chamber centered.
So, sounds like you have a charcoal grate for the 22".
I hope you didn't "throw away the stock WSM water pan since it is pretty much useless" since it is NOT useless.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike_V:
How large should the coal grate be in relationship to the charcoal ring? I can tell you that the diameter of the charcoal grate that came with my WSM is quite a lot bigger than the charcoal ring - there is probably 2-3" of grate all the way around the charcoal ring, at least. I'll try to get a picture tonight. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So the charcoal ring is sitting above the top rim of the bottom section?

If there is that much space on the side of the ring then the problem is the charcoal grate.

Jim I hope the water pan isn't in the trash either.
 
Can anyone confirm that the charcoal grate on their 18.5" WSM rests on the nuts that hold the legs of the smoker on? That is where my grate is resting. On the link above it doesn't appear that there is just a picture of the 18.5" WSM charcoal grate inside of the 18.5" WSM smoker by itself so it's hard to tell. I'm anxious to get home now and see what is going on. I have not thrown the water pan away (even though the brinkmann charcoal pan is probably still better).

If my charcoal grate is standing too high this could also explain my issues getting the temps up on saturday as the vents wouldn't be altogether that close to the charcoal.
 
Yikes I just looked at the water pan comparison shots of both the 18.5" and 22.5" smoker on that page, and my water pan doesn't look like either one of those. It's the same color but it is not flat on the bottom at all, it's completely round and much larger than both of the water pans in the picture. I think the water pan is still the issue.
 
your grate should rest on the legs nuts, yes.
your grate should be level with the vents.
the weber water pan will be fine when you get the right size charcoal grate in your new WSM.
 
Mike, believe me, the 22" water pan would NOT fit into your 18" smoker.
It's not the water pan, I'll bet a nickel it's the larger grate.
 
My water pan isn't as big around as the 22.5" but it's definitely deeper based on that picture - mine is enormous, like I said it will hold 3 gallons of water.

I can't view my charcoal grate right now but I know for sure it rests directly on the leg nuts of my WSM so I'm thinking it's the right one now.

I'm really thinking the part they sent me for the water pan isn't even a water pan at all but something else. It honestly looks exactly like the top or bottom of the smoker, only a little bit smaller (and no vents of course).

I will take a picture of the grate/ring/pan when I get home probably in 3 hours or so though, and then call weber once I figure out which one or ones are wrong to get it cleared up
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you've described exactly the same thing I have, and mine is a 2009 18" WSM.
Once you get home later Mike, you'll sleep better knowing it's only the coal grate.
 

 

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