New WSM owners: check your unit for out of round condition!

Hi,

Today, I spent most of my day with a friend who just got a new WSM. We assembled it this morning and he cooked on it for the first time--two butterflied chickens, three racks of rolled baby backs, four sausages, and three foil-wrapped apples stuffed with Snickers. Add to that homemade beans, corn bread, and ice-cold beer and it was quite a feast and a lot of fun!

However, I must tell you I was very disappointed by the condition of his WSM coming out of the box, and that's why I'm posting this message. Not only was the access door a very poor fit, but the middle cooking section was so out of round that it could not be inserted into the charcoal bowl. It was egg shaped and hung at least 3/4" over the edge of the charcoal bowl! We spent a good 20 minutes working the door, cooking section, and charcoal bowl back into proper shape.

So, I want to encourage all new WSM owners to check for the out of round condition as they assemble their unit for the first time. If you have this problem and feel confident in being able to adjust the unit, do so carefully, making small adjustments until you achieve a good fit. The same goes for the access door. Otherwise, return the unit for a replacement.

And by all means, let Weber know about the problem. They should not be shipping units like the one we unpacked today.

Regards,
Chris

Here's what I did to round out mine. I took my old weber kettle and layed it upside down on the garage floor and pulled the legs off. Then I set the WSM middle section down on it. While pushing down I rotated it back and forth until it was formed to the shape of the kettle.
It worked real well, but be carefull not to push down to hard as you could make it to big. Go slow and easy, just like smokin.

------------------
Good Smokin'
Dan


That didn't work like I thought. Must have been dark when I did it. I finally gave up trying to push/pull it into round. I called weber customer service, explained the problem and they sent me a new one that fits a whole lot better. Of course I have to return my original one.

Dan

[This message has been edited by Dan Carpenter (edited 05-26-2000).]

I also had a disappointing WSM experience last week. I picked one up from a local garden center. It was out of round (about a half-inch gap at one point), had bubbles under the finish under the lid handle (reminded me of the fenders on my '74 Chevy pickup), had porcelain cracking on the rolled edge of the charcoal bowl, and had a "blank" screw (no threads). I took it back and exchanged it for another one that appeared to be from the same shipment (same date on box bottom, etc.) and it is nearly perfect. So it appears that Weber's quality control is a little inconsistent. I'm happy now, though, as I cooked up some delicious ribs yesterday on my first try. I was able to keep the temp at the lid right at 240 for 6 hours. It was almost too easy!

Regards,
Steve

Chris>>>>>And I thought it was just my lack of mechanical abilities!!!! I too just opened a new WSM this weekend and had the exact same experience with exactely the same parts. I probably will try and make my own adjustments since I have waited so long for the smoker to arrive and since I had the best 'smoker experience' I've had in many, many years smoking an eye-of-round roast! Even with the apparent out-of-round defects, I can honestly say I enjoyed using this smoker over any I have ever owned. However, if you think letting Weber know will help someone else, I would be more than happy to call or write them.....thanks....John


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
Hi,

Today, I spent most of my day with a friend who just got a new WSM. We assembled it this morning and he cooked on it for the first time--two butterflied chickens, three racks of rolled baby backs, four sausages, and three foil-wrapped apples stuffed with Snickers. Add to that homemade beans, corn bread, and ice-cold beer and it was quite a feast and a lot of fun!

However, I must tell you I was very disappointed by the condition of his WSM coming out of the box, and that's why I'm posting this message. Not only was the access door a very poor fit, but the middle cooking section was so out of round that it could not be inserted into the charcoal bowl. It was egg shaped and hung at least 3/4" over the edge of the charcoal bowl! We spent a good 20 minutes working the door, cooking section, and charcoal bowl back into proper shape.

So, I want to encourage all new WSM owners to check for the out of round condition as they assemble their unit for the first time. If you have this problem and feel confident in being able to adjust the unit, do so carefully, making small adjustments until you achieve a good fit. The same goes for the access door. Otherwise, return the unit for a replacement.

And by all means, let Weber know about the problem. They should not be shipping units like the one we unpacked today.

Regards,
Chris <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

John, Steve, Dan, and others,

I would encourage anyone that finds a defect with their new WSM to report the problem to Weber, either by phone at 800-446-1071 or by e-mail at support@weberservice.com .

It seems Weber is having a quality control problem, and they need to hear from customers that are receiving units that are seriously out of round, with porcelain finish problems, unthreaded bolts, etc.

I want to follow-up on my original post concerning the out of round condition I experienced last weekend when I helped a friend assemble his new WSM.

Last Saturday evening I sent an e-mail to Weber that contained essentially the same information I posted here. On Monday I received a reply that basically laid blame for the situation on shipping and UPS specifically. They said that they carefully inspect each unit before it ships and it wouldn't have gone out in that condition. They suggested my friend return the unit to Value America for a replacement.

At first, I thought that response was kind of a cop-out on their part, but then I got my film developed and looked at the pictures I took when we unpacked the unit. There are clear indications in the pictures that some of the packing materials and the box lid are bent inward, and it corresponds to the same side of the cooking section that was bent out of shape.

I guess in the excitement of unpacking the unit, we did not notice this condition. So perhaps in this case, Weber may have a point about shipping being the cause, especially if the box were placed on its side and something heavy were placed on top of it.

I still suggest that anyone who receives a new WSM and is not completely satisfied about its condition coming out of the box should let Weber know about it directly. Perhaps they need to improve its packaging to better protect the unit during shipping.

Hi Guys!
Gee I must be very fortunate because I just picked up my WSM about a week ago. And being in Hawaii I would assume that of all people I would stand the most risk of getting my WSM all bent out of shape due to the time and length of shipping. As it turned out I got my WSM in about 4 days after ordering and out of the box it fit perfectly! All parts where accounted for and everything snapped in and fitted to a "T"! What you guys are saying about the shipping might be true, it might also be who the shipper was. Mine went through "FEDEX" and they did a good job with the time a distance factors involved, No "POT" was included, I looked in the box( ha, ha, ha,) But all joking aside I think maybe it might depend on who the shipper was. Oh, and mine did not include an oversize cooking grate as some other new WSM owners have been complaining about. Aloha!