Has ANYONE received a redesigned 18" grate???


 

Robert Terry

TVWBB Fan
I was told by Weber customer service yesterday (a manager) that the charcoal grate for the 18" WSM had NOT been redesigned for 2009. I thought some of us got the new grate and others had not. If you got a 2009 with the redesigned charcoal grate please chime up, and I would love to have a photo of one with a yardstick across it to show its size...
 
i have had some luck finidng non weber grates for my kettle and i am still kicking myself for not buying a couple of extras when i could. i found porcelain coated cooking grates measuring 22.5" for my kettle and i cannot find them again as i would love to have two more for my 22 wsm. anyway the point being is that the grate in the WSM 18 measures 15-1/4" so any charcoal grate meeting that dimension will work. check your local hardware stores and such.
 
i know i was just offering a different route if you couldnt find satisfaction from weber and it was a problem for you
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good luck
 
Robert, I just phoned Weber customer support last week and explained that I purchased a 2009 WSM (18.5") and received 2008's charcoal grate. After providing her with a number from my lid and a copy of my invoice/order from Amazon, she is having the new charcoal grate shipped out to me. Once it arrives, I'll take a photo and post it here.
 
What's suppose to be different with the new grate? I read in Chris' write up the the grate was different (better at keeping charcoal from falling through). Are the wires closer together?
 
I don't have the new WSM,but thought that they had added extra bars on the sides,to keep the charcoal from falling through there.
 
Yes, they were going to close that gap at the sides to prevent charcoal from falling through. I have seen the 22" grates and they did precisely that. Clay, I went through exactly what you are. I received a new grate in a thin box and it was labeled 2009 WSM. I was curious whether they were using up old stock first or whether the redesigned grate never happened...
 
The new charcoal grates can be purchased at any Lowe's, Home Depot or Academy. Prices from all three store's around 10 bucks. All three stores also carry the 22.5 grate.

"Smoking deep in South Texas"
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Noe:
The new charcoal grates can be purchased at any Lowe's, Home Depot or Academy. Prices from all three store's around 10 bucks. All three stores also carry the 22.5 grate.

"Smoking deep in South Texas" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

home depot and lowe's do not carry the charcoal grate for the standard WSM. they do carry the 18" kettle charcoal grate but that is smaller than the one in the WSM.
 
I have two suggestions for dealing with the gaps in the charcoal grate. (1) Get a roll of small-diameter steel wire (slightly thinner than a coat hanger so you can bend it without getting a hernia). Fill in the gaps with a zig-zag pattern, like a spider building a web. Or, (2) Find the cooking grate from a Brinkmann Gourmet smoker (the bigger, charcoal-fired model, not the very smallest, cheapest ECB) – lay it over the charcoal grate with the bars running at 90 degrees to those on the charcoal grate. This will effectively cover the gaps, and also works well to keep small pieces of lump charcoal from falling through the grate.

You can find the Brinkmann grate for full price here, or find a used Gourmet cheap someplace. I saved the cooking grates from mine when I trashed it. I’ve been using one of them on top of my charcoal grate for a couple of years, and it shows no signs of burning through.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Robert Terry:
That's what I found Tony. I have yet to see or have confirmed the existence of an 18 1/2 WSM redesigned grate... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I called Weber CS and they told me that the charcoal grate had not been re-designed for the new 18 1/2" WSM.
 
Frank, That's the information I posted at the start of this thread. I heard that from a customer service manager at Weber. Weber had indicated to Chris during his visit that it would be redesigned. I thought some people here had received a "new" style grate with their 2009 WSM but no one has come forth here to state positively that they have. I just wanted to clear things up. CS at Weber made a number of erroneous statements to me during my 5 week ordeal obtaining a missing part on my WSM so forgive my jaded approach...
 
And for some reason, they're still not answering my e-mails. I hope I didn't do anything to get on their bad side.
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Chris
 
Chris,

Pam M stated that "they" were trying to get ahold of you. I sent you a message with Pam M.'s direct phone number. Did you get that?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Robert Terry:
I sent you a message with Pam M.'s direct phone number. Did you get that? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, I did. As you know, I'm not hard to get ahold of.
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Chris
 
I received my "new" 2009 charcoal grate and it is exactly the same as the one that came with it. It still has the gaps on the side.

While I was on the phone with weber cs, she stated that the charcoal grate had been designed for the 2009 WSM. Either they didn't correct the issue for the new WSM, or they shipped me the wrong charcoal grate.
 
Clay,

Same experience here. My bos was labeled "2009" WSM and it was the old style. It is no big deal to me if there was no redesign. If there was a redesign but I was sent an old style grate I wanted a replacement. It seems it was easier to design the grate differently for the new 22 1/2 WSM from the ground up, but they opted to retain the original design for the charcoal grate. No harm, no foul. So far no one has stepped forth with a picture or other evidence of a redesigned 18" charcoal grate...
 
Now that I think about it,I did buy another charcoal grate at HD. I think it was for the smokey joe. Anyway,it fits down inside the ring,and I turned it 90* to close the gaps. It works pretty good and only cost about $10.
 

 

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