lame-o access door


 
A

adam clyde

TVWBB Pro
is anyone else miffed at the poor quality of the access door for the WSM? The overall quality of the smoker is wonderful... except for the lame access door. It's like putting the door of a pinto onto a new BMW. I don't get it.

I am constantly having to bend it slightly to "seal" it better. Then, the handle falls off randomly. Plus, the darn thing is just so thin and flimsy, and is without a hinge to properly secure it.

Why doesn't Weber make a better door? I don't think it would significantly add to the cost if they made one of slightly more durable material, with hinges. Or am I missing something?

That and increasing the capacity of the rinky-dink water pan, and this sucker would be flawless...

Anyone else have troubles with their access doors? or am I a loner in this?
 
Check the Tips & Mods section to make sure you have the door latch assembled properly, and for tips on reshaping a warped door. To keep the knob tight, I make it a practice to always turn it clockwise. Other than that, I have no real problem with the door. I think heavier material and hinges would only add to the cost, and aren't worth paying more for, IMO.

As the Brinkmann charcoal pans fit, do the job of increasing water capacity, and can be had for as little as $4-- I'd hate to think what Weber would want to charge for a pan that size.
 
I am with Adam, the door is flimsy and leaks like a day-old diaper!
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Still, this is one of the best smokers ever. I wont even say, "for the money", because it solidly competes with larger more expensive smokers and wins; its just a great smoker period.

I have been thinking about a mod to create a real air-tight access door - but I am still thinking.

Tony
 
Tony, one of the guys on this site suggested wrapping the edges in aluminmum foil. I did it on my last smoke and no leaks
 
I have had to mess with my access door twice. Once when I unpacked the wsm. The second was a couple of months later when I was q'n a turkey and was having problems keep the temp up. I had the door upside down and ajar a bit. The wind knocked it off onto the ground and my buddy steped on it accidently.

I will agree the door is on the flimsy side. I haven't had any problems with it though. As far as the hinge goes I for one am glad there isn't a hinge on it. With the heating and cooling of the unit and being outside I would imagine the hinge would be the first thing to break. You have to admit it is really easy to put on a new door if it should come th that, the way it is setup now.

As far as the water pan goes I got one of the $4 pans at bass pro and am very happy with it. If I remember correctly the replacement from weber is $20. A redesign of the water pan is likely to raise the cost of wsm $40.
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I have never had my knob come off. When I got my wsm the knob wasn't even on the door. This sounded out of the norm but I am not sure. I know I looked at the tips section as doug pointed out and found info there on how to assemble but I had an extra star washer in the bag and used it. I haven't even had the knob come loose. The latch/bolt goes through a flat washer then through the door. Then goes a star washer then the nut. If memory serves the tips section says the knob is next. I used the second star washer between the nut and the knob. Tighten the knob down while holding the nut. I used needle nose because a wrench was too thick.

I turn my knob both directions all the time. It has never come loose let alone come off.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
Tony, one of the guys on this site suggested wrapping the edges in aluminmum foil. I did it on my last smoke and no leaks </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I will definitely give it a try. I cooked from Friday to Sunday so I have to give myself a break to recoop from all that cooking; I probably wont fire up again until... Wednesday!
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Tony
 
Adam, I agree. dinky door.

What I ought to do is make a first-class replacement door with gaskets and powder coating and then offer it on the web.

Meanwhile - I was cooking a prime rib roast Sunday afternoon and having trouble getting a door seal. I tried lining the edges of the door with foil but my attempt was "foiled" by the heat.

Loren
 
don't get me wrong... I love my WSM and I think it is a wonder of the culinary world...

I know that simple mods make the door and water pan relatively easy fixes... I guess I'm just perplexed why Weber wouldn't want to improve it themselves.

Anyhow, just my monday morning rant.

All that aside... looking forward to a great smoke later this week... flimsy access door and all!
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Sounding like the ever defender of Weber, my feeling is they did not and are not producing this unit for the use we small group of fanatics are putting it to. To produce it to our specifications probably would increase the costs either directly or as a result of retooling such that it would not make economic sense for them to continue - my greatest fear ! Fortunately it is a very good basic unit and with a nip here and a tuck there, we're able to modify to a very functional unit which really is not comparable to anything else on the market close to its price.

Now to the door. My unit is over 10 years old and I bent, hammered and twisted it to make it seal better and only increased the problem. For $8 I order another one and it does quite well.

The stock pan is very high quality. Again, I doubt if Weber was anticipating 18 to 24 hour continuous cooks. It's heavy metal and I believe porcelin coated. A replacement costs $24, but they don't wear out very easily. I imagine a larger size would be extremly expensive. The alternate pan certainly solves any problem at a low cost.

I hope I'm not sounding too defensive, but just wanted to give my thoughts. I respect the views of all others.

Paul
 
paul... good points. interesting about your point that weber probably doesn't anticipate it's users to put it to the use folks on this board are doing. I think you are probably right... all the more reason this board is so useful - to get the real skinny on how to use these little gems...

thanks for your insights, as always.
 
I think the bmw comparison is all wrong. I think it should be compared to a brand new harley. A bmw you leave and don't expect to spend any money except for gas. When you buy a harley you have the canvas. The painting is reflected by the extra stuff you buy to add to the bike.

I remember being kind of mad my door didn't fit nice when it came out of the box. I must have spent at least 30 minutes tweaking the door til I got it to fit like I wanted. The only time I get smoke out from around it is when I first put the smoke wood on and it is minimal.

One thing I like about the door being flimsy is running the probe through it. I hate to set that heavy lid on the probe wire. I run the wire through the door. It gives against the wire and still seals up.
 
As some of you may remember, I recently got a used WSM. The door didn't fit well at all...after a lot of playing and bending, I still couldn't get it to fit. Then, after going to a machine shop to see if I could get some gasket material for it, they came up with an idea. I got some hose clamps--big hose clamps--and hooked them together so that their cominined length fit around the middle section of the WSM. I tightened the screws, and the door seals absolutely perfectly now. Of course, it would be difficult to remove during a smoke (although not impossible). But, I figure, why would I have to remove it during a smoke? I did Mr. Brown on Friday, and at the end of the cook (12 hours) I still had plenty of fuel left. If anyone's interested, I can post a pic if I didn't describe the mod well enough.
 
Yes, the door could be made out of heavier material. I put my door in upside down. No leaks or very few that are noticable. Right side up and I have leaks.
 
I used the metal/foil tape from the plumbing section at H.D. and layered it up until it let the door seal right. I tried to bend it, but I could never get it right. Clean around the door really well to get all the grease off and use 1/2 width tape sections, and just put a few layers on 'til it seals better. (Now if you have 1/4" gaps, all bets are off! lol) I have had the tape on for at least a dozen cooks, and it is still holding. You do not need it air tight.
To check your handy work, just shine a light around the door, look inside and see where you will needto tape it up.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Abrams:
The door could be made out of heavier material. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The original WSM 1880 had a steel door. It was prone to rusting, and was replaced by the aluminum door.

I guess they could have coated the steel door with porcelain enamel, but the stamped aluminum door was obviously cheaper, and it's not clear that a steel door would have fit any better, given the out of round shapes I've seen with middle cooking sections. At least the aluminum door can be bent into shape without cracking an enamel finish.

Regards,
Chris
 
I always thought that the aluminum was an appropriate thickness. Any thinner, and it would deform with every drop, any thicker would be difficult to hand form to fit.
 
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