Poor fitting legs on WSM 14.5"


 
T

Todd Young

New member
Hey folks,

I purchased this 14.5" WSM on Craigslist, new in sealed box. The fit
of the legs seems to be very poor, see pictures (https://goo.gl/photos/psY82czEubDD6u3d6). I tried
tightening the bolts of the lower leg bolts up tighter, to be rewarded
by the sound of cracking porcelain.

As you can see, there is a sticker indicating that the smoker is
property of a tequila company, and for "display only". It's hard to
believe this wasn't meant to be cooked on, maybe the legs were a
factory defect and sent out with a "display" unit. I didn't ask the
seller where he got this from, and he made no mention of the tequila
company. The box has a shipping tag for MAS distribution, maybe it's
possible a box got mixed up and was sent to a distributor and not the
tequila company.

In any event, I'd love to hear from other 14.5" owners how the legs
fit. If mine are wrong, maybe I should call Weber customer service or
order some replacement legs? Should I cook on it anyways? I was hoping
to smoke a tritip and some chili peppers today.

Thanks for any and all input.
 
First off, welcome to the forum. I would call Weber customer service and register the smoker and talk to them about the problem. They are very helpful and will take care of your problem. Good Luck.
 
I registered and put in a call to customer service. They let me know that if the unit was truly a display model, it may have incomplete parts/wrong parts. I do have all of the parts, but sounds like I may have the wrong legs (or the wrong bowl). I also noticed a few minor blemishes in the lid. I think I'll email customer service and ask if this was actually a display unit based on the serial number. Customer service said I could buy new legs for ~$28 shipped.
 
The legs look good to me and I own an 18" and 22" but not a 14"
Like Robert& Mr Correll said add fiber washers and put the metal washers on the inside under the nuts.

Tim
 
I contacted customer service again via email with my serial number and photos. They determined that there was nothing that indicated that this grill was for "display only" based on serial number. The customer service rep also let me know that my fiber washers were installed in the wrong place, as you guys noted above. I found incorrect installation instructions elsewhere on the web. It's a shame the manual is so difficult to follow.

I included photos of the legs installed correctly here (https://goo.gl/photos/WYFPqZNS6S2ML3Lc7). There is a little damage to the porcelain from the misinstallation that I will touch up with high temp paint. Luckily those spots are covered by the legs. I am surprised that the attachment tabs are not perfectly tangential to the bowl, allowing the nuts to be tightened all the way. Any other 14.5" owners, does this look right?

Thanks for the warm welcome and assistance. I'm looking forward to some good use of my new smoker (and other grills) and this forum.
 
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