Door leaks smoke like mad


 

Jerry Newman

New member
The door on my Smokey Mountain leaks like mad. When I first got the unit, Weber replaced it and it still leaks, I've tried with poor results to bend the door. I guess my next step is to get the gaskets, but I'd like to hear how others have solved the problem. Thanks.
 
Don't know which size WSM you have. The 22 door is probably the worst. I tried bending it first but ended up putting a gasket on the door. My 18 and 14 worked fine after a slight tweaking of the curve. If you slightly over bend the door it will seal better and gradually assume the correct curve with use. That's easiest with the small one and gets harder as the door gets bigger.
 
Is this a 22? I am surprised (and not surprised) that Weber still has not addressed this. It existed even in the prototype stages and has bothered the dickens out of me since Day One.

The original 18's tooling for the door was created by a master model maker using renwood or actual wood. A few doors were stamped out and the fit was checked. Good seal? No? Then they'd sand a little more and shape the forms until it worked properly. The final result was an 18.5" door radius at the bottom and when the spring action of the door (to hold on the door) was latched at the top -that radius is the same as the bottom with gradual loading along the side edges. Quite a bit of brilliant engineering led by Eric Schlosser.

The "tough" part is that the radius at the bottom of the door is essentially 18.5" At the top it's a little different radius and they do not share the same center line. It's off set a bit. But what happens as the latch is drawn in as you close the door, the door flattens out and does not butterfly or show gaps. Not to mention heat expansion! So there is a lot happening to get that to seal nicely.

When the 22 was being developed, they refuse the long process of having a model maker properly assist in getting the right door fit (as there were none no longer employed at Weber). I calculated rough numbers to get them started on stamping Something, but they only tried adjusting the amount of pressure of the stamp/die used to form it -which.... That wasn't going to change a thing. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result?

Eventually they settled on some dimension numbers to produce the doors but I was never happy with it. You'd think after 10 years something would have been done.

I'm sorry you're having trouble with the seal of the door. Reshaping may help, but go slowly and a little goes a long way. Be careful not to cause that kink at the lock which causes the butterfly effect. If you have a large circular object to form it on as you shape it, that may help.

I believe there are some aftermarket doors that work well, but nothing like spending more money on something that already cost a lot -just to get it to work as it should.
 
Hi All My door on my WSM 22 leak some, I just tape it up with high heat aluminum tape, when I'm smoking, problem solved.
DanB
 
My 18.5WSM leaked too.

I tried gently bending it, but it was like playing the whack a mole game - a new gap/bend would show up after everyone I thought I got straight.

The gasket kit was my solution. No more leaks.
 
It's not the end of the world. WSM's are not air tight and you should get some smoke escaping which IMO ain't a bad thing.
And that's gonna happen at the beginning.

Tim
 
My door leaks smoke also. You'll learn to resist the temptation to do something about it when you realize it doesn't really matter.
 
Looked at a 22 yesterday and the door was pitiful,if all of them are made that way I wont never spend $ on 1.The quality on the grills are great and wonder why they cheaped out on the door ?
 
I think its already been said, its my experience that the leaking is not a big deal. I put gaskets on my 18 and 22 , I really can't tell you they hold temps better or use less fuel. I bought my 18 in 2003 and never thought it to be a problem till I bought the 22 last year, and decided to add gaskets.

But then, maybe some leak a lot more than others.
 

 

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