Anyone compare Weber 7639 grates to RCPlanebuyer?


 
RC's grates are made of higher quality material and much heavier rods (9mm vs 7mm) and yes those 2 mm do make a difference. I have ordered grates before from him to restore my brother's Summit platinum and they are outstanding quality. I am actually right now working with him on a set of custom grates for my Wolf grill to replace the OEM cast iron which have become completely unusable.
He does fantastic work and IMO is worth the $$$ he charges
 
Yep, the rods are thicker, there is less space between the rods so you don't have to worry about your hamburger sliding through and they are 304 Stainless vs the cheaper stainless that Weber and others use. That being said, a set of SS Weber grates are still 5 times better than the stamped steel crap.
 
Bought a set of Weber stainless ,seem to be plenty heavy and will ck and see what the measurements are this weekend but don't see that they need to be thicker and a hotdog couldn't fall thru so I'm good for now
 
MikeCantell said:
Bought a set of Weber stainless ,seem to be plenty heavy and will ck and see what the measurements are this weekend but don't see that they need to be thicker and a hotdog couldn't fall thru so I'm good for now
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I can fit my whole finger between the rods of newer Weber grates. Done wrong even a 3/4" steak could fall through them. For about 20% more in price you get FAR better product and performance from the RC grates
 
I can't speak to Weber's, but I can tell you that I have absolutely no doubts that my RC grates and flavorizers will last a lifetime. They are made very, very well and I am proud to own these fine pieces of craftsmanship.
 
Yah, if you can't or don't want to splurge on RC's grates then the ones they have on bbqparts.com (part CG48) is another great set, https://www.bbqparts.com/silverb.htm . Not sure what kind of stainless Weber uses but this one is made from 304 grade stainless steel and is made in the USA (the Weber is probably made in China). The price is the same as well as the Weber's (when not on sale).
 
I have a set of the bbq parts stainless rod grates on my silver A. They aren't quite as heavy duty as the rcplanebuyer grates on my 1000. They are still very good though and I doubt I'll wear them out.
 
If you can wait, I'd download the eBay app on your smartphone and watch for the promo codes that show up from time to time that have a very short shelf life.

There was one yesterday that was good for 15% off $50 or more, you could have saved $18. It ends up being about $10 cheaper that buying it from him directly.
 
I was in Lowe’s last night and had a few minutes waiting on my wife. As usual, I checked out the grill selection. One overall comment is that even if not what they used to be, the Weber grills definitely stood above the Charbroil and ‘what brand is that’ grills on display.

I decided to measure the Weber stainless rod grates found in the LX series grills and some of the Special Edition versions of the “regular” Genesis II’s.

The rods themselves come in at 1/4 inch:

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That is certainly less than rcplanebuyer’s, but they are hardly thin little wires either.

The space between the rods works out to 3/8 of an inch. I really doubt you could get your finger much less a 3/4 inch steak through there:

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That being said, rcplanebuyer’s are clearly much tighter.

My conclusion would be that rc’s are clearly the top drawer choice, but it wouldn’t be fair to malign the Weber ones that I saw as junk. For most grill buyers they would be more than adequate. I am not sure about the stainless composition, but I have restored a number of Genesis 300s with stainless rods. Some of these grills were real rust buckets as you all have seen. Still, I have NEVER seen a Weber rod grate with rust. Crudded up and neglected, yes, but no rust.

If I had crummy grates and wanted to buy new, rc’s would be the top choice and I would try hard to muster the extra money because it would be well worth it. But, if I had a set of Weber stainless rods already, replacing the with rc’s grates would be a much lower priority.
 
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If your on a budget I also have the bbq parts stamped grates they are made out of 304 stainless and with shipping they are like $53. I am very happy with them they fit perfectly seem to be very well made. I will disagree just a bit with Bruce not all stamped stainless are crap these are not.

No one is disputing RC's stuff if you have the money.

Brian
 
Yeah I have to agree. Saying they all our crap is not true. I was referring more to the eBay and Amazon grates. Because I know the barbecue parts grates are 304 stainless
 
To their (minor) credit On the new GII models with SS grates Weber did specify tighter spacing compared to the previous generation which truly you could drop an entire steak between the rods (I'm not kidding here I almost lost an entire burger on my sister's). So I'll give Weber credit for one improvement here. Again for the $$$ they charge for an import product they could do far better IMO
 
LMichaels said:
To their (minor) credit On the new GII models with SS grates Weber did specify tighter spacing compared to the previous generation which truly you could drop an entire steak between the rods (I'm not kidding here I almost lost an entire burger on my sister's). So I'll give Weber credit for one improvement here. Again for the $$$ they charge for an import product they could do far better IMO
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Well, I agree that at least they appear to have done this part right, for which Weber does deserve some credit.

I have a 5-year old Genesis SE-330 that I plan to fix up and sell. When I get a chance, I am going to do a photo shoot/measurement of its grates to see how they size up. I used them for years and never felt they were inadequate. Of course, Dave Santana/rcplanebuyer grates make everything else kind of pale in comparison. His are the best that I know of, but "lesser" ones should be judged on their respective merits - or lack thereof. Not all alternatives are junk, even if short of the incredibly high standard Dave's set.

I also intend to do the same for the stainless rod set that came with my $50 pickup of a Genesis Silver C. I am pretty confident they are also Weber-made. It will be interesting to see how these compare as well.
 
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Thank you, all. These will be used in my restore of a 2005 Genesis Platinum C (more details soon) which will likely last me 30 years due to the stainless steel frame. Therefore, it sounds like the heavier-duty rcplanebuyer grates are worth it.
 
Without a doubt, for a "forever grill", RCs stuff is definitely the way to go if you can swing it.
 
I figure that even if my grill bites the dust at some point, I will just find another Weber grill to fix up and to drop the RCP grates and flavo bars into.
 
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