John Carpenter

Hello from John Carpenter,Levin New Zealand.I have a Weber One Touch Silver in Black and a Weber Q 2000.Yesterday(Sat 16th) I was on the gate for our local Vintage Car Club swap met.Later while looking at what people were selling I found this Red Weber 57cm in near perfect condition.I was able to purchase it for $100NZD.It does not have the One Touch System but 3 vents the same as what is in the lid.I can find nothing about this Weber.Is it a Smoker and can I cook the same as one with the One Touch System?Cheers John.PS it has a small hole in the middle of the bowl at the base,is that correct?

Hi John, and welcome!

It's not a smoker, it's an older Weber kettle. In the 70's/80's/90's some of the entry-level grills had three dampers on the charcoal bowl. In the early 1980's Weber introduced the One-Touch System which eliminated the need to adjust those three bottom dampers individually. Yes, you can use the grill the same as your One-Touch grill, just open and close those three dampers as needed to maintain cooking temp or to shut down the fire at the end of cooking.

You may want to check for a single-letter code stamped into the lid damper. It can be decoded on this page: http://virtualweberbullet.com/determine-age-weber-grills-smokers.html#charcoalap If there's no code, then the grill probably dates to 1978 or earlier.

Hi Chris thanks for your reply.I also found The Weber Kettle Club and found out about the code.Mine has EO on all 4 dampers so it's 1995?Mine has hole in middle of the bowl but not seen any photos that show that.Hard to tell if its been drilled,but I seem to think it has.It won't affect how it works but make it slow to put the fire out,would that be correct?Perhaps I could plug it with a small bolt/washer and nut.I cleaned it up today and it sparkles.This would sell here in NZ for more than $200 NZD on Trade me,but I'M not selling it.Thanks very much.Cheers John.

Yes, date code of EO is 1995. I suspect you're right, that someone drilled a weep hole in the bowl. As you say, a small nut/bolt will do the job, or a small piece of aluminum tape.

Post a photo if you have a chance.

Welcome to the forum, John! A redhead 3-wheeler (what you have) is coveted in the states.