How to Convert a Genesis II LX-440 to NG


 
I would love to see a photo of that supposedly stainless cabinet on your Silver A Summit. My brother has a Silver B Summit (same grill with a side burner) and the cabinet is definitely not stainless. Now that being said. His needs to be overhauled. I bought ALL the parts needed to do it for him at Grillparts.com (flavorizer bars, complete burner set and complete igniter kit and casters) $275 delivered to my door. IMO far better than messing around with a new Genesis. You'll have a better grill when you're done than that Genesis (as long as the fire box is intact and heck even if it's not.................call Weber and tell them you need a new one. Put the new one aside until if/when you need it. They're still supplying that fire box and it is the ONLY weak spot on that grill. I would not waste my $$$$ on the Genesis


I never said it is all stainless. Only the doors and the top of the lid are stainless. I like the look - I realize that its really no better than the other options unless the every part is stainless However, I've never had a corrosion issue. I design metal things for a living. On the silver summit series of that age just about any part on the cabinet can be easily and fairly cheaply made at your local sheet metal shop in any material you want including stainless - pick your alloy! That is also true of most of the pieces that make up the central grill box if you want to take the time to do it. I used to live in Chicago so I know that nothing like that is done cheaply there. However, Atlanta is a diferrent story. I had some custom flashing fabricated for my house at a local sheet metal place - a lot of it - for less than $100.

I agree with you about overhauling what I have. I've already done it once about 8 years ago. It doesn't really need that now. But since Weber has stopped making the parts for it I figured it might be a good time to replace some things so I could get another 5 years out of it. I don't need much. The cover issue has frustrated me. The grill sits on my deck and is prominently visible from ever window in the back of the house. It would be nice if it looked right. I could wrap it in a blue tarp from harbor freight and that would do the job but it won't look good. Finding a cover that isn't way too big has been frustrating. I've been looking for months and the suggestions I got in the other thread were all thought about, considered and discarded a few months ago.

I'm planning top re-engineer the the little stainless baskets that surround the sparkers. I am tired of their very short life and very high cost. I'm thinking of using a piece of stainless tube with a stainless steel screw as the element for the spark to jump to. When the screw gets corroded I can just remove it and put in another one. I would also like a stainless drip pan - I always forget to remove it and they rot out quickly once the grease eats through the aluminum liner.

I have saved every set of flavorizer bars I've had when they were replaced so I can pick through those and put together a good set. I need to re-engineer the part that covers the cross tubes - that was never a good design. The cross tube cover portion is what rotted out on all of my sets.

The only part that I really need (other than the cover) is the pressure regulator. Mine is 14-15 years old. Regulators have very delicate parts in them. My grill has the symptoms of a regulator going bad - weak performance of the burner tube furthest from the gas line. The burner tubes are all only a few years old and clean so they are not the problem. I figure replacing the regulator is a cheap and easy job. A new maxitrol natural gas regulator is about $30, about $20 on ebay if I can be sure I'm getting the right part number.

I ALWAYS look at the options being clearanced around labor day and see if there is anything that I like. This year I was drawn to the Genesis at the HD that has been marked down a lot. As I've mentioned its propane and I want NG so there was no point in even considering it if it can't be cheaply modified to NG.

For what its worth I decided last night to stick with what I've got this year and just fix the issues. I can buy that 7131 cover you suggested at HD and take it back if it looks too shabby.
 
What parts does Weber not make for it anymore? Everything I bought for my brother is 100% OEM. Admittedly I did not look for a firebox but IIRC recently someone on the forum got Weber to send them an entirely new box. As long as I could get that part there is no way I would replace that grill with the new Chinese stuff they're selling. Honestly I would do whatever I could to get them to send you a new one even if you don't actually "need" it. It's the only questionable part of the whole grill. Since you can make stuff you could keep that thing going forever. I would never give that up for a new one. Good move to hang on
 
What parts does Weber not make for it anymore? Everything I bought for my brother is 100% OEM. Admittedly I did not look for a firebox but IIRC recently someone on the forum got Weber to send them an entirely new box. As long as I could get that part there is no way I would replace that grill with the new Chinese stuff they're selling. Honestly I would do whatever I could to get them to send you a new one even if you don't actually "need" it. It's the only questionable part of the whole grill. Since you can make stuff you could keep that thing going forever. I would never give that up for a new one. Good move to hang on

Yes. My plan was to replace any corroded part of the box with stainless sheet metal when the time comes. I will have to make some drawings for the sheet metal guy so it will be a bit of work but its doable and will be cheaper than a new box, if an new box is even available 5 years from now. The only part that would be tough to make is the drip channel. That always looks bad shortly after getting a new one. That said, you can't see it and it would probably take 20 years for it to rust through. I save everything I replace. I have an old grill body box (disassembled), and an old lid, a set of old burner tubes, an old thermometer - works but got hard to read, an old 9892 cover and an old set of flavorizer bars. I totally agree with you about keeping it - I explored the options and decided that keeping it is my best strategy. I looked at Napolean - nice when new, afraid they won't support it. Also, Broil King - same as Napolean - nice when new - support is a question mark.

I don't know for sure that they aren't making the parts any more. There is a difference between not making the parts and the parts still being available. Parts will still be available after they stop making them until ALL of the existing stock is sold. Most everything I've checked on is still available. I took the fact that the 9892 grill cover has been discontinued as a sign that Weber already has or is going to stop making parts for the Silver Summit series. It wasn't a popular model and there aren't a huge number of the around so discontinuing it would seem reasonable at some point.

I bought this grill 14 years ago at an outdoor store clearance sale for $750 which was less than half price. It was an impulse buy and I never do impulse buys. It been a great grill and it turns out that it was a good decision.
 
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I don't want to pay much more than $1000 so the cabinet models that are coming won't work for me. The current offering they have is over $1500. The natural gas version is a little more. The grill I have now is stainless steel and i want the new one to be stainless also. I don't want to spend a bundle and end up with a new downgraded bbq grill since the one I have is very nice...its just getting difficult/expensive to find parts for it. This year is my routine maintenance year and the parts I need cost about 1/2 of my $1000 price point for a new grill.

The reason I asked about converting is there is a nice propane cabinet model on clearance right now about a mile from my house for 1100. If it was nat gas I would have bought it three weeks ago. It used to be fairly easy to convert most grills to natural gas by drilling out the orifices (or replacing them) and changing the regulator to one made for natural gas. If that would be possible the regulator only costs about $30 and drilling out the hole in the orifices is free. Not all grills can be converted in this way - that is why I posted the question. So far it seems nobody knows - it will probably be gone by Saturday, I just hoped I'd get lucky and someone would know the answer.

I'm pretty sure the most expensive Genesis next year will be right around $1,000 or $1,100. They've done away with the LX models completely. If you want SS lid and doors, I'm not sure if that's an option I'd have to double check on that.

On another note, with the LX models going away the Summit prices are going up next year. I think this is mostly driven by increasing costs of steel.
 
The cover issue has frustrated me. The grill sits on my deck and is prominently visible from ever window in the back of the house.

I ALWAYS look at the options being clearanced around labor day and see if there is anything that I like. This year I was drawn to the Genesis at the HD that has been marked down a lot. As I've mentioned its propane and I want NG so there was no point in even considering it if it can't be cheaply modified to NG.

For what its worth I decided last night to stick with what I've got this year and just fix the issues. I can buy that 7131 cover you suggested at HD and take it back if it looks too shabby.

I know what you mean by looking at the clearance grills in the fall to get a good deal. Regarding the cover, I think you can save $13 or more getting it from Amazon. I paid $69 for my cover last weekend and found it on Amazon for $56 so I’m returning the HD one.


It would be cool if you could post a picture of what your grill looks like including any problem areas.
 
I know what you mean by looking at the clearance grills in the fall to get a good deal. Regarding the cover, I think you can save $13 or more getting it from Amazon. I paid $69 for my cover last weekend and found it on Amazon for $56 so I’m returning the HD one.


It would be cool if you could post a picture of what your grill looks like including any problem areas.

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This is from someone else's thread but this is the grill I have. As they say in Georgia its a nice'n. Mine doesn't really have any big problems. I needs a new pressure regulator and a new cover - that's it. The challenge with the cover is that the grill box is only 29.5 inches long. Most of the newer grills with covers available for them have grill boxes about 36 inches long. The original cover was 60 x 24 x 36 tall. You can find covers that show these dimensions but the grill box length matters too. Cover 7131 is about 6-7 iches too long across the grill box and overall length. Some of the covers for 3 burner grills are long enough deep enough and about right in height but they are too short in the grill box.

You are correct that the lowest prices for weber grill covers is either ebay or amazon. But buying something to see if it fits and returning it if it doesn't fit is much less of an option from those sources. You can do it but its a pain.
 
This is from someone else's thread but this is the grill I have. As they say in Georgia its a nice'n. Mine doesn't really have any big problems. I needs a new pressure regulator and a new cover - that's it. The challenge with the cover is that the grill box is only 29.5 inches long. Most of the newer grills with covers available for them have grill boxes about 36 inches long. The original cover was 60 x 24 x 36 tall. You can find covers that show these dimensions but the grill box length matters too. Cover 7131 is about 6-7 iches too long across the grill box and overall length. Some of the covers for 3 burner grills are long enough deep enough and about right in height but they are too short in the grill box.

You are correct that the lowest prices for weber grill covers is either ebay or amazon. But buying something to see if it fits and returning it if it doesn't fit is much less of an option from those sources. You can do it but its a pain.

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Ok, I recognize that picture. It’s from a CL ad a couple towns over from me.

https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/for/d/weber-summit-silver-grill/6689843289.html

Its a great grill so the new ones don't really compete with it especially for the cost. There was a 6 burner summit stainless at my local lowes marked down from 2000 to 1000 "as is" because the stem on one of the valves was snapped off. It was propane and had a built in rotisserie. Easily fixed if you could find the part. They usually only sell the manifold as an assembly though. It was way too much grill for me. My current grill is too much grill but I only paid $750 for it on labor day weekend 14 years ago. I have enjoyed its searing abilities - lots of heat.
 
I updated the igniters on Saturday and cleaned out a lot of crud from the grill. I was surprised to find the edges of most of the sheet metal panels in the body corroded. Not a huge deal but it happened faster than I would have liked. While I had it apart I fired it up and found that the burner bars produced yellow flames and the flames only went three quarters of the way back. I think that this confirms the need for a new regulator. New burner bars wouldn't be a bad idea either. I may replace the body since its easier than the stainless DIY panel replacement I mentioned a few posts ago - I've got too many projects!
 

 

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