$20 One Touch Platinum AKA Platypus FB Find


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

TVWBB Honor Circle
I got lucky today. I have been wanting to rescue one of these for some time. Then I saw the magnificent job that @Jon Tofte did on his and wanted one even more. Today I found one about an hour away for $20 and I even got charcoal baskets, grill set, flexible skewers (never even knew these existed) and an old chimney. He tried to sell it at his garage sale, but lucky for me it did not sell. Grates are possibly shot, needs nut that hold it to the frame, but otherwise in pretty nice shape. I will hopefully clean it up tomorrow. Not sure if I will keep as my Masterbuilt 800 handles all my charcoal needs, but this paired with a Spider Viper could give it a run for the money. 1696120071415.png
 
Joe Anshien said:
I got lucky today. I have been wanting to rescue one of these for some time. Then I saw the magnificent job that @Jon Tofte did on his and wanted one even more. Today I found one about an hour away for $20 and I even got charcoal baskets, grill set, flexible skewers (never even knew these existed) and an old chimney. He tried to sell it at his garage sale, but lucky for me it did not sell. Grates are possibly shot, needs nut that hold it to the frame, but otherwise in pretty nice shape. I will hopefully clean it up tomorrow. Not sure if I will keep as my Masterbuilt 800 handles all my charcoal needs, but this paired with a Spider Viper could give it a run for the money. View attachment 79931
Click to expand...
Great deal! Gkad you got that one. Keep us posted on your progress, Joe!
 
There were 2 others last week further away. A black one and a nice red one I was temped by, but they were $120 each. Glad I waited. There was one in Richmond VA that I tried to buy that was advertised for over a year. I offered $100 but he was quite rude and refused to sell it to me at any price. No wonder it is still for sale.
I love what Jon did with his but don't think I have the talent for the faux wood. How is that holding up?
 
Something just occurred to me. With the vent in the middle on this lid does it impact smoking / indirect cooks? I am used to having the fire on one side and the vent on the other over the meat.
 
I would guess the center vent would impact vortex cooks, but I think the center vent is ideal for smoking.
And that thing DEFINITELY would be awesome with a Venom!
 
It does effect Vortex cooks and not so much in a good way, temps do not get as high that I can tell, I’ve not seriously tried to document it but, I’ve been using it for wings when I have a big feast working, and they don’t seem to get as crisp, timing is a little longer. Also, this lid vent seems a little looser than I’d like but, thats repairable.
 
Here are some pics with it cleaned up. Inside it does have some rust spots that I treated. They look to be on each side of the 2 bolts that hold the kettle on. I found it very difficult to clean up, especially the cover as razor blades do not work well on round surfaces. Any tips welcome. It took a day with the grinder with flap disk and wheel to get the grates useable. The bottom controls for the dampener and ash removal under the right table are not as convenient as having them in the front I noticed. If you had to pick between this and a SSP for your one charcoal grill which would you choose?20231004_160055.jpg20231004_160106.jpg20231004_153535.jpg20231004_153538.jpg20231004_154847.jpg
 
The 2 improvements that Weber should have done IMHO are on the lid. They should have added a top center handle and a rear vent. Both improvements could be made be the owner but would require some work. 2 handles would really help seating and moving the lid. Adding a rear vent would allow better indirect cooking and Vortex cooking IMHO of course;-). Stainless steel tables over thermo plastic ones would have been a nice option.
 
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