Anyone actually wear out a rotisserie motor?


 
Actually, I think the OEM Weber Roto motors use plastic gears....at least some do.
 
Grant Cunningham said:
Since I'm beginning to really love rotisserie cooking, and plan to do a whole lot more of it, I got to wondering: how many people have managed to wear out or break a rotisserie? Am I tempting fate?
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I've never worn one out, but I have let one sit submerged in a pool of water for an extended period of time.

It was a Weber unit, and it was in the water for at least a week.

Still working fine some two years later now.....
 
Wow, that is amazing it still works.

I guess I haven't used a weber motor enough to know if they are durable or not.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Never dropped mine in a pool but, that’s pretty amazing!
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It was in a plastic container (tote?) with all the other parts on the picnic table in the backyard. I wasn't expecting torrential rains in the next few days, but there it was.

Seriously, it's still working. I myself wouldn't have expected.
 
I use the vice grips on my #9891 rotisserie when I use it since they didn't come with a counter balance.
 
I made a counter weight using a large bolt, tapped it out to fit a threaded rod. Bent the end of the rod and then bought a bunch of flat washers. Now I can move it anywhere I want and can move the weight in or out to help balance things. Works good enough. Not sure the why of the plastic gear but to protect the motor or rotisserie. Either way, there is no gear replacement so yer messed up either way. All my motor gears are greased with synthetic grease. I dont do to much rotissering but I do like things to work when I need them.
 
J: You are probably right. I know some aftermarket Roto makers boast about "all metal" gears.

If you balance your meat on the roto, I don't think the standard Weber roto motors will fail early. If you are worried about it, just keep any eye on FB MP and CL and snatch up a spare. I have three or four #9890 roto units that I have bought for under $25 each.
 
I have tried and failed to use the counter weight. I either forget, or put it on maybe the wrong place, or it does not seem to help. Is there a video on using them someplace? I have done a lot of chickens and a few turkeys without using it, I have not burned out a roti yet but I do get the hesitation and then a quick little flip when it spins.
 
The more balanced a rotating load is, the smaller the motor is that's required to turn it. Balancing a spit shouldn't be too difficult, load the food and rest it on the pivots, without the motor. It should come to rest with the heavy side down. The counterweight should be set pointing straight up. Adjust the counterweight either by the size of the counterweight, or by moving it closer/farther away from the spit until you can rotate the spit to any spot in the rotation and it really doesn't move. That's your sweet spot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel is a good example of a properly weighted rotation. It lifts or drops boats (500 tons of boat & water) by something like 80', and only uses 50hp of motor to do this.
 
Joe Anshien said:
I have tried and failed to use the counter weight. I either forget, or put it on maybe the wrong place, or it does not seem to help. Is there a video on using them someplace? I have done a lot of chickens and a few turkeys without using it, I have not burned out a roti yet but I do get the hesitation and then a quick little flip when it spins.
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That hesitation/flip is what will grind up those gears. It is kind of like shifting a transmission into forward as you are rolling backwards. But on the roto, it does it hundreds of times during the cook.

A lot of times, I can get the meat balanced well on the spit without using the counter balance. But, if I do need the counter balance, I just put the roto on the grill and let it settle where it may. Then put the counter balance sticking directly upwards on the spit. Then give it a slight spin and see how close you are. You may have to adjust the R/L of the balance and you may have to adjust the up and down of the balance weight to get it just right.
I hope that helps, but if necessary, I could probably do a quick video showing how I adjust the counter balance to ensure I have a balanced load.

Note, the Weber #9890 is one of the rotos that have the adjustable counter balance. If your roto doesn't have one, then you simply have to keep adjusting the meat on the spit to get it as close to balanced as possible.
 
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Bruce said:
That hesitation/flip is what will grind up those gears. It is kind of like shifting a transmission into forward as you are rolling backwards. But on the roto, it does it hundreds of times during the cook.

A lot of times, I can get the meat balanced well on the spit without using the counter balance. But, if I do need the counter balance, I just put the roto on the grill and let it settle where it may. Then put the counter balance sticking directly upwards on the spit. Then give it a slight spin and see how close you are. You may have to adjust the R/L of the balance and you may have to adjust the up and down of the balance weight to get it just right.
I hope that helps, but if necessary, I could probably do a quick video showing how I adjust the counter balance to ensure I have a balanced load.

Note, the Weber #9890 is one of the rotos that have the adjustable counter balance. If your roto doesn't have one, then you simply have to keep adjusting the meat on the spit to get it as close to balanced as possible.
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Thanks - I never thought to spin it on the grill w/o the motor to test and adjust. I do have an adjustable counter balance. I bought this one a while back to use for a turkey. It probably helped somewhat, but I still remember some hesitation. Now I need to go get another chicken to test this out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JWFBNI/?tag=tvwb-20
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That looks like a great counterbalance if it is heavy enough. Just make sure you get it as "close" to balanced as possible on the spit.

The thing is with that balance is that you need to put it on an area of the spit that is round. Using it on the square part will only give you 4 possible adjustments.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Thanks - I never thought to spin it on the grill w/o the motor to test and adjust. I do have an adjustable counter balance. I bought this one a while back to use for a turkey. It probably helped somewhat, but I still remember some hesitation. Now I need to go get another chicken to test this out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JWFBNI/?tag=tvwb-20
View attachment 47817
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It looks like you could have gotten that less expensively and with a spare set of forks.
 
Bruce said:
That looks like a great counterbalance if it is heavy enough. Just make sure you get it as "close" to balanced as possible on the spit.

The thing is with that balance is that you need to put it on an area of the spit that is round. Using it on the square part will only give you 4 possible adjustments.
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What kind can be used in any location? I had a different one at some point but could not figure out how to use it. It had
Bruce said:
It looks like you could have gotten that less expensively and with a spare set of forks.
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I bought mine a year ago and it was $13.99....
 
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