Deciphering Old Weber Gas Grill Serial Numbers


 
SLensch said:
Hello from Germany 🇩🇪
Thanks for this Link - the Link with the serialcodes is always open in my Browser 😀
Yesterday was a lucky day 😀 i found a L1-138207 - Genesis 1 near my office- including the manual with date from february 1991 - here in Germany that seems like a Jackpot 🥳 - a Genesis 1 in very good conditions - all parts original - after cleaning i will give you further response in a seperate thread

Gtx
Steffen
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A Genesis 1, in Germany? That's a great find, I'm looking forward to your clean up. Don't forget lots of pictures, cheers from the US!
 
Here's a picture after carry home - the thermometer and warming rack are lost, but also to buy in germany - the cooking grate is stainless steel and also the wood on the handle and the side looks fantastic

1682595799437.png
 
SLensch said:
Here's a picture after carry home - the thermometer and warming rack are lost, but also to buy in germany - the cooking grate is stainless steel and also the wood on the handle and the side looks fantastic

View attachment 69694
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That is amazing! What a great find. These are getting rare even in the US. Welcome to TVWBB. We look forward to seeing more pictures :coolkettle: !
 
Bill Ware said:
This just came up for 65 bucks, a red head, wooden slats, complete. The weber site can't find anything on it.
Genesis 1000 = KL1 any idea of the year?

00707_bqYnxe71c7Ez_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg
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I think my Genesis 1000 was KL1-xxxxxx and it was 1993.
 
Looks pretty good to start! If you haven't noticed it yet, the front lower crossmember is mounted too high on the frame. It should be at the same height as the other ones.
 
Steve Hoch said:
Looks pretty good to start! If you haven't noticed it yet, the front lower crossmember is mounted too high on the frame. It should be at the same height as the other ones.
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Hi Steve,
you mean this part?Bildschirmfoto 2023-04-28 um 10.42.37.png

Yes, i wondered about the position, when you pull out the drip tray, the drip pan will remain attached to the rod
In the manual there is no crossmember in the front and also in the back - also the drip pan holder looks like an other part?

1682673030839.png

Thx for your hint

Gtx
Steffen
 
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Jon Tofte said:
That is amazing! What a great find. These are getting rare even in the US. Welcome to TVWBB. We look forward to seeing more pictures :coolkettle: !
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Hi Jon,
i did a restauration to a 1998 Spirit 350 in 2018 - you can watch this at this thread in an fantastic german bbq-forum
Related to the Genesis 1, I'll start a new thread here in this forum

Gtx
Steffen
 
Chris Allingham said:
The following information pertains to grills made for the U.S. market. Some variations may exist for grills sold outside the U.S. and are noted below.

1985 to 1992

Weber did not code date information into the serial numbers of Genesis/Spirit grills made during these years. However, some owners report finding separate date stickers attached their grills, so you may want to look for that on early gassers.

The first-generation Genesis 1-5 grills had a serial number in this format:

_# 999999

_ was L for liquid propane or N for natural gas
# was the model number:

1 is the Genesis 1
3 is the Genesis 2
7 is the Genesis 3
4 is the Genesis 4
5 is the Genesis 5

999999 was the serialized number

The smaller Genesis XX, XXI, and Jr. models added an S before the L or N and were either S_1 999999 or S_2 999999, for example SL1 123456.

My 1991 Genesis 2 propane grill has a serial number L3 162105. L = propane, 3 = Genesis 2. The only reason I know it's a 1991 grill is because I remember the year I bought it! And don't be confused by the "1990" shown as part of the ANS designation. That's the gas safety standard to which the grill was built, not the year of manufacture.

eWk9lAk.jpg


1993

In 1993, Weber introduced the second-generation Genesis 1000-5000 grills. To differentiate these grills from earlier models, they added a K before the L or N and changed the model designations to 1/2/3/4/5 to match 1000-5000. So KL1 16527 is a Genesis 1000 LP grill; KL2 is a Genesis 2000 LP grill, etc. The Genesis 5500 (a built-in natural gas grill) used PMN instead of K as its designation for "Permanent Mount Natural Gas". The Spirit 500/700 used a P instead of a K.

Note: We have seen an example of a Genesis 5000 sold in Canada with serial number CL5 1844; L indicates propane, 5 indicates model 5000. We have also seen a Genesis 3000 sold in Canada with a serial number DL3 1525; L indicates propane, 3 indicates model 3000. We have even seen a Genesis 2000 sold in Norway with serial number EK2 1338...I assume that E represents Europe. So there can be variations in the old Genesis serial number scheme.

Here's an example of a 1993 Genesis 1000 with serial number KL1 18484:

jUuXhnL.png


1994

Starting in 1994, Weber introduced the two-letter AUTHORIZED date code and started using it on gas grills and owner's manual to indicated model year. See How To Determine The Age Of Weber Grills & Smokers for info on Weber date code schemes for charcoal and gas grills.

We've seen examples as late as 1996 of dual-coded grills, for example this Genesis 2000 with both ER and KL2 codes:

View attachment 17085

Here's an example of a 1999 Genesis 2000 grill with serial number EE 151074:

nmnEPio.jpg


More Recent Date Code Schemes

There are several more recent gas grill date code schemes you can read about in the How To Determine The Age Of Weber Grills & Smokers article on The Virtual Weber Bullet website.

Thanks to TVWBB member Dave Weaver for providing some of this Weber insider info on how to decipher old Weber gas grill serial numbers.
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Hi,
don‘t know if this was stil posted here- the Models from without a code at the serial number have a marking on the right inner side of the lid - See my picture below

IMG_7171.jpeg

Gtx
Steffen
 
It would be a tall task to compile the variations Weber used overseas, but it sure would be interesting. Catalogs for international markets are probably like hen's teeth.
 
Steve Hoch said:
Perhaps it's not wrong at all, the picture of the owners manual looks very different from an American version of that grill.
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Look again at both sides of the cross bar in the picture.
Also appears to be an American version of the owners manual.
There does appear to be an extra cross bar at the rear of the grill though?
Gerry
 
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G Schafer said:
Look again at both sides of the cross bar in the picture.
Also appears to be an American version of the owners manual.
There does appear to be an extra cross bar at the rear of the grill though?
Gerry
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Hi Gerry,
yes, there is one in the front and one at the rear
 
SLensch said:
Hi,
don‘t know if this was stil posted here- the Models from without a code at the serial number have a marking on the right inner side of the lid - See my picture below
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Yes, these casting date codes get you close to the grill's model year, but sometimes a year behind. For example, here's the casting date code and the serial number sticker on my Weber Summit 450. My interpretation of the casting date code is August 2001--eight dots around the perimeter and the number 1 in the center for 2001--while the DU serial number indicates a 2002 model year for the overall grill.

IMG_E7173[1].JPG

IMG_E7175[1].JPG
 
I would say you are correct Chris. The end caps and/or cook box were likely made a year or two prior and simply used in completing your grill. I have seen that same kind of thing on several of my rehab grills. As long as the parts are for that same generation, it doesn't really matter when the parts were individually made.
 
Bruce said:
As long as the parts are for that same generation, it doesn't really matter when the parts were individually made.
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You're right, but for anyone hoping that these round date codes represent that actual model year of a grill with no serial number sticker to go on, these codes get you close to the model year, perhaps exactly on the model year, but there's no way to know for certain.
 
Chris Allingham said:
You're right, but for anyone hoping that these round date codes represent that actual model year of a grill with no serial number sticker to go on, these codes get you close to the model year, perhaps exactly on the model year, but there's no way to know for certain.
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Yup. And it assumes no part swapping has happened.

Working from that assumption, a grill will not be older than a casting date, or a year of a gas certification standard on a label.
 
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