Door


 
L

Luis L.

Banned
Well, the great news is that my WSM came in today. Picked her up about 2 hours ago. I have it all assembled and looking good. The not so good news is that the door does not fit securely. I know this is a common issue. Should I attempt to bend it? Or will the grease make it fit tighter? Thanks in advance.

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Mine fit the same way when I put it together. I DID bend mine a little and it fits a bit closer and the built up grease seams to fill what the bending doesn't do on the sides But I would say go ahead and bend your door little bit. I must say the door on Your New 22.5 looks HUGE!
 
i would bend it back. easily done. the middle just needs to be pushed back out a bit. just take a litle time. i had one that looked like waves in the ocean. it now is purt near leak proof.
 
Luis, I would try it out for a couple of sessions to see how your temp. control goes. It will tend to run a little hotter initially as you have probably already read but things seem to settle down after a few cooks. Good luck and have fun with your new toy.
 
Bend it slightly if needed. The WSM was not designed to be - nor is it important that it be - air tight.
 
Thanks everyone. I bent it slightly and fixed the left side gap. However the right side gap is giving me fits. I bend that side a bit and it messes up the vertical side. I'm going to try a bit more, carefully. If it doesn't work I'm just going to apply some high heat resistant tape and foil to it. Thanks everyone!
 
Well...I know that it seems critical right now, but trust in your equipment.

Learn the fundamentals of temp control, and you will find that the shape of the door is not really much of an issue.

Been there, done that.
 
OUCH! That is much worse than what I experienced. One word should be your guide -patience. Patience is difficult with anything new, but I have noticed it's just a knee and common sense.
On another note:
BBQ galore sells a gasket for the BGE. FYI
 
Do you think Weber would send me a good door if I call and complain? Although as some say the door shouldn't fit tight, I believe it shouldn't fit loose either. If I wanted more air in my smoker I'd open up the bottom vents more. Hopefully Weber makes good on this issue.
 
I don't think the door they'd send you would be different but they'd likely send one I believe, The gaps in your pic are minor. Not a problem.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
I don't think the door they'd send you would be different but they'd likely send one I believe, The gaps in your pic are minor. Not a problem.
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You're right Kevin. The gaps are probably minor and I'm just over reacting. I'll just foil it up if by 3 or 4 cooks it doesn't improve with grease. Thanks
 
You can if you wish. I don't see the need. As long as your center section is seated well and there are no gaps there, minor gaps at the door are not an issue. Since it is worth having a windscreen anyway, air intake at the door gaps is minimal and does not cause any problems.
 
Luis, foil isn't necessary. You just need to cautiously bit-by-bit re-bend the door to fit the contour of the WSM. Mine was much worse than yours when I got it. And I had to start over when (like yours) I got the bend too tight. It's just aluminum, go slow, keep adjusting and it will get real close.

Rich
 
Ditto to what Kevin said. The replacement won't be any better.
I had mine replaced when the knob came off during a cook, and the fasteners fell into the firebox. CS sent me a new door that was worse than the original, so I just cannibalized it for the missing parts.
Trust us when we say that as you learn and gain experience, it becomes a non-issue.
 
I'm 3 cooks into my WSM and still have similar door issues. I have bent and rebent the door so many times that I feel like I just keep repeating the same gaps over and over. Haven't noticed a really big issue with the gap, but I am concerned that when the temps get higher outside I will have an issue keeping the WSM temps down for low heat smoking. Oh well, I'll keep on bending until I get it right.
 
Granted I'm new to this but I would say that slightly closing the bottom vents would compensate for the gaps IMHO. I did not notice any gaps in mine, although I did not really check for any. I'll take a look when I go out and shovel. We got another 3-4inches of snow up here in New England.
 
Like others mention gaps on the door really doesn't have any effect. The photo you posted, gaps really don't look all that bad to me
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I think mine was worse and I used it for several years and it really didn't affect my cooks IMHO. I did end up straightening mine though just because it bugged me.

That said if you get tired of playing with the old door, replace it with one of the stainless steel replacements from cajun bandit instead of getting another from Weber.

Have one on mine for over a year. They fit tight/tighter and are better built IMHO. The have the replacements for the 22 inch, pre and post 2009 18 inch models. Not priced so bad either.

Replacement Doors

Again, not a requirement per se - but a nice piece of WSM "jewelry"
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