Genesis II E410 vs. LX-E440


 
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Damon.Harris

New member
OK- Noobie question here...

The E410 is 4 x 12,000 BTU for 48,000 BTU total on the main burners.
The LX-E440 is rated at 52,000 BTU total on the main burners - so assuming it's 4 x 13,000 here.

The question: Is the extra 1,000 BTU/burner a function of the burner or the gas manifold/valves?
 
That's a really good question. I am betting it has to do with the manifold or maybe at least the valves on it. They did this originally to justify the higher LX price and compensate for the original decision to eliminate the "sear" burner. They have since brought that back.
 
It would be the manifold or basically the orifice on each valve. You could get the same effect by simply opening up the orifice to flow and extra 1000 BTW or so per burner. It's all Weber did but they charged you lots of $$$$ for it
 
Well, I can attest to the effect Larry speaks of since I did it in a pretty big way on my "The Judge" grill. I jumped up significantly:

BEFORE:
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AFTER ENLARGING ORIFICES:
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For this purpose I would think you need to be a lot more careful and only make a minor tweak. From what I understand, grill manufacturers - including Weber - are very concerned with liability from overheated grills. They purposely "tune" them down to reduce this risk. It would be an easy matter for them to open up the orifices more and thereby raise the btu's, but they don't want grills going thermonuclear and starting house fires. I know my "The Judge" is now a paint-peeler and too hot to handle unless used with extra care. Accordingly, I am following the advice to not even consider flipping it.

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I appreciate the input, all. Bummer, though. I was hoping there was an incremental improvement I could make to the output on my new(-ish) acquisition by simply swapping a few factory bits. Guess I got spoiled tuning early water cooled VW's with all of their LEGO-esque improvement options.

That being said - does anyone know what the difference is between the 410 and 440 main burners?
 
The burners themselves don't set the BTU it's the orifice. Just open the orifice slightly. Just refer to this chart https://andersonforrester.com/conversion-chart/ calculate the BTU per burner you have now, find the orifice current size in the chart, than simply open them to the size you want. Voila' you have yourself an LX model
 
There you go, Damon! Sounds like not too difficult of a fix and you will save a lot. Also a great idea for people shopping for these grills. If you like the open cart, then you don't need to forgo that to get the higher output burners. Just do the minor adjustment Larry recommends:eek:!

Larry,

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom! As always you are a great source of technical help in these areas. We all appreciate it very much:cool:.
 
Thanks, Larry. That is a handy reference!

Now to see if I have the stones to go drilling on my valves... Anyone got a spare set laying around?
 
LarryS said:
Is it as simple as drilling out the hole in the orifice, or do you need to buy new ones?
Click to expand...

Larry knows the answer to that and I assume you would need numbered bits to do that but maybe its just me not something I would do as Jon stated he turned his into a flame thrower.

Are you keeping it forever? If not would you feel comfortable selling that to someone after you modified it from factory specs not knowing whether you did it correctly or not.

Larry knows what he is doing not sure the rest of us do.

Actually leave it the way it is and buy a few panels of GrillGrates. :cool:
 
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It is as simple as drilling out the old orifices. I did the same thing on mine, based on Larry's advice. As he points out it is important that you use the right size. Also you want a drill press or some arrangement that will make sure you make a very well centered straight bore. I don't this is something for which you should whip out a cordless drill and do what you can.

I will let Larry give the authoritative view, but as long as you only enlarge it to get to the LX specs, I don't really see any issue at all. This Weber is clearly designed to handle that amount of heat. A very different animal than the walk on the wild side I chose to do on my "The Judge" which was certainly over the top and more power than the little Sunbeam was ever intended to tolerate.
 
So even though the btu's are driven by the orifice, does anyone have definitive info on difference between the burners I posted? Perhaps something to make it a little better suited to increased btu's?
 
Someone posted the actual burner parts and it's pretty obvious there is no difference. As for drilling them I use a small stand alone chuck like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/0-6-8mm-Mu...or-Grinder-Shaft-Rotary-Tool-US-/323663882322 but here is something that would work well which I may actually buy https://www.ebay.com/itm/17pc-FINE-...ILL-BIT-SET-PIN-VISE-CHUCK-VICE-/172076133863
Anyway I do it by hand as my drill press is a large industrial machine not suited for little stuff. Make sure to hold the orifice firmly (I use a small vice grip), work slowly don't force the bit through and go smaller than you think you need. You can always go up a step. So moral here is go a little smaller than you think and give the grill a test. Odds are you'll find performance is just what you want a size smaller than you might think but if not take them out and go another step, retest. Whatever you do this is not the place for "go big or go home" LOL
 
Hmmm, drilling by hand into brass? I would have thought that would take forever, but then I guess you are only reaming the existing hole and not drilling a new one.
 
Brass is so soft it's easy besides you're only taking out a couple thousandths of an inch at a time
 
;) Yah, that's what I figured. I would just caution to be careful that you don't snap off the bit in the orifice. That would be my style.
 
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