Help with my E-320 getting too hot


 
J

James Ferrara

New member
Hello everyone. I've been back and forth with Weber about my grill issues and wanted to ask the experts on the board before I spent money on a fix.

I have a Genesis E-320 that I bought in 2010 (E-W burners). I replaced the burners in 2019 (under warranty) and have had very high temps since. I called Weber really soon after the replacement and they said the burners just needed time to "burn in." Fast forward to summer 2020 and nothing has changed, in fact it's getting even hotter than last year. I had flavorizer bars turning orange, and very high flames on the right side in particular. This was not the case when the grill was new or prior to the burner change out.

I called Weber and they sent out a hose regulator. When I asked if that did not work would they send new burners next, the CSR said, "no, the next thing would be the manifold." I changed the regulator hose and that actually made things worse. I'm able to reach 550 on the hood thermometer with all burners on medium and even (front to back) High-Low-Low.

I think my grill is really well cared for, but it does need a new bottom shelf due to rust, so I'm already going to spend money on that. However I don't want to buy the manifold if that will not fix my problem. I've also wondered at what point would my money be better spent on a new grill. I'm sure the forum will say this is better built than any new Genesis. I expected to get at least 15 years from the grill when I bought it, but as I'm finding the high heat possibly dangerous I just want to be sure I have the information I need to make a good decision.

What could be causing this problem, and what needs replacing? Thanks.
 
I have a 2009 E320 that's NG and with the back burner on high and the mid burner on low I hit between 350-375. So you definitely have a problem.
Are the air adjustments at the front of the burners set the same as the old burners? If the only thing that changed was the burners I would suspect that they are the cause of the problem.
I don't think the manifold is the issue if all three burners are doing the same thing if just one was doing it could be a valve problem but not all three.
 
Take a night time picture with the background as dark as you can get it...no lighting, no flavorizer bars. Are the flames higher in one area on one burner than another? There is an orifice after the valve that regulates the amount of gas that is fed to each individual burner. The gas mixes with air in the area with the shutter and then pressurizes the individual burner. If you've got roaring flames that "stand" out from the burner, the night time pic will show it.

Example of a flame pattern on a Q grill:
 

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What does the bottom panel of your grill look like besides the rust? Does it have the cutout to hold the LP tank with the tank scale inside the cabinet? Is there a hole in the right side frame (valve side) for the tank hose to pass thru enroute to the manifold? Are you the original owner of the grill? What is the model number of your grill? This info would eliminate a few possibilities.
 
James:
I've got a 2007 e-320 and my temps match what Rich Dahl posted. Do you have an oven thermometer you can double check the lid thermometer against? Sometimes the lid thermometer goes bad. I've got a Thermoworks Smoke I use to check mine and it usually within about 10 degrees.
 
The fact that the flavor bars are turning orange is troubling...steel turns red at 1400F, orange at 1700F. Aluminum melts at 1200F. I think further investigation is warranted, certainly. Have a look at night, take pictures, I'd like to see.
 
Dan Leighton said:
Mine have had redness on the right side for more than a decade, but the grill performs flawlessly with normal operating temps.
Click to expand...
Good to know...I've never paid attention.

EDIT: One of the reasons may be that I have GrillGrates and never run higher than Med or Med-Hi, and they cover the entire area so I can't see the flavor bars.
 
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Even at 110 outside temp, the grill maxes out at about 650 after being on for quite awhile. The "high flames" has me curious about the grill history. The bars are a dull red, not bright red and visible only at dusk.
 
To answer some questions:
I am the original owner of this Genesis E-320. The bottom panel has the right side cut out for the propane tank to hang on the scale. It does have the pass through hole on the right side for the hose. The flavorizer bars are Weber brand.

I did not consider air adjustments because I did not think that was something recommended with Weber burners.
I agree about the high temp of the grill in summer. Two years ago, prior to the burner replacement,the highest the lid thermometer got was about 650. I measured the temp of the back most flavorizer bar with the burner on medium the other night and got 890.

IMG_4399.JPGIMG_4412.JPGIMG_4419.JPG
 
James: thanks for the photos and the grill info. That rules out a lot of things. You using a infrared gun to measure that temp? Photos don't look that far off, but the forum's flame experts will weigh in. What temp thermometer getting to when you are getting those readings on the flavor bars?
 
The first thing I would do is to go through all the burner jets (slots) with a tool (jeweler's screwdriver, xacto knife). You shouldn't have to do that with new burners, but your flames don't look consistent. I'm no expert, but I think you can see your flames are taller in some areas than others. Is there something in the center of your burners to account for the low flames in that area? Are the burner jets all open? And take pics with the valves on Hi and Lo.

Maybe just do one burner and see if that makes a difference, but there has to be a reason your flames are so low in the center. Are all the jets the same size? If so, your flames should all be the same. Wind will mess your flames up, so try to do this in a wind-free area if possible.

Maybe we can all learn something here. Don't mess with the crossover tube (if it's the same as the older Gennies). They live a hard life.

EDIT: Also, don't go messing with the air shutter opening. You have an operating range for the fuel/air mix (between ~2.15% and ~9.6% fuel to air) and if you are not having ignition problems there's no reason to adjust it at this point.
 
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First off everyone. Get the air slots out of your head! First they don't "magically" go out of adjustment. Second they can NEVER cause an over temp condition. If they were wildly out of adjustment they could cause low temps due to bad combustion. It does NOT look like the OP's issue. At issue there is it looks like WAY too much gas is getting into the burners at way too high of pressures. It actually looks to me from the flames and patterns that the main metering orifices are hogged out or totally missing. Though it truly does look to me like what happens when an LP hose is put on a NG manifold. But, I am going to take the OP's word for it that the grill was bought and used all this time as a TRUE LP grill. Also There is NOTHING inherent to a manifold that can go "bad". Think...................it's nothing but a pipe!
OP I would truly like to know if this was TRULY an LP grill to begin. I would also like to see a photo of the manifold off the grill from the side the gas nozzles enter the burner tubes.
There is more here we're not being told
 
Larry: That's why I was asking about the physical layout of the cabinet. From what the OP is saying it was a LP grill, not NG. Not sure what transpired after the grill was built.
 
Stick a 3/64" drill bit shank into the orifice. If it goes in, they are NG orifices. If not, they are propane orifices. Regardless of the grill layout or stickers, that will be proof positive.
 
Again, I am the original owner, this is and has only ever been an LP grill. No reason to attempt a conversion to NG since I don't have a connection. Prior to replacing burners (followed Weber instructions) the only other parts replacements were grates and flavorizor bars. Here's from the original order email.

I have the old regulator I can put back on.
Tonight I'll take pictures of flames on low and medium as well.

weberorder.JPG
 
James Ferrara said:
Again, I am the original owner, this is and has only ever been an LP grill. No reason to attempt a conversion to NG since I don't have a connection. Prior to replacing burners (followed Weber instructions) the only other parts replacements were grates and flavorizor bars. Here's from the original order email.

I have the old regulator I can put back on.
Tonight I'll take pictures of flames on low and medium as well.

View attachment 15266
Click to expand...
You still have not tried simply posting a photo of the "nozzle end" of the valves (the part that actually inserts into the burners). I suspect your issue is there. Though I am sure it would not have been unheard of to have 2 faulty regulators. Make sure also the regulator you installed is for a grill. Others can be high pressure regulators. AGAIN, from the looks of the flames you posted you have too much gas/and or pressure AFTER the valves.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
The first thing I would do is to go through all the burner jets (slots) with a tool (jeweler's screwdriver, xacto knife). You shouldn't have to do that with new burners, but your flames don't look consistent. I'm no expert, but I think you can see your flames are taller in some areas than others. Is there something in the center of your burners to account for the low flames in that area? Are the burner jets all open? And take pics with the valves on Hi and Lo.

Maybe just do one burner and see if that makes a difference, but there has to be a reason your flames are so low in the center. Are all the jets the same size? If so, your flames should all be the same. Wind will mess your flames up, so try to do this in a wind-free area if possible.

Maybe we can all learn something here. Don't mess with the crossover tube (if it's the same as the older Gennies). They live a hard life.

EDIT: Also, don't go messing with the air shutter opening. You have an operating range for the fuel/air mix (between ~2.15% and ~9.6% fuel to air) and if you are not having ignition problems there's no reason to adjust it at this point.
Click to expand...

I used the small screwdriver in the slots in the daylight so unfortunately I did not get photos of the burners on medium and low as it was originally. However I do believe this has solved my issue. It also reminded me that when I was installing the burners last year I thought some of the holes looked small. I only had the original, nine year old, not in great shape burners to compare to so I was not sure. Now I suspect I was correct and the replacement burners were not machined well. The slots in the center of the burners are smaller, but I believe this is by design as I noticed the same thing on the previous ones.

I won't know for sure until I cook next (probably this weekend), but once I put flavorizor bars and grates back on the grill was glowing blue with no orange flames sneaking up the right side.

All the photos are after using the screwdriver in the slots. The flames still aren't the same on left and right, but it's much better and minimal orange flames. The left side was always hotter though, even when new.

Original High
IMG_4419.JPG

High
IMG_4448.JPG

Medium
IMG_4462.JPG

Low
IMG_4477.JPG
 
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