My Grill gets hot but my brother's wont

[Brian Lieder]

We have identical grills - older 3 burner genesis with 13 flavor bars. Both grills have stainless flavor bars and cast iron grates. His grill takes at least twice as long as mine to heat up, and really wont go over 450. Mine can peg the thermomoeter no problem. I took the grates and flavor bars out of the grill, and it has a nice uniform flame and the grill heated up real quick with none of that stuff in it. I gave him the grill last year, and before i did i cleaned the tubes inside and out.

So my question is what's the problem? My one thought was that he has alot of food and grease buildup on the bottom of his grates, but to me it's a stretch that this would cause a major slowdown of heat.

 

[ChuckO]

I gave him the grill last year, and before i did i cleaned the tubes inside and out. So my question is what's the problem?

Since you cleaned the tubes inside / out, a problem might be in his propane tank. His tank might be full of air, and if he doesn't drain it out before refilling it, he'll continue to get poor performance. You could try swapping bottles, if yours is giving good heat. That will either eliminate it, or identify it being the problem or not

 

[BobW]

Since you cleaned the tubes inside / out, a problem might be in his propane tank. His tank might be full of air, and if he doesn't drain it out before refilling it, he'll continue to get poor performance. You could try swapping bottles, if yours is giving good heat. That will either eliminate it, or identify it being the problem or not

Good Advice!

 

[Ron G.]

Yup! Could also be a difference in old Propane Tank vs New:

New Propane Tanks have a "special" (I.E. - P.I.T.A.) Safety Valve that is designed to close-down automatically if the gas flow "spikes". If you turn everything on too quickly, this Safety Valve significantly slows the flow of gas.

On the problematic Grill:

• Be sure to Start with ALL Burner Valves and the Gas Tank Valve closed
• Open the Gas Tank Valve ALL the way
• Open the Front Burner Valve to the "light" position
• Light the Front Burner
• Turn-On / Light the other burners on ONE-At-A-Time

By following this process - the flow of gas in increased more gradually, which prevents this little sucka' from "doing its thang"...

Also, if trying a different tank does not fix the issue - make sure that the problematic grill was not ever converted to Natural Gas. (You would probably need to get good pictures of the valves and gas manifold piping that interconnects them / any part numbers on them - THEN call Weber.)

 

[Bob Ivey]

Slightly different thought. All of the above is excellant advice. I had a similar problem with my Genesis 1000 recently and it turned out to be a bad regulator and hose assembly. Ordered a new one from Weber and the grill now pegs the thermometer past 550 degrees. Before it would barely hit 325 degrees. If after you try all of the above troubleshooting, if nothing else helps, get a new regulator from Weber. Keep in mind that according to Weber, the different models require different regulators so that is why I ordered direct from Weber. Good Luck.

 

[DaveW]

Slightly different thought. All of the above is excellant advice. I had a similar problem with my Genesis 1000 recently and it turned out to be a bad regulator and hose assembly. Ordered a new one from Weber and the grill now pegs the thermometer past 550 degrees. Before it would barely hit 325 degrees. If after you try all of the above troubleshooting, if nothing else helps, get a new regulator from Weber. Keep in mind that according to Weber, the different models require different regulators so that is why I ordered direct from Weber. Good Luck.

^^^ This. Since you have the same grills, grab a wrench and take off your regulator and hose and swap with his. See what temps your grill gets with his regulator, and his with your's.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Slightly different thought. All of the above is excellant advice. I had a similar problem with my Genesis 1000 recently and it turned out to be a bad regulator and hose assembly. Ordered a new one from Weber and the grill now pegs the thermometer past 550 degrees. Before it would barely hit 325 degrees. If after you try all of the above troubleshooting, if nothing else helps, get a new regulator from Weber. Keep in mind that according to Weber, the different models require different regulators so that is why I ordered direct from Weber. Good Luck.

Bingo! That's the exact same thing I experienced with my 1999 Genesis 1000. Replaced the regulator and back in business.

 

[Bob Ivey]

Bingo! That's the exact same thing I experienced with my 1999 Genesis 1000. Replaced the regulator and back in business.

Rich, my 98 Genesis 1000 probably had the regulator changed out by someone before I got it and I am thinking they put the wrong one on. That is why I recommended only getting on from Weber unless you can find the exact part number elsewhere. If I am not mistaken, didn't these units come with a different regulator hookup when they were first manufactured? Not sure but wasn't the tank hookup different on the original units. Not sure about that. That would explain the possible source of my problem at least. With the new regulator, it gets temps past 550 now.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Rich, my 98 Genesis 1000 probably had the regulator changed out by someone before I got it and I am thinking they put the wrong one on. That is why I recommended only getting on from Weber unless you can find the exact part number elsewhere. If I am not mistaken, didn't these units come with a different regulator hookup when they were first manufactured? Not sure but wasn't the tank hookup different on the original units. Not sure about that. That would explain the possible source of my problem at least. With the new regulator, it gets temps past 550 now.

Bob, the early models had a quick release regulator, which is now obsolete. You had to have the matching bottle which is also obsolete. Looked like a quick release for an air compressor. When I rehabbed my 1000LX I changed it out to the current type. I used a char broil regulator and it works fine. I believe all the basic grills like Weber use the same line pressure, some of the turkey cooker use a different type and there are adjustable ones also. But I think any that you can buy at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Etc. will work on a standard grill.

 

[GregA]

One other thought... The regulator may be ok but you have to give enough time before igniting for the line to fill with gas. Try turning on the tank (if closed), wait one minute, then go to ignite.

I had an issue with my ignitor valve. It wasn't fully closing so, even though I could get it to light, the flow was very low. Then it got stuck full open and wouldn't light at all even though gas was obviously flowing up. I fixed the valve (a few shots of WD-40), let it prime per Weber's CS advice, and was back in business.