Newbie Summit Find and Rebuild/Conversion

[MMyers]

I wish I had found this forum sooner!
So my son and I came across the grill find of the century - a discarded Weber Summit! It was sitting on the curb/lawn of a house next to an old tire, lest anyone think I may have "acquired" it by other means It looked good, but we loaded it into the minivan and brought it home for closer inspection. Overall it's in amazing shape and I've made a couple videos on what I may fix/replace and mostly on my attempt to convert it from natural gas to propane. Yeah, not as easy as just changing the jets as I learned on this forum...
If interested, please see the more details on YouTube below. I'm currently contemplating going back to NG which will require a house hookup or complete the propane conversion.

 

[Bruce]

I just pitty the original owners who paid $3500 for those grills. I also pitty the poor soul who picks one up and goes down the rabbit hole of trying to fix them up before they realize what they are getting into.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Interesting videos, welcome to the forum. Out of curiosity, do you know what the model # of that grill is? Also, did you check to see if the original owner ever registered it with Weber?

 

[BPratt]

Welcome MMyers,

I had a few of the summits. I try to get everything working before spending any money. There are many parts and not many free summits sitting on the curb to draw parts from

 

[Bruce]

It is probably an S-670 Summit.

 

[Mack Manning]

It is probably an S-670 Summit.

This one's actually the less common S-620 without the smoke, sear or rotisserie burners.

Weber Grill Schematics | Weber Grill Models

Weber Schematics - browse product schematics and part lists by entering a serial number, description, or by selecting a product family.

www.weber.com

The warranty is 25 years on some parts, so definitely try to register it and see if Weber is feeling generous.

 

[MMyers]

T

Interesting videos, welcome to the forum. Out of curiosity, do you know what the model # of that grill is? Also, did you check to see if the original owner ever registered it with Weber?

Thanks, model is 7420001.
I'm not sure if it's registered but when I looked up the warranty, not through weber, it looked like it had only a 10 year warranty.

 

[Mack Manning]

I just watched your videos and the grill is in great shape for a Summit. My similar age one had rusted out bottom and grease tray, all the plastic parts disintegrating, all the chrome flaking.

Not having the rotisserie burner which lets rain in probably helped a lot.

The stainless exterior buffs very nicely with barkeeper's friend, actually much better than the newer Genesis grills.

The door alignment is adjustable, search on the page for your grill.

Definitely ask Weber about a new fire box. Some say the holes are a safety hazard, but I forgot why. Hopefully, someone can comment on that.

 

[MMyers]

This one's actually the less common S-620 without the smoke, sear or rotisserie burners.

Weber Grill Schematics | Weber Grill Models

Weber Schematics - browse product schematics and part lists by entering a serial number, description, or by selecting a product family.

www.weber.com

The warranty is 25 years on some parts, so definitely try to register it and see if Weber is feeling generous.

Thanks, I do need to check with weber. When looking it up I only saw a 10 year warranty, though.

 

[Mack Manning]

T

Thanks, model is 7420001.
I'm not sure if it's registered but when I looked up the warranty, not through weber, it looked like it had only a 10 year warranty.

Weber reduced the warranty a couple years ago, but your grill most likely predates that change. Some of the expensive parts had 25 year warranty on my Summit. If you register, it will display the warranty end dates for each part.

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www.weber.com

 

[MMyers]

I just watched your videos and the grill is in great shape for a Summit. My similar age one had rusted out bottom and grease tray, all the plastic parts disintegrating, all the chrome flaking.

Not having the rotisserie burner which lets rain in probably helped a lot.

The stainless exterior buffs very nicely with barkeeper's friend, actually much better than the newer Genesis grills.

The door alignment is adjustable, search on the page for your grill.

Definitely ask Weber about a new fire box. Some say the holes are a safety hazard, but I forgot why. Hopefully, someone can comment on that.

Thanks. I really can't believe how good of shape it's in either considering someone just put it on the curb.
I noticed the grease trap on this will fill with water without the cover on it. Water just follows the lid and wicks into the grill. Seems like a really poor design.
I really do want to polish it up but have so many other projects queued up...
I will be contacting weber - a new firebox would be awesome!

 

[Steve Hoch]

T

Thanks, model is 7420001.
I'm not sure if it's registered but when I looked up the warranty, not through weber, it looked like it had only a 10 year warranty.

Cool, I just like to know so I can see what you can still get for them. It does look like you can get an Lp Weber manifold for it if you want to use it as a propane grill. It also looks like you can get a replacement cook box for it. Since you got it for free, it might be worth investing in some new parts for it. I would still try and register it first though.

 

[Mack Manning]

I chalked the leaking up to the rotisserie housing on mine, but I guess it affects all of them. I learned the hard way to immediately replace the waterproof cover when it's cool enough. I left it off for one storm and the grease pan flooded and made a mess of my grill and deck.

My cabinet floor wasn't covered by warranty, but it was only about $60. It was very well packed and shipped FedEx, so it was more of a goodwill gesture than a money maker for them.

Definitely go over the exterior with barkeeper's friend. You'll see a big difference in well under an hour. That stain on the side burner cover will buff out. The shiny outside helps motivate you to fix the inside, and in my experience make the wife feel better about the latest project in my deck or garage.

 

[Joe Anshien]

If you are going to clean it up take out the burners and use simple green and stainless wool pad to clean them up. You would be amazed at how much rust comes out. You need to try and adjust to a blue flame which may be achievable by adjusting the air intake on the burner tubes (the screened in part has a screw. Loosen and twist.

 

[Brett-EDH]

It is probably an S-670 Summit.

Nope. 670 has more knobs. Sear, roto, and smoker dials. And a built in roto motor in left table side.

And this one has full lower box rot and burn through.



IMO this grill is near the danger lever as the flames will come through the lower box and can do some serious skin burn damage.

I’d walk away. Or sell it for parts. Or weld steel plate in the cook box and buy all new ignition wires.

Sorry for being so blunt. I’ve walked 10 miles in these shoes already.

 

[MMyers]

I chalked the leaking up to the rotisserie housing on mine, but I guess it affects all of them. I learned the hard way to immediately replace the waterproof cover when it's cool enough. I left it off for one storm and the grease pan flooded and made a mess of my grill and deck.

My cabinet floor wasn't covered by warranty, but it was only about $60. It was very well packed and shipped FedEx, so it was more of a goodwill gesture than a money maker for them.

Definitely go over the exterior with barkeeper's friend. You'll see a big difference in well under an hour. That stain on the side burner cover will buff out. The shiny outside helps motivate you to fix the inside, and in my experience make the wife feel better about the latest project in my deck or garage.

Probably get a new cabinet bottom in the spring. I'd really like to "fix" that leak first as I forget to cover it too many times.
I thought that the burner cover might be discoloration from being overheated, but it's just a guess. It'd be awesome if it polished out.

 

[Brett-EDH]

From the last question in your first video, “what would you do?”

My answer is run. Run Forest, run. You’re looking at $750-1250 in parts and only Weber sells them and you can buy a clean used S670, and you have a S620 there IIRC, for $1400-1500 these days.

From your video. Major areas of concern, and I left out your rotted cart.



These are all burnt.



Extensive burn through. Dangerous.



More box rot pics.

 

[MMyers]

Nope. 670 has more knobs. Sear, roto, and smoker dials. And a built in roto motor in left table side.

And this one has full lower box rot and burn through.

View attachment 56894

IMO this grill is near the danger lever as the flames will come through the lower box and can do some serious skin burn damage.

I’d walk away. Or sell it for parts. Or weld steel plate in the cook box and buy all new ignition wires.

Sorry for being so blunt. I’ve walked 10 miles in these shoes already.

Oh sure, destroy my dreams in the name of safety...

 

[Steve Hoch]

Nope. 670 has more knobs. Sear, roto, and smoker dials. And a built in roto motor in left table side.

And this one has full lower box rot and burn through.

View attachment 56894

IMO this grill is near the danger lever as the flames will come through the lower box and can do some serious skin burn damage.

I’d walk away. Or sell it for parts. Or weld steel plate in the cook box and buy all new ignition wires.

Sorry for being so blunt. I’ve walked 10 miles in these shoes already.

Let's face it, that's why the original owner just put it to the curb. He knew what was wrong and didn't want to deal with it. Now MMyers has an opportunity to make the grill right again. There are still parts available for it, or maybe he can get something under warranty? It will be interesting to see what ends up happening.

 

[MMyers]

If you are going to clean it up take out the burners and use simple green and stainless wool pad to clean them up. You would be amazed at how much rust comes out. You need to try and adjust to a blue flame which may be achievable by adjusting the air intake on the burner tubes (the screened in part has a screw. Loosen and twist.

Thanks for the tips. I did adjust the flames and did some cleaning in the second video.