one leaking valve on discontinued manifold


 
By junk I meant just that Scott. I only recommended a scrapper the way a junk yard scraps cars. Not that he should be rebuilding it as a second grill. You have to understand my linguistics :D
 
I get what Larry is saying. I call those grills "parts grills" usually as there are a lot of other parts left on them after stealing a valve that you can strip off before putting it on the curb for the scrap guy to pick up. And as Larry says, that grill itself might be fixable with another manifold or valve. Depending on its overall condition, you might want to push it to the side for when a another grill pops up that you can used to rehab it. Pretty soon you have 4 or 5 grills in the back yard and a ton of extra tools and cleaners and paint and you are officially welcomed into the Weber Rehab Club along with your diagnosis for Weberitis.
 
Ok. if i can find an intact 3 burner manifold that doesn't leak, I'll just swap the whole manifold with mine. If I can only get a valve then I'll go with swapping just the valve. Sorry if this question is simple, but I've never changed a valve on a LP grill or any gas valve for that matter. what's the process of removing the valve from the donor manifold? Is it simply removing the screws on top and taking out the inner parts and then putting then in my grill? Also, my grill has 3 burners. Do you think a valve from a similar (side control) 2 burner would work on mine? I'm assuming Weber tried to reuse valves between 2 and 3 burner grills to reduce cost.
 
Let me know if you can't find a valve locally.... I've got a manifold that I replaced due to one torched valve that leaked --- I concluded that it was a loose bolt holding it to the manifold and the leak was not from the valve itself, but I had another donor grill that I was using for parts anyways, so I swapped the manifold. I've still got the 'burnt' manifold that has two good valves that I've been saving 'just in case'. The issue I had with reusing the manifold that 'burnt' was that even tho the I believe the valve that burnt was good --- there is a silicone washer that that goes between the manifold and the 'washered bolt' to seal that was toasted and I was unable to locate a replacement.. My plan was to cut a leather washer and grease it with marine grease to form a seal - but having a donor negated that need.

Edit to add --- you may want to disassemble the valve and give it a good cleaning/regrease --- that might be all it takes.
I've done that to several valves to get the nice 'depress/clicks' back.


Let me know and I'll go take pics to verify compatibility --- but its from a Silver B square tube manifold, so it should be good to go.

And just to be clear --- PROPANE valve since it wasn't actually stated......
 
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Jim Weber said:
Let me know if you can't find a valve locally.... I've got a manifold that I replaced due to one torched valve that leaked --- I concluded that it was a loose bolt holding it to the manifold and the leak was not from the valve itself, but I had another donor grill that I was using for parts anyways, so I swapped the manifold. I've still got the 'burnt' manifold that has two good valves that I've been saving 'just in case'. The issue I had with reusing the manifold that 'burnt' was that even tho the I believe the valve that burnt was good --- there is a silicone washer that that goes between the manifold and the 'washered bolt' to seal that was toasted and I was unable to locate a replacement.. My plan was to cut a leather washer and grease it with marine grease to form a seal - but having a donor negated that need.

Edit to add --- you may want to disassemble the valve and give it a good cleaning/regrease --- that might be all it takes.
I've done that to several valves to get the nice 'depress/clicks' back.


Let me know and I'll go take pics to verify compatibility --- but its from a Silver B square tube manifold, so it should be good to go.

And just to be clear --- PROPANE valve since it wasn't actually stated......
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Thanks! I'll try the cleaning/degrease this week and let you know. I'm on a mission to get this old grill working :)
 
Jim Weber said:
Out of curiosity..... how/why did you find the leaking valve? Did you have a 'flame event'? Or a 'mysteriously empty tank'?
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Someone gave me the grill when they upgraded. I couldn't get it to light. I called Weber to see what they would recommend and they sent me new burners. In the process of replacing them I had it apart. After putting the burners in I figured I would check for leaks and that's when I found it.
 
Oh --- and I should have said check the bolt on the manifold for tightness --- that was my problem - it was 3/4 turn from tight.
(the bolt that Bruce pointed out)
It doesn't look like you got alot of soap on the backside of the valve - so it could be leaking in the back too..... Can't really tell if the bubbles are coming from the valve stem/body or the mating surface to the manifold from the pic.
I have to say I've never seen a bad valve that wasn't caused by obvious mechanical damage....
 
Jim Weber said:
Oh --- and I should have said check the bolt on the manifold for tightness --- that was my problem - it was 3/4 turn from tight.
(the bolt that Bruce pointed out)
It doesn't look like you got alot of soap on the backside of the valve - so it could be leaking in the back too..... Can't really tell if the bubbles are coming from the valve stem/body or the mating surface to the manifold from the pic.
I have to say I've never seen a bad valve that wasn't caused by obvious mechanical damage....
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Good advice Jim, I may not have immediately thought of that myself. I'm used to the older style of manifold where the valve screws into the manifold.
 
I would bet $$$$ that that is the problem..... The valves just don't fail. You wouldn't THINK that those screws would back out/loosen either --- but thats how I ended up with that grill --- a 'flame event' that melted the knob and torched the silicone washer that rides on the control stem - the owner was scared of it from that point on - freebie for me!!!! I had played around with it without any problems until WHOOOOOSH and there are flames under the control panel...... A little digging and I finally found that loose screw --- I never did run a soap test. The silicone washer under that shouldered screw was all chewed up..... I called up Weber to see if I could get a replacement washer --- no dice - NO serviceable parts for the manifold assembly..... but they did send me a new set of knobs to replace the melted one!!!! I would have been fine running that manifold with a home made washer - but I had already picked up a donor grill with a broken lid pin boss (on the firebox) to replace the droopy/wiggly left table ---- that annoyed me more than the manifold ----- so I swapped out the manifold anyways just so I wouldn't have to think about it. Of course the old manifold is just sitting in the base cabinet now..... until I (or someone) needs a valve..... or a hose/regulator...... You guys know how it is.... I try to keep a small bone yard.
 
Hey all. I wanted to get back to you all since I finally had a chance to get back to this. I did several things at once since I figured they were all good things to do. I tightened the leaking valve where it bolts to the manifold. It didn't seem any more Ioose than the other valves which aren't leaking. I tightened it slightly but didn't want to overdo it. I also took apart, cleaned and lubricated the three valves using the excellent video from Chris. No more leaks!! My new burners fired up. I have questions but maybe that's for another thread. Just wanted to say thanks to all for the suggestions!! I'm always happy to be able to take someone else's cast off and get it working :) Thanks again!
 
Gregg-NJ said:
Hey all. I wanted to get back to you all since I finally had a chance to get back to this. I did several things at once since I figured they were all good things to do. I tightened the leaking valve where it bolts to the manifold. It didn't seem any more Ioose than the other valves which aren't leaking. I tightened it slightly but didn't want to overdo it. I also took apart, cleaned and lubricated the three valves using the excellent video from Chris. No more leaks!! My new burners fired up. I have questions but maybe that's for another thread. Just wanted to say thanks to all for the suggestions!! I'm always happy to be able to take someone else's cast off and get it working :) Thanks again!
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I am delighted that you got it sorted out and it didn't end up costing you a lot of time, aggravation, or money.
 
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