Performer Taking Forever To Cool Down


 
ChristopherC said:
So this is the first disappointing response from Weber Customer Service.... they totally did not understand my email question to them... here is my email and their response.


Me

Hi, I am having an unexpected issue with my new Weber Performer Deluxe.

After my 1st cook, I closed down both vents (top and bottom) and expected the bbq to cool down in a typical 1-2 hours. However, 6 hours later, the bbq was still at 250d and took at least 9-10 hours to cool down before I was able to cover it. I am a fairly veteran bbqer and this was very unexpected. I have talked to other bbqers and WPD owners and they say there has to be an air leak or multiple air leaks. The problem is, I don't have a covered area outdoors and like to cover my bbq to avoid condensation at night and it getting wet regularly either via condensation or rain. If it takes this long to cool down, I have a major problem as I like to mostly cook late afternoon or early evening for dinner.

What should I do? What can I do to help correct the issue or proceed?

Help!


Weber

Thank you for reaching out to Weber. I am sorry to hear that regarding your grill but I will be happy to help you out with this. Allow me to suggest using the top dampers to control the temperature. Avoid opening the bottom dampers even when cooking. Keeping those closed at all times should help the temperature go back down normally and also use less charcoal. Cleaning the grill regularly to also help with temperature set going down. I also went ahead and placed an order for a new thermometer for you.
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Weber seems to have outsourced their email customer service to another country. You might have better luck calling them.
 
Yeah that response was a bit off the mark. You can recheck for leaks somewhere. In the meantime keep cooking and see if it seals up. Otherwise there has to be air somewhere
 
When I first bought my 26er it the charcoal would keep burning - I had to re-bend the bottom blades to seal better. Between bending the blades and doing a couple low and slow cooks it snuffs out anything - including the fancy Thai charcoal they say you have to dunk in water to put out.
I don't have a performer but if I did I would put a sleeve over the air intake on the burner tube to help kill the coals.
 
I don't have a burner on mine, so I'm not sure if that hurts or helps any. My gut tells me that it just needs to get gunked up a little bit to close off some of those little gaps here and there. One of the things that helped mine initially, was that it is my only grill, and I cooked every blessed thing on it like a crazy man. It seems like it 'sealed up' pretty quickly.

I would just keep at it.
 
I don't have or ever used a slow and sear, but that might have something to do with it.
My OTG has a Slide - Aside lid holder and I have the tool rack. Both have clips that attach to the lip on the kettle causing a slight gap.
But I can still shut down within an hour or so.
 
So threw a piece of birch over a few flaming coals and closed the lid with everything shut. Lotsa smoke.

So basically there is not 1 main area of leakage. Some smoke came out from all parts of the lid. Some smoke cane from the thermometer. Some smoke came from the top vent. Some smoke came from the hole where the ignition tube is. Didn’t see any smoke from the bottom vents, however that IS the lowest part of the bbq and the hardest to see as of course the smoke is trying real hard to rise up and out.

So that kinda answers where air is getting out. I imagine that is pretty close to where air is getting in as well.
 
So had further discussions with a senior rep from Weber and he had me measure my lid and bowl. The lid was nearly perfect (only a 1/8” difference in any part of the diameter). The bowl was 7/16” (22 1/2” vs 22 15/16”) different in one side than the other - just short of the 1/2” they use as a guideline for being “out of round”.

However, he is sending me a new bottom bowl regardless. The customer service at Weber is great!

So any suggestions of how to proceed? Do I replace the old bowl right away upon arrival of the new bowl? What should I use the old bowl for (if anything)? A spare? A fire pit?

Thoughts?
 
You'll need to remove the one-touch blades, lid bale and the burner tube from the old bowl.
- There is a black tube held on to the burner tube with a metal clip, just pry that off with a flat head and done lose the metal clip
- Burner tube is held on by two nuts/bolts. They should be easy to remove since it's a new grill
- lid bale is held on by two top nuts and one nut/bolt on the bottom. Again, shouldn't be hard to remove
- Then take out the 4 screws that hold the bowl on to the frame
- remove the bowl and flip it upside down on a piece of cardboard or old blanket
- the one touch blades are a little tricky to remove, but with it being a new grill should be easy, just use a flat head screwdriver to pry and then turn the handle. Align the grove up with the little notch and pull out. this video might be easier to watch for that part....fast forward to 5 min 50 sec


Then just do the reverse to install the new bowl back on.

This would be a good time to replace the nuts and bolts with stainless steel since it'll be all apart anyways.

And finally, box up the old bowl into the box and mail to me, LOL just kidding. If I was you...I'd just remove the bowl and try to hug it until it was back in shape and keep the new one as a spare.
 
I would just try to hug it back into shape without even removing the bowl from the legs etc. Several weaker hugs to eventually get it round is better that a huge strong one in my experience. You do not want t crack the enamel. If you get it round then save the new one for later.
 
ChristopherC said:
So this is the first disappointing response from Weber Customer Service.... they totally did not understand my email question to them... here is my email and their response.


Me

Hi, I am having an unexpected issue with my new Weber Performer Deluxe.

After my 1st cook, I closed down both vents (top and bottom) and expected the bbq to cool down in a typical 1-2 hours. However, 6 hours later, the bbq was still at 250d and took at least 9-10 hours to cool down before I was able to cover it. I am a fairly veteran bbqer and this was very unexpected. I have talked to other bbqers and WPD owners and they say there has to be an air leak or multiple air leaks. The problem is, I don't have a covered area outdoors and like to cover my bbq to avoid condensation at night and it getting wet regularly either via condensation or rain. If it takes this long to cool down, I have a major problem as I like to mostly cook late afternoon or early evening for dinner.

What should I do? What can I do to help correct the issue or proceed?

Help!


Weber

Thank you for reaching out to Weber. I am sorry to hear that regarding your grill but I will be happy to help you out with this. Allow me to suggest using the top dampers to control the temperature. Avoid opening the bottom dampers even when cooking. Keeping those closed at all times should help the temperature go back down normally and also use less charcoal. Cleaning the grill regularly to also help with temperature set going down. I also went ahead and placed an order for a new thermometer for you.
Click to expand...
Wait a big second, this response from Weber says to leave the bottom dampers closed even when cooking. What??? I leave my bottom damper completely open and then close the top down if I need to control temps, but I rarely even do that as I always keep two zones. Am I completely doing this wrong??? Or is this reply for Weber totally weird???
 
Michael Richards said:
Wait a big second, this response from Weber says to leave the bottom dampers closed even when cooking. What??? I leave my bottom damper completely open and then close the top down if I need to control temps, but I rarely even do that as I always keep two zones. Am I completely doing this wrong??? Or is this reply for Weber totally weird???
Click to expand...
I do a mix of top and bottom vents, but feel the bottom vent gives the most control
 
Who knows...that person sent me a new thermometer when I complained the coals wouldn't cool down after 6-9 hours with all vents closed off. Maybe they thought it was stuck at 250d permanently? lol
 
ChristopherC said:
Who knows...that person sent me a new thermometer when I complained the coals wouldn't cool down after 6-9 hours with all vents closed off. Maybe they thought it was stuck at 250d permanently? lol
Click to expand...
Weber outsourced a lot of their email support overseas. The last few times I've emailed them for a question of problem the same person has replied, Abishek
 
Chris while you are going through the hassle of breaking this down, run up to hardware store and replace the factory nuts with stainless nuts and washers.
 
Ya will probably do that. Just debating when to do this. Still waiting on the lower bowl though.

Not sure if I should try to squeeze the previous bowl back into a better round first or not.

Tom Bagley said:
Chris while you are going through the hassle of breaking this down, run up to hardware store and replace the factory nuts with stainless nuts and washers.
Click to expand...
 
ChristopherC said:
Ya will probably do that. Just debating when to do this. Still waiting on the lower bowl though.

Not sure if I should try to squeeze the previous bowl back into a better round first or not.
Click to expand...

I would try squeezing the old bowl first and if it works you can store the new bowl and use it at a later date. I am lazy so would not want to go through the hassle of changing bowls if a hug would work. Plus, any excuse to hug a Weber. 😆
 
My beat up kettle cools down pretty quickly and I have a slow n sear that I pretty much keep in it. I reuse charcoal all the time. It's usually maybe an hour for it to cool enough to put the cover on it. Occasionally the ash and grease gunk will start to push the ash sweeper up so I just hit that with a razor scraper or a plastic paint scraper.
 
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