S-650 cookbox rust


 
J

Joe DeCarolis

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Doing a manifold swap on a S-650 and this is what the front of the firebox looks like. Not sure where this falls on the scale of useable to unusable. After reading a number of threads on here where folks are saying that if the front is rusted out it renders the grill pretty much unusable. My question is, why is the grill considered unusable if this area is rusted? My guess is that there are thousands of these Summit grills out there in the wild with this area rusted out and the owners are probably blissfully unaware that this has happened and continue to use them. Is there some danger of the manifold overheating or flames escaping the firebox and burning up the ignitor wires? Does anyone know of any injuries caused by rust holes in this area? Has Weber ever issued a recall because of this? I'm just trying to understand why this damage is considered a death certificate for these very expensive grills.
 
Joe DeCarolis said:
Is there some danger of the manifold overheating or flames escaping the firebox and burning up the ignitor wires? Does anyone know of any injuries caused by rust holes in this area? Has Weber ever issued a recall because of this? I'm just trying to understand why this damage is considered a death certificate for these very expensive grills.
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Answers to your questions
Is there some danger of the manifold overheating or flames escaping the firebox and burning up the ignitor wires?
likely yes.
Has Weber ever issued a recall because of this?
No. I guess they expected warranty to handle it
I'm just trying to understand why this damage is considered a death certificate for these very expensive grills.
For the first reason stated above.
I personally had the previous generation to this model. And Weber (like I am sure they'll do with MANY more owners) left me hanging out to dry while in warranty for this very reason. They placed a 25 year IIRC warranty on the part then failed to provide the part or stand behind the grill when it failed. Not good juju IMO.
Jon is now the owner of that grill and has invented a pretty decent repair. But IDK if the repair will work on later generations like the one you pictured.
Sadly Weber continued to produce this faulty design for 3 generations of Summits. Until this last iteration which now has a cast aluminum box like the Genesis
 
Mark, that metal is porcelain coated. You would have to strip the porcelain around the welding area making it more prone to corrosion. Plus you would need to cut holes in the welded metal to match what is currently on the panel. Unless you can find someone to accurately fab up replacement panels out of stainless steel, Jon's solution is the only other solution that I can think of that would be feasible.
 
I think he used High heat Red RTV to adhere the panels to the cook box. Jon might have a a couple spares to sell you but you will need three of them for your grill since it is a six burner....also, I am not sure if they fit both first and second generation cook boxes.
 
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