S-650 cookbox rust

[Jon Tofte]

I think you raise a fair enough question, but I have to agree with @Bruce and @LMichaels.

I think Weber went with the porcelain steel firebox due in part to (1) the extra high heat a Summit grill produces (50,000 btus in my 1st gen vs. ~ 36-42k in a Genesis with the same size firebox) which may have been too hot for aluminum and (2) to promote faster drain off of grease into the bottom catch tray. I think they felt this design would last as long as most of the well healed buyers who could afford the Summit in the first place would keep their grills. I seriously doubt they gave much thought to rehabbers/buyers of used old Summits. This issue and the bloated design of the 3rd generation Summits is what makes them an iffy proposition for restoration.

 

[Steve Hoch]

You can just keep using it as is as long as you want to. There are lots of Summit owners out there that probably don't even realize what's going on inside their grills happily cooking away with cook boxes in much worse shape than yours. At least when it does finally get bad, you will know why. Did you ever check to see if you could get a new cook box from Weber, warranty or not?

 

[Joe DeCarolis]

Haven't called Weber yet but hey it's worth a try. Any advice on how to approach this with Weber? There were no obvious symptoms when using the grill, I only came across this because I'm replacing the manifold. I don't think I should open the conversation with that, understand Weber frowns on manifold swaps. Could just say I was replacing the burners and discovered this damage and I'm concerned about the safety of the grill?

 

[Steve Hoch]

Haven't called Weber yet but hey it's worth a try. Any advice on how to approach this with Weber? There were no obvious symptoms when using the grill, I only came across this because I'm replacing the manifold. I don't think I should open the conversation with that, understand Weber frowns on manifold swaps. Could just say I was replacing the burners and discovered this damage and I'm concerned about the safety of the grill?

Yeah, definitely don't mention anything about a manifold swap although I don't personally see a problem with that either as long as you're using Weber parts. Your second suggestion seems spot on.