Vieluxe 44 Restoration


 
I can't say for sure if that's the correct burn pattern for that grill or not. I would probably also expect that it would burn all the way across the ceramic portion, but maybe not. I don't think that the orifice would be the culprit though if it's not right.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I can't say for sure if that's the correct burn pattern for that grill or not. I would probably also expect that it would burn all the way across the ceramic portion, but maybe not. I don't think that the orifice would be the culprit though if it's not right.
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It does, but on those burners you actually only see what is lit up. But I guarantee you the entire burner is working. The ones I've own(ed) one of them from brand new looked the same
 
Steve Hoch said:
I would look at extending the other end of the burner so that it seats correctly. Probably simpler and safer.
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Yes. What I was thinking.
Except maybe get burners that are long enough but with a shorter burn length. Keep rhe heat off the front, and back. Not sure which will work. Maybe complete fab, or extend a set to reach.
 
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I’m back from vacation in the Philippines and to memorialize the first rotisserie cook on the Vieluxe, I’ve decided to spin a Cebuchon (store bought - similar to pork belly porchetta)

Dave Santana is finishing my order for flavorizer bars, smoke diffusers and support hangers for the flavorizer bars. He will also inspect my damaged oem burners to try to salvage them

One issue I’ve encountered so far - nowhere for the magnetic base of the TempSpike to stick =P

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R Chin said:
I’m back from vacation in the Philippines and to memorialize the first rotisserie cook on the Vieluxe, I’ve decided to spin a Cebuchon (store bought - similar to pork belly porchetta)

Dave Santana is finishing my order for flavorizer bars, smoke diffusers and support hangers for the flavorizer bars. He will also inspect my damaged oem burners to try to salvage them

One issue I’ve encountered so far - nowhere for the magnetic base of the TempSpike to stick =P

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Your TempSpike has mag base? I have 2 of them and neither does
 
Larry, you have the red ones. I think that is one thing they left off those to save a buck or two. The orange ones have the magnet. I love that feature. keeps me from misplacing them all the time.
 
Bruce said:
Larry, you have the red ones. I think that is one thing they left off those to save a buck or two. The orange ones have the magnet. I love that feature. keeps me from misplacing them all the time.
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Honestly did not realize there were different ones other than the new version they just introduced
 
A few things I noticed during this cook:
The hood on this thing is pretty heavy - surprised they didn’t add a counter balance or springs to assist
There are no tool hooks - NONE and nowhere to add something aftermarket

Here are the results using only the rotisserie burner
If I had something with larger diameter, would I have to dial back on IR burner and supplement with mains?

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So that is a hunk of belly just tied into a roast? I've been buying the belly cut into thick "slices" (maybe just under 2") at Costco. I will take one, put it into the smoker until it reaches about 180 internal then crank the heat up to 425 or so and let it get a crispy outside. And reach about 205 internal so it's well rendered and tender. Very tasty. And that looks really tasty too!
 
I bought my Cebuchon already prepared from a Filipino market but followed these porchetta recipes for cooking ideas - keep in mind that Porchetta is traditionally made with pork loin wrapped in the middle whereas these recipes use only the belly. These are also made traditionally with Skin On pork belly

blog.thermoworks.com

Perfect Porchetta: A Temperature Roadmap

Savory, crisp-skinned porchetta is delicious and easy to make, as long as you monitor the temperatures. Learn the thermal secrets to get it right every time.
blog.thermoworks.com blog.thermoworks.com

www.seriouseats.com

All-Belly Porchetta Recipe

This all-belly porchetta is as rich and crisp as it comes.
www.seriouseats.com www.seriouseats.com

I ran the rotisserie burner on medium until I hit 160 then reduced to low until 180. Then wrapped the TempSpike with foil and cranked the rotisserie burner to high for about 20m

I never needed to run the main burners and the IR burner never seemed to come close to burning the skin
 
Back to Vieluxe restoration…
I made my way down to visit the great Dave Santana (aka rcplanebuyer) to pickup some flavorizer bars and smoke diffusers. He has a binder full of drawings for Weber (and Vieluxe) replacement parts. He inspected my original burners and agreed that they are worth saving - he will come up with something to salvage them

I installed generic igniters for a Jenn-Air grill recommended by someone else with a Vieluxe. They had to be tweaked to reduce the gap to the burners but I was eventually able to get them to spark

How long can I expect bare electrode igniters like this to last?

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Then I installed the new flavorizer bars and smoke diffusers

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Time to fire up the smoker with some hickory chips. The manual says to start smoker burner on High then reduce to Low after the chips are lit

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Seems like most of the smoke comes out the open end of the tubes on the right. There are holes along the entire bottom of each tube - I may have to tweak these to get more even distribution

One additional issue I noticed - one of the original burners goes out when turned to low. I cleaned the spider screen which was fairly grimey but still goes out on low. I will try to rod the venturi tomorrow. Anyone have any other ideas?
 
I would think those igniters will last pretty long time. I notice you have mixed burners there. Someone must have replaced one or more of them at some point, but not the whole set.
 
Make sure there are no gas line obstructions, double check gas pressure and your line from the pipe to the grill. When you go low if there is an issue many times that is where a gas supply issue may show up
 
Bruce said:
I would think those igniters will last pretty long time. I notice you have mixed burners there. Someone must have replaced one or more of them at some point, but not the whole set.
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The burners with slots are from my Summit 450 - I’m using them temporarily to get the grill operational

I stupidly broke the tabs off of two original burners (see details above) the Vieluxe burners are 40% heavier than Summit and made with an 18SR alloy so Dave is going to try to come up with a new mounting solution.
 
Dave Santana was able to weld new tabs onto my original Vieluxe burners and also fabricated the flavorizer bar hangers
I got sloppy with the measurements for the hangers and had to tweak the new bars with a vise to fit - my fault entirely

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I figured out the burner that kept going out on low had a tiny orifice in one of the channels in the valve “plug” that was clogged with lubricant - I will need to go back and check each valve for proper modulation

So I think I’ve got just about everything more or less working (except thermometer) and plan on some mods like a tool holder and shelf on left side

I’m now testing grate temps when running just the smoke burner with hopes of using it to smoke steaks at extremely low temps prior to final sear on the WSK

Thanks to everyone for help and moral support in getting this unicorn back to service
Ray


Now onto repair and rehab the Summit 450 with some of Jon’s stainless reinforcement panels…
 
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