Weber Ducane Dilemma


 
Jay D in Jersey

Jay D in Jersey

TVWBB Wizard
I've had a Ducane Affinity 3100 on the deck of our beach house for 6 years. I replaced the manifold and flame tamers. In the process I discovered the fire box is rusted through in the front. Thinking that I could get one more season out of it, I patched the rusted through area with some scrap flashing and used a small L bracket to hold the front part of the flame tamer in place. In the meantime, I located an S-210 on Craigslist for $250.00 in great shape. Then it dawned on me to call Weber about the Ducane firebox and I did. The CS woman said send her a picture. It's close enough out of warranty that if it looks bad she will replace it. Now what do I do. I don't take ownership of the S210 NG until May 8.
 
Welcome to the forum Jay.
I also have a Ducane SS gas grill, fortunately I got it for free and it just needed a new regulator. I also have an older model of the E320. Even with the infrared and the n/s burners I much prefer my E320 over the Ducane. Now that Ducane no longer exists I wonder how long Weber will support them. It seems that they still are by what you experienced. If it's just the firebox and Weber will replace it I would go that route fix it and sell it to help pay for the Weber.
 
Hey Rich...thanks. Kind of what I'm thinking. At the end of the day, in that environment, aluminium is the way to go for the firebox.
 
Well half the dilemma is resolved. I picked up a 2 year old S-210 for $250 off Craigslist yesterday. It needs minor cleaning and will be good as new. If Weber agrees the firebox on the Ducane should be replaced....ill clean the Ducane up and sell it. The Ducanes under Weber ownership were an example of excellent basic grill design with less than top quality materials.
 
I just finished upgrading my 1999 1000LX to a 2000LX. The decision been made the Ducane goes on Craig's list this week and the 2000LX will fill it's spot.
 
My sister and brother in law just fell into a deal on a Ducane 4100. Brand new $100. I cooked on it over the weekend and was quite pleased with it's performance. Sadly though it's quite evident how much Weber skimped on overall quality of the product especially compared to the older Spirits. But, for $100 they won't feel guilty if they toss it in 3 years or so which judging by how poor the materials are looks to be about right
 
The one I have is a SS 30400040 which is 9 years old and still in excellent condition. I got it for free from my neighbor, he said it didn't work and smelled of gas when you open the tank valve. $20 later and a new regulator it worked perfect. I love the infrared roti burner and was getting used to the N/S burners which I liked. The biggest problem is the cooking area is only about 2/3rds of the grate area. Because the burner controls are almost flat against the firebox the first 4 or5 inches of the burner tubes are solid there is no flame to protect the valves from excess heat for that first 4-5 inches. When I first got it I couldn't understand why nothing would cook near the front of the grate....no flame no cook. So the cooking area is way smaller than my 2000LX. The only other thing is the grill has massive SS grates and you could put axle grease on them and food would still stick like they were sprayed with contact cement.
It's a shame because with the 304 stainless sheet metal and the huge grates and the infrared back burner it's a nice grill just not very well designed.
 
The one she got is not the SS version. I almost bought one of the large SS ones myself. I like the fact they use the Weber design of grease funneling (unlike my Wolf which is just a large flat pan). Hers is the 4100 which is closer to say a Spirit or Genesis but with fairly poor materials. I have to say it did perform wonderfully. Plenty of heat no excessive flare ups even though I was doing some pretty fatty polish and hot dogs on it. It's a shame Weber made a pretty decent product design and again let materials short change it.
 
LMichaels said:
My sister and brother in law just fell into a deal on a Ducane 4100. Brand new $100. I cooked on it over the weekend and was quite pleased with it's performance. Sadly though it's quite evident how much Weber skimped on overall quality of the product especially compared to the older Spirits. But, for $100 they won't feel guilty if they toss it in 3 years or so which judging by how poor the materials are looks to be about right
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Mine held up for 6 years almost to date but I did replace flavorizers and ignitors. To be fair, it sat out year round on our second floor deck at our beach house...35 yards from the bay. Covered with a vented cover in Winter. It's a harsh environment for anything metal. But enamel coated steel is foes not usually fair well.
 
By way of follow up, Weber sent me a new firebox for my Ducane Affinity 3100 NG. I already have a new manifold, knobs, flavorizer bars. I have a can of high heat Rustoleum and some gloss spray enamel. So this Ducane will be in top shape. Ill sell it to offset the cost of the S210.
 
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