Weber Family Q (Q3200) middle burner clogging - blowtorch fix


 
I

IanC

New member
Relative has this model. Also has rotisserie.

Design problem means that any grease running over the central bar of the grill plates runs round to the middle and drips down onto the middle of the middle burner all the way along!

Twice i have been to use this in 15 months and both times only 1/3 of the middle burner will light. If gas gets past the blocked gas holes and fails to ignite, this could make an explosion risk with the hood down. Is there a design fix???

Suggest the central part of the grill plates be reshaped underneath so the grease drips from the edges rather than center thus avoiding the burner.

Disassembly/cleaning looks to be a major chore.

I tried this and worked for me:
Aim is to melt and burn off the obstructing grease inside the burner tube.
Use a gas blowtorch (plumbers size one) on the middle burner tube where the blockages are. I can see grease coming out of the burner holes and burning off. Heating from each side seems better than from the top.

Running the bbq with lid down to get to high temp might also work.
 
Don't have a clue what you're getting at. I have the 320 (same as 300, 3000, 3200) and I have yet to need to clean the burners much less the center one. I do all kind of cooking on it as well. Indirect (center off outer on or center on and outer off with food placed around the outside) high and fast, low/med low direct. Absolutely no trouble at all with grease getting into the center burner.
Admittedly I do not have the rotisserie for mine (somewhat difficult to come by here in the states) also not sure it's worth it for the expense given I have a Genesis 2000 with rotisserie and my large Wolf grill with infrared rotisserie as well. Though I must admit sometimes the curiosity factor of using a spinner on the Q320 almost makes me push that "buy now" button on Amazon
Anyway I would have to call into question how you're actually operating the grill maybe with some photos
 
With a roto dripping all cook long right over the top of the middle burner, I guess I can see how it would tend to clog up that burner much sooner that the outside burner. The grates are what they are and are probably not designed with a roto in mind so if you want to use the roto on the Q3xxx grill, then it is going to require regular cleaning of the middle burner.

This is how I clean the burners on Q grills as well as the regular genesis grills. I would take the burner out, which is not hard at all. I believe it entails removing the grates and one bolt at the end of the tube on the left. Then, just carefully lift out the tube while bracing the gas line and orifice that are in the other end. Then, just take an angle grinder with a wire cup brush to it or a drill with wire wheel. It should take just a few minutes and it is ready to go back. If the holes are still clogged up bad, you might have to use a tiny screwdriver tip or drill bit to clear them out, but likely the grinder will clean them up nicely.

I can think of one mod that might help a lot with this problem and that would be to take a Genesis or Spirit flavorizer bar and modify it to fit suspended over the middle burner tube. That would virtually solve the problem for good. I would probably look for one from a Genesis 1000 since they are not quite as wide as the newer Genesis flavorizer bars.
 
Yeah you might need to cut it down a little and you'd HAVE to use an old style Genesis bar from a 13 bar Genesis
 
Not just greasy on the outside, greasy on the inside. Cleaning outside and holes with wire brush didn’t fix it. Blowtorch worked. Fitting a flavorizer bar would work but non-trivial to hold in place. Q was designed to do away with flavorizer bars! Redesign shape of grill plates would be a good idea for Weber.
 
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