Weber Genesis silver / gold - Manifold is stuck after trying to clean it?

[DTrinh]

I'm in the process of cleaning a genesis gold grill and i took apart the manifold to lube the valves as shown in the video that's widely shared on this website and on youtube.

The weird thing was when I went to put back my valve on my middle burner and tighten down the screws, the valve no longer turns. If i back off the screws, the valve will be able to start turning again. Can i just use it like this? Did this valve somehow get slightly bent or misaligned ?

I also have another grill, a weber genesis silver special edition w/ side burner that I got for free w/ a badly rusted frame and burner tube i'm cleaning out and i swapped the inner cone valve to see if it would work with me tightening the screws all the way. and sure enough it seems to work fine. any thoughts? upon visual inspection i can't see anything different between the two valves and where the one would get stuck!

By the way - I am in 3 grills deep. I originally started fixing up my 2010 Genesis E310 earlier this month and i ended up getting these two other grills for dirt cheap. I am considering swapping out the side burner from the badly rusted genesis silver special edition into the genesis gold frame. That manifold seems to have issues of its own, it looks like the regulator is shot. Also I also noticed that the holes in the cone valves are slightly different in size.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Sounds weird, so when it's tightened down can you still push the valve down, and does it spring back up?

 

[LMichaels]

If it worked before and not now obviously it was put together wrong. Time to open it up and start again

 

[DTrinh]

If it worked before and not now obviously it was put together wrong. Time to open it up and start again

The more Ithink about it. The more I'm not sure if it worked before or not. Can't remember if I tested the knobs before removing everything. Silly me I know. This was a grill I purchased last week.


I confirmed that I reassembled the exact same way as the other two burners, and this one turns as well until I tighten the small screws all the way then something gets jammed.

 

[LMichaels]

Try pulling the cone valve out again. There may be too much grease

 

[DTrinh]

cleaned it, put it back in another port, and the problem seems to travel w/ the cone valve.... could there be some tolerance issue where I just need to back the screws out and allow this thing to wiggle a little bit ? or would that pose a safety issue? i dont' think i can find an individual cone valve replacement at this point. I also updated the original post to add some more context to my situation.

 

[DanHoo]

@DTrinh I likely have an extra propane manifold that is in good working order.

is it propane ? Can you post a pic of the grill and a close up of the control panel showing the number in the lower right corner of the panel?

With this I can check to see what I have.

 

[DTrinh]

@DTrinh I likely have an extra propane manifold that is in good working order.

is it propane ? Can you post a pic of the grill and a close up of the control panel showing the number in the lower right corner of the panel?

With this I can check to see what I have.

@DanHoo Yes it's propane. I was rushed and should have taken pictures of this grill before working on it. It didn't help that when i picked it up i had to take the whole thing apart for it to fit in my SUV.

heres a picture of my panel and I found an identical Genesis Gold that i ended up picking up. This one looks to be in alot better shape than mine, but mine is not that far behind it.

 

[DanHoo]

I think it is a 2002 Gold B. I picked up one just like it last fall.

If you can't get your valves working, post up a wanted ad, or just post here. One of us might have a set of valves or a manifold that will work.

One thing to watch for is the amount of rotation the valves have.

Some valves turn farther to get to low and Low is at the 3 o clock position, and some turn less to go to low and stop at the 5 o clock position

I seem to remember both style valves on round manifolds, but only the newer style on the square manifold like yours. To be honest, I don't remember for sure since I didn't notice the rotational difference at first.

here's a pic of the two different control panels: The one on the right, (8128) is like yours, and the one on the left(8101) is from an older Silver B.

 

[Steve Hoch]

cleaned it, put it back in another port, and the problem seems to travel w/ the cone valve.... could there be some tolerance issue where I just need to back the screws out and allow this thing to wiggle a little bit ? or would that pose a safety issue? i dont' think i can find an individual cone valve replacement at this point. I also updated the original post to add some more context to my situation.

So this is a picture of it before you cleaned it, because it's pretty dirty. You can't operate the grill with a valve not tightened all the way down, it will leak profusely. I'm still not getting a complete picture of what happened, and you don't seem too sure either. So, one of two things has occurred. There was already something wrong with that valve and we will never know because you didn't check it's function before you took it apart. The other possibility is that you did something wrong and aren't sure about that either. I don't know why you would take the manifold apart in the first place if there wasn't obviously something wrong with it to begin with?

 

[LMichaels]

Yeah the valve will leak and then oh boy it will be trouble

 

[THyde]

If the problem travels with the cone, it's likely that there is something wrong with the cone. I'd clean clean clean the cone, use a toothpick and then a little piece of wire to clean out the holes, then clean it some more. I'd use steel wool or even some very high grit sandpaper to really clean it smooth, paying attention to just clean it and not really change its shape with sandpaper. Make sure all the holes are cleared out. Then I can't see why it would stick.

 

[Bruce]

Can you post a couple photos of a valve. I may have one or someone else will.

 

[DTrinh]

So this is a picture of it before you cleaned it, because it's pretty dirty. You can't operate the grill with a valve not tightened all the way down, it will leak profusely. I'm still not getting a complete picture of what happened, and you don't seem too sure either. So, one of two things has occurred. There was already something wrong with that valve and we will never know because you didn't check it's function before you took it apart. The other possibility is that you did something wrong and aren't sure about that either. I don't know why you would take the manifold apart in the first place if there wasn't obviously something wrong with it to begin with?

what i posted was a picture of it after i pulled it out w/ brake caliper grease on it. I cleaned everything off again and i noticed there are some scuffs on the valve. Nothing i can visually see that would cause it to get stuck once screwed all the way down though.

I think due to the safety issues of using this valve i'm going to put this manifold aside for now and attempt to use the manifold that came with the Genesis Silver Special edition with rotted out frame. That manifold seemed to clean up fine with no stuck valve issues. I'll guess i'll also be using the side burner that came with that grill as well. That manifold has the quick connect for line that goes to the side burner. I'll also attempt to clean this valve w/ some sandpaper and use some small carb cleaning wires i have when i have a hot second.

 

[Bruce]

Personally, I would trash that valve. Sanding it down will change it's physical characteristics and even if you remove the scuffs, it might put it out of specs. The inside of the valve body could also have damage. Not worth the risks of a possible gas leak being created.

 

[THyde]

Personally, I would trash that valve. Sanding it down will change it's physical characteristics and even if you remove the scuffs, it might put it out of specs. The inside of the valve body could also have damage. Not worth the risks of a possible gas leak being created.

I agree not to sand it down, but I would kind of polish the valve with some 1000 grit paper, wet. Just to get a feel for it. Of course, if I had another entire manifold to use, or even a replacement valve, that is the smart way. You're right Bruce. However, with 1000 grit, you'd really just be polishing, and you would "feel" if there were some scratches or bumps. Sounds to me like the valve cone may have been dropped on the ground or something so it's probably a little scuffed, and since it's designed to mate pretty tightly with the valve body, that could cause OP's problem.

 

[LMichaels]

Yeah IDK I don't think I would even try the 1000 grit on it. Change the clearance ever so little and possible gas leak

 

[DTrinh]

Personally, I would trash that valve. Sanding it down will change it's physical characteristics and even if you remove the scuffs, it might put it out of specs. The inside of the valve body could also have damage. Not worth the risks of a possible gas leak being created.

I just went out to the garage again and messed around while I was on a boring compliance training call. I think this is the best option- to trash that valve.

I'm also not sure if i should start a new thread but now i have some more questions from the result of my tinkering w/ these two grills.

I was also able to swap the manifold out from my other rusted out Genesis Silver w/ side burner. I noticed that the flames are not nearly as strong as the original manifold that came with this Genesis Gold grill and burner. I also took that manifold apart, cleaned it, blew it out w/ compressed air and cleaned out the orifices of the cone valves w/ wire... for what its worth the markings on the bottom of the control panel from where this manifold came from is 8146 vs 8128 on the gold that i'm working on.

was the performance of all these grills supposedly identical from factory? the burner tubes from both grills look to be the same length and pattern (well the one is so rotted out i can't really count the number of burner holes in tube or anything but length is the same). This leads me to wanting to bag swapping the side burner into this frame or maybe i should look for another genesis gold manifold w/ side burner?

I would love to take you up on your offer if you have an extra valve lying around though and will gladly pay shipping plus whatever you would like to sell it to me for. If not I will look for a cheap manifold on ebay or somewhere. I think my wife will have divorce papers ready if i pick up yet another grill.

Attached is the picture of the trash picked Genesis Silver that i tried using the spare manifold from. the frame inside the cabinet is completely rotted, as are the burner tubes. the SS grates cleaned up okay and the flavor bars are salvagable for a flip i suppose. I could probably bolt some wood to secure the frame and flip it I guess to keep it out of the landfill or keep it as a parts machine behind the shed... I'm contemplating swapping the hoods since it's easier to clean although i like the look of the stainless one. thoughts on this? I will also upload a video of the differences in flame strength on youtube shortly.

 

[LMichaels]

It should be identical. The bad one may have been butchered up by previous owner

 

[Steve Hoch]

If you swap manifolds also swap control panels. The rotation may be different on each manifold, meaning that the low/medium/high settings could be in different spots on each manifold.