Weber Silver A Cross Member Length?


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

TVWBB Platinum Member
I picked up a green silver A headed for the dump and it fell apart when I got home. It was missing the cross member on the bottom and the rest of the frame just broke apart. Even the tabs that screw the vertical legs broke off the frame. I was going to junk it as it needs everything, but it is sort of against my religion, and I needed a good excuse to buy a welder;-) I just bought some 1" and 1 1/4" tubing (Fire box cross member also shot). I just did some grinding and cutting of the new top fire box cross member but need to know how long to cut the 1" bottom cross member so I can hopefully have some fun trying to do some welding and see if I can get this grill to stand up again. Thanks.
 
Joe Anshien said:
I picked up a green silver A headed for the dump and it fell apart when I got home. It was missing the cross member on the bottom and the rest of the frame just broke apart. Even the tabs that screw the vertical legs broke off the frame. I was going to junk it as it needs everything, but it is sort of against my religion, and I needed a good excuse to buy a welder;-) I just bought some 1" and 1 1/4" tubing (Fire box cross member also shot). I just did some grinding and cutting of the new top fire box cross member but need to know how long to cut the 1" bottom cross member so I can hopefully have some fun trying to do some welding and see if I can get this grill to stand up again. Thanks.
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Hi Joe, I’ve been doing welding repairs to the Silver abc’s for awhile. I am not certified or a Professional.

The square tubing that Weber uses is thin gauge. You have to completely clean it to reduce the risk of blowing holes in the metal. You have to do a lot of grinding to prep the Weber square tubes.

What I learned is it is easier to use threaded inserts in most instances with the square tube. Sometimes use a threaded insert and a weld.

Angle iron works too in a many spots if you are not doing an original restoration. With angle iron you can hide ugly welds.

Using scrap metal or new stock is kind of a wash. Lots of prep work is needed on scrap.
 
I am doing threaded inserts on the bottom cross member. I do want to weld the threaded tabs for the bottom left legs back on then maybe even the legs. I have seen Bruce's video on replacing the top cross member where the fire box attaches but really needed an excuse to buy a welder:) Now I have stuff to play on. I kind of estimated the length at 22" I think. I hope I was correct.
 
Hi Joe, I bought a flux core wire welder that plugs into a 110 outlet. No gas needed. It works good enough and is easy to use for homeowner type equipment repair.
 
That is one hell of a "before" picture, I'm excited to see what you can do to it!

I've been fantasizing about getting into welding for a while now, might pull the trigger this summer.
 
Thankfully I've not let any Silver A's follow me home. I'm not sure that one is worth the labor to keep it alive.

edit: I hope I my response doesn't come across as too much of a defeated attitude. It would be a good project to practice welding on.
 
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I would suggest a good brand name MIG welder like Hobart, Lincoln or Miller. But find one used. They are $400 plus new. I bought a lincoln 140 110V for $150 with a 3M Speedglass helmet and gas valve. It does flux core or gas sheilded. I always use gas as it is more forgiving. Plus, I am not sure, but you may not be able to get flux core Stainless Steel wire.
I think any MIG welder can do gas really, you just need to buy the valves, tanks and hoses.
 
A couple of suggestions, Joe...find some heavier pieces of steel to practice with first. It's important to clean the material of paint, rust, grease, etc. [EDIT: this especially applies to where the ground lead is! Ideally, the ground lead should be close to the weld area.] Thinwall tubing like Weber uses is easiest welded by using a stitch-weld technique, a series of overlapping spot welds. Keep your beads short if you haven't mastered the technique to avoid blowing holes in your work. Flux core produces a lot of spatter...you can buy some spray to help with this, as well as nozzle dip to keep the dingleberries out of the nozzle. A pair of MIG welding pliers is your friend...use them to clip the end off the wire to get the right stick-out when needed as well as a fresh clean end to strike your next arc. You get that pop-pop-pop when you first pull the trigger, clip the end off the wire next time.
 
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I worked with a guy that welded up some fencing at home with an inexpensive MIG welder. He didn't have any PPE, not even a helmet. He would just line up the nozzle and close his eyes. Eyelids don't block UV very well, and UV damage to the eyes is cumulative and irreversible, and can lead to cataracts. Anyway, he ended up with a sunburn that eventually peeled and his eyes were sunburned as well. Some of the old long-time welders I worked with would not use auto-darkening helmets for that reason.
 
DanHoo said:
Thankfully I've not let any Silver A's follow me home. I'm not sure that one is worth the labor to keep it alive.

edit: I hope I my response doesn't come across as too much of a defeated attitude. It would be a good project to practice welding on.
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You are completely correct. I actually listed it as free but the only ones that wanted it where scrap collectors. I know that I would be lucky to break even or make a buck on this grill. I just hate to see stuff go in the dump.
 
BPratt said:
Hi Joe, I’ve been doing welding repairs to the Silver abc’s for awhile. I am not certified or a Professional.

The square tubing that Weber uses is thin gauge. You have to completely clean it to reduce the risk of blowing holes in the metal. You have to do a lot of grinding to prep the Weber square tubes.

What I learned is it is easier to use threaded inserts in most instances with the square tube. Sometimes use a threaded insert and a weld.

Angle iron works too in a many spots if you are not doing an original restoration. With angle iron you can hide ugly welds.

Using scrap metal or new stock is kind of a wash. Lots of prep work is needed on scrap.
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Unfortunately since the left legs and top cross member need replacing I don't think it is possible to use threaded inserts as the bolts would cross each other.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
A couple of suggestions, Joe...find some heavier pieces of steel to practice with first. It's important to clean the material of paint, rust, grease, etc. [EDIT: this especially applies to where the ground lead is! Ideally, the ground lead should be close to the weld area.] Thinwall tubing like Weber uses is easiest welded by using a stitch-weld technique, a series of overlapping spot welds. Keep your beads short if you haven't mastered the technique to avoid blowing holes in your work. Flux core produces a lot of spatter...you can buy some spray to help with this, as well as nozzle dip to keep the dingleberries out of the nozzle. A pair of MIG welding pliers is your friend...use them to clip the end off the wire to get the right stick-out when needed as well as a fresh clean end to strike your next arc. You get that pop-pop-pop when you first pull the trigger, clip the end off the wire next time.
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Thanks for the advice. I did spend the day grinding and cutting to prep for welding. A few tacks and then fills sounds like the way to go. I also purchased a few of those 90° magnets to hold things in place. I'll be pretty happy if I can get this thing to stand up again.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Thanks for the advice. I did spend the day grinding and cutting to prep for welding. A few tacks and then fills sounds like the way to go. I also purchased a few of those 90° magnets to hold things in place. I'll be pretty happy if I can get this thing to stand up again.
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You can do it, Joe! The problem with the thin stuff is that the heat builds up so quickly that it melts and then you have a hole to fill. It wouldn't be a bad idea to drill a bunch of 1/4" (or larger) holes in a scrap piece of tubing and then practice filling them in...you are going to have to know how to do it sooner than later. It's really easy once you get the hang of it.

As a side note, avoid welding anything that has been plated. I got sicker than a dog from welding up a luggage carrier out of EMT for my supervisor when I was younger.

Also, if you are welding outdoors, try to find a shady spot out of the sun. I was welding a buried pipe outdoors at work in the direct sun and could not see anything because of the light inside the helmet. They had to put a towel over the back of my head to keep the light out (they have solutions for that, I know).
 
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Find a couple good youtube videos. They will give you the visual aspect of how to weld MIG. Of course there are a lot of idiots that put videos on youtube, but it is pretty easy to tell if the guy knows what he is doing.

A good thing to remember is that when mig welding, the weld should sound like "frying bacon". If you are getting that, you are probably doing pretty well.
 
DanHoo said:
Thankfully I've not let any Silver A's follow me home. I'm not sure that one is worth the labor to keep it alive.

edit: I hope I my response doesn't come across as too much of a defeated attitude. It would be a good project to practice welding on.
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DanHoo,

I think you are just being realistic. It is definitely an uphill battle on these. About the only one I see fetching any kind of price is the very last Silver As with the closed in cabinet. They at least look more substantial and stand taller. But, then you have to deal with a rusty cabinet, so it's pretty hard all the way around.

Silver A and Skyline 2-burner BEFORE.jpeg
 
So I'm sitting here with a big grin on my face and my wife asks me what I'm smiling about...talking about welding brings back some funny memories for me.

There was the time that Otis was welding and a spark flew under a corn broom that was sitting nearby. He looked like an Olympic Torch Bearer as he picked up the flaming broom and ran to the sink with it.

Then there was the time that Reggie was TIG welding and having trouble so he wondered if the gas was coming on. He held the torch up to his ear to see if he could hear the gas flowing and hit the pedal. The high frequency start gave him quite a jolt.

I've already told you about Elliot (he was named after "Wild Bill" Elliot and the name suited him) and the arc burn. He was out of work for a few days and came back to work with his face all greased up and peeling.

Darryl was sitting at the bench TIG welding. We had this HEAVY 6" Kurt-style vise sitting on the table and he knocked it off while under the hood and it landed on his foot. He had to cut the toe off his boot while his foot healed. We had a steel-toed shoe mandate so he would hobble in through the gate and change his shoe and try to lay low for the rest of the day so they wouldn't send him home.

I was stick welding a dumpster that had been hit pretty hard by a forklift. I had just finished straightening and welding a corner when Andy came up to me and before I could say anything he slapped his hand down on the corner that I had just welded. I still feel badly about that one.

Of course anyone that has ever welded has had a spark fly into a shirt pocket, Talk about a purple nurple! And I've used cotton gloves for TIG and had those start smoldering and not known it until I smelled something burning. Other than that they work great!

Or the time old Hubcap (his name was Bill but he had a metal plate in his head from an automobile accident so everyone called him "Hubcap") hit one of the steel I-beams that supported the roof with the forklift and punched a hole in it. I guess the fork stuck and he had a hard time reversing and getting the fork out, but anyway I welded a 6"x8"x1/2" plate over the hole. He hit it again, just below the plate, so I welded a plate on the other side. There was something wrong with that guy, I tell ya.

This one place I worked had a Lincoln MIG welder with a large bottle of gas on it. The POL fitting was bad on the regulator and we couldn't tighten it up enough to stop it from leaking so you always had to remember to shut the gas off when not using the welder. One of the guys left the gas on over the weekend and we lost a whole bottle of gas. Get in the habit of turning the gas off when not welding.

One more and I'll stop...I finally figured out why we have hair in our ears! I've had a spark fly in my ear before and you can hear the hair sizzling but you won't get burned!

I dunno, maybe this belongs in the humor thread...anyway, thanks for making my day!
 
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