What’s Up with Summits?


 
On FB I saw a post from someone complaining about warping fireboxes on these. The front of the firebox had warped outward and the grates would basically have no longer a front support.
 
CBVickrey said:
I have a 2005 Summit D6 and I love it. Cook on it 3 nights a week year round and have not a minute of trouble with rusting. I think it is super versatile and other than replacing some igniter parts that wore out over time it has been great. Living in Tennessee salt air is not an issue. Mine is a built in version so maybe the frame they are mentioning I don't have, what frame I do have is stainless. I restored a 2001 Genesis Gold C and it did have some rust on the frame that I had repaired but not too much. I am a big fan of the Summits!
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Appears you have the Platinum version of this Summit, I believe made only in 2005 and 2006. The non-Platinum and Gold Summits do not have stainless frames. If your firebox is solid you have an awesome grill. Enjoy, like it sounds as though your are, and just take good care of it!
 
DaveW said:
I'd look into some rust preventative coatings to protect the cart. If you really want to extend it's life, check out the internal channel/frame spray or whatever from Eastwood. From what I've seen, if that grill fails, it will most likely be the lower part of the cart. The bottom pan and the lower frame/legs, especially where the casters are.

Basically, spend another $50 or so and invest some time to try and make the thing bullet proof. Rustoleum makes a clear coat rust preventative spray. Not sure of it's quality, but might give something like that a shot as well for the exposed surfaces.

Then, just be vigilant. If the cart does start to develop some rust, if you catch it early enough, you can mitigate it.
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Here is a product I think is worthy of your consideration. It is called EverBrite:

https://www.everbritecoatings.com/protect_stainless_steel_bbq.htm
 
NRingo said:
Thanks! That seems like a good preventative measure while its new. Also noted on removing the cover after a rain to make sure everything dries out properly.
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They also sell stainless restorative products to use before putting the protection stuff on if your grill is not new.
 
Man,

You guys are scaring me. I joined because I just picked up a new Summit S 670. My last Weber gas has lasted 20 years (with some upgrades) and I was hoping to get 30 out of this one. Ill keep it covered and hope I avoid some of the issues I am seeing here.

That said, I have always wanted a sear burner, and plan on learning the art of the rotisserie. Smoker function is TBD for me. I may end up covering it for more grill space, as I have already purchased the griddle and plan to make it semi permanent
 
CJDeeg said:
Man,

You guys are scaring me. I joined because I just picked up a new Summit S 670. My last Weber gas has lasted 20 years (with some upgrades) and I was hoping to get 30 out of this one. Ill keep it covered and hope I avoid some of the issues I am seeing here.

That said, I have always wanted a sear burner, and plan on learning the art of the rotisserie. Smoker function is TBD for me. I may end up covering it for more grill space, as I have already purchased the griddle and plan to make it semi permanent
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CJ,

One thing to keep in mind is that quite a few of us commenting on Summits are talking about ones that were picked up on the cheap from CL, or were found at the curb. As such, they might not be representative of all or most Summits out there.
 
Thanks Dave,

I thought the fire box issue was possible in the new ones. Great point that it is likely accelerated by abuse (that leads to the curb). Just spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get to the gas orifice. Seems pretty straight forward. Really hoping to get his thing cooking for mothers day.

Still might be tempted to look in to some steps to avoid the corrosion. Really don't love cabinets of any kinds out doors. I have a metal box for my BGE, and if it was not a gift from my wife, I wold dump it and make a table that breathes.

really looking forward to digging in to the site more. Love the little grill icons at the bottom.

chris
 
CJDeeg said:
Thanks Dave,

I thought the fire box issue was possible in the new ones. Great point that it is likely accelerated by abuse (that leads to the curb). Just spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get to the gas orifice. Seems pretty straight forward. Really hoping to get his thing cooking for mothers day.

Still might be tempted to look in to some steps to avoid the corrosion. Really don't love cabinets of any kinds out doors. I have a metal box for my BGE, and if it was not a gift from my wife, I wold dump it and make a table that breathes.

really looking forward to digging in to the site more. Love the little grill icons at the bottom.

chris
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Sadly Chris, I've seen some more recent Summits that have fallen apart. Someone posted some photos of one here not to far back. Again though, it might be in the minority. From what I understand, salt can cause even stainless steel to corrode. So maybe that had something to do with it ?

Anyways, welcome. There's a wealth of information here and it's just an all around cool place to hang out.
 
One thing that may help is to drill drain holes in the bottom of the legs of the cabinet. It seems the rot starts on all the grills just above the casters. So letting water drain out would be a good thing. A rust treatment spared inside the legs also would help something like this http://www.crcindustries.com/products/heavy-duty-corrosion-inhibitor-10-wt-oz-06026.html There are other products similar also. Basically on good metal they spray in as a liquid and harden to more like a grease that will not "run". I will caution you though all this type product does drip out profusely until it "hardens". Once it does it will self "heal" if the coating is damaged. That will go a long way to stopping rust in the legs that migrates to the cabinet. Sadly the HUGE flaw in Summits is the front of the fire box. Weber has chosen to use a mild steel stamping for it coated with porcelain. Eventually the porcelain will crack and once that happens rust takes hold until the fire box looks like swiss cheese. Sadly it's unrepairable and invisible. This happens no matter how well you take care of the grill. It's a heat expansion/contraction thing. Porcelain is basically "glass" and does not "flex" steel will expand and contract and the shape of the front of that fire box leaves too many places the porcelain can fail.
 
I wonder if it would make sense to take the doors of off the summit. On my old Frankenstein Genesis, I swapped out the metal floor with a grate style (salvaged from the trash) I hated the way the water pooled.

Air flow cures a lot of issues
 
It's not the doors causing this issue. If it were my old Summit 450 would be a rust bucket but it's not. Because it has a grate instead of a chap stamped metal floor. That is what is causing all the issues. Weber cheaped out and went to using cheap powder coated mild steel for the floor of the cabinets. They begin to rust and it then spreads all over. Also because nothing drains out of the leg tubing
 
Thanks. I was thinking the air flow might help mitigate the dampness. While I still have this thing in pieces, I might look at drilling some weep holes in the legs. My wife says I cant leave well enough alone. I have no idea what she is talking about.
 
I think that you can actually drill a hole/holes up through the plastic bushings for the legs in case you were thinking of drilling into the sides of the steel legs.
 
Sounds like you will have solved the big downfall with the Summit grills with a pretty small investment. It sounds like you will wind up with a pretty fancy grill for a great price.

Some photos of the completed project will be appreciated.
 
Oops

Well I saw a typo and went to edit it... somehow deleted my post. Had it saved... Here it is again. And thanks Bruce! I'll post a pic when all done.

I picked up a 670 with a bad case of firebox rot, a rusted out leg, floor, and tank blocker. Price was right... free! $350 for another enameled firebox seemed like a waste. I bought some 304 stainless sheet and had a local HVAC fabricator bend it up for me. I had to cut the openings for the burners, but I think it will work well. I had some scrap square tube to replace the bad leg, and welded in some scrap sheet to fix the tank block.
I wanted to replace the floor with SS, but my metal supply had a 2'x4' offcut of 16ga 304. I bought that rather than wait for cut pieces to be shipped. It was only enough for the firebox, so I ordered a replacement floor panel.
Just some final assembly left. Should be cooking on it this weekend.





 
Well that will make it a bullet proof grilling machine. It's a shame Weber made such an expensive product so cheaply. I can see from the photos the newer product is nearly identical to the first Summit series like I have (the 450). Keep up the photos and nice work on it
 
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