Worst Weber Ever?


 
Jon Tofte said:
I was talking to my insurance agent and mentioned my grill restoration hobby. He said, “I just buy a new Charbroil every year or two and throw it away!” I told him he was the very type of grill buyer we all lament here at TVWBB😩.
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That's funny Jon, I had my insurance adjuster here because of wind damage to our roof. He was in the backyard and commented on the six covered up grills. He basically said the same thing, he buys a cheap gasser at HD about every two years. I took the cover off my gen 2000 and told him I bought it new in 1998, so it's coming up on 23 years old. He just was totally amazed that a grill could last that long and I could still get almost all of the wearable parts for it. Then I showed him the 35 year old gen 2 I was going to restore, he just shook his head and said that's unbelievable.
With the purchase price and the replacement parts the gen 2000 has only cost me a little over $28 a year to own it.
 
Rich, this is true. For less than double the price of disposable tin can, they can get a refurb Weber that will last 5 to 10 times longer. I don't buy the hassle of cleaning the grill once or twice a year either. I would think that is less hassle than disposing of a grill and having to buy and haul home a new one.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I was talking to my insurance agent and mentioned my grill restoration hobby. He said, “I just buy a new Charbroil every year or two and throw it away!” I told him he was the very type of grill buyer we all lament here at TVWBB😩.
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Well if they are buying this Genesis ii 410 they are pretty much just throwing their money away
 
So today I got another call from someone wanting to know if I can refurb their Weber Gen ii 410. I had them send me a couple pictures and told them no. Here is a pic of the burner tube clamps, these clamps can only come out if you drill the out, the rot and rust in so bad that you have to reinvent the wheel. They also said the igniter exploded or caught fire from the heat of the bottom of the grill. I suggested they contact Weber themselves or consumer reports and told them I can not do the work. I am still waiting for weber to send parts for the one Genesis ii 410 I am working on. They have sent me every single part of this grill except for the warming rack (Feb 2021), the bottom slats (feb 2021) the burner tube clamp sets (march 2021), and the bottom heat shields which they said they have no expected date and according the the representative she doesn't think they will get it in. Lucky I am able to buy the heat shields from BBQ Renew. Both grills are only 2 years old.
 

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My sister in law bought a Spirit II 3 years ago for their vacation home we visit every year. I always clean it up and while doing so am reminded how much better my 2005 Silver B is.
 
Man, I am with Bruce. That is just horrible and unacceptable. I have to admit to casting wishful looks at a couple open cart, crimson 3-burner Genesis II's with the extra sear burner and 9mm grates. Just doing a superficial look at a grill store in Florida and an Ace Hardware in suburban Chicago, they LOOK nice. I could see that the frame isn't what Weber used to put out, but I figured that would just mean more care. Doesn't look at all like that is the whole story.

I used to say that I would get my own Genesis II in a few years when they start popping up for low prices. Based on Horace's pictures and accounts - and as also seen by Bruce and many times by Dave in KC - it doesn't look like that will be a viable plan. All the more reason to do good work restoring REAL Weber grills.
 
I started a thread one or two years ago on this topic. I recall talking exactly about the V shaped burner stopper or whatever is called that will cause issues once starting to use it, basically where the end where the burner rest on.
As it happens i still have my Genesis II brand new so I am attaching a picture with what the new one looks like. Look at the difference in the pictures.
As you can see in the picture the screw is NOT installed as i removed it and i bought new SS screws from Fastenal. Both the screw and the mount should be made of SS. I never installed the screw, this is the ghost of the Genesis Silver, Gold etc burners screws issues that we know about it. “Dont try to remove them, just slide underneath”
Looks like Weber has not learned that burners need SS screws and in this case also SS for the V shape holder, even after 30 years of building these grills.
 

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Open cart on the older style grills are especially better with resisting rust problems. I am pretty sure it will be the same thing on the newer Genesis II although I have seen rust on the slats on a two year old genesis II.
 
After numerous conversations with multiple levels of personal at Weber and a couple dozen photos, Weber has decided to just send a new Genesis ii. However I need to return all parts and pieces to the shipper when they deliver. The shipper will be upset when he sees all has been removed from boxes and boxes recycled. Weber says thats fine, so whoever picks up is getting a pile off loose metals and 100's of screws.
 
LOL. It is going to cost weber more to pay return shipping than it would be to let you keep them all.
 
When i bought my Genesis II i replaced all frame screws with SS and the burner screws (not mounted yet) I would guess the V mount can be fabricated from SS but wont be cheap
What i am trying to say since is a new grill replace all that can be replaced with SS before it goes into “production”
 
Looking again at the picture of the burner V holder is way too complex for what it needs to do. It should be dead simple to replace the burners, something along the lines of the Silver and Gold but this time with Factory SS screws.

I can think of only two choices:
1) New guy designs a new piece that is complicated, it shows it has no hands on experience and does not understand what few years of usage will do, that fire is a formidable enemy.
2) It was designed like this in purpose that after few years of usage, it becomes unfixable and people will give up and throw away the grill.
 
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Interesting. I have flipped about 4 of the Genesis II's so far ( I even converted one from NG to LP) and I found them easy to work on and clean because the burners were so easy to remove and install. All the pieces cleaned up nice, even the V brackets, and looked like new when I was done. The only deal breaker for me was the rotisserie mounted so low that even with the grates removed there was very little clearance for nice size chickens and could not fit a turkey.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Interesting. I have flipped about 4 of the Genesis II's so far ( I even converted one from NG to LP) and I found them easy to work on and clean because the burners were so easy to remove and install. All the pieces cleaned up nice, even the V brackets, and looked like new when I was done. The only deal breaker for me was the rotisserie mounted so low that even with the grates removed there was very little clearance for nice size chickens and could not fit a turkey.
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Maybe the ones you got were not heavily used (or abused). I could enjoy a grill like this even if it had no rotisserie value - maybe because I have yet to get into rotisserie (dumb on my part) but also because I have other E-W burner grill options.

I was kind of smitten with the crimson open cart version with the extra sear burner, but so many negative reports have definitely given me pause. I know if I fell into some money and really wanted to get one it would have to be NEW. Then swap out any cheap hardware and heavily wax all the painted metal. And, finally, only buy if I am sure it can stay inside when not being used.
 
Joe, what kind of prices are you finding the used Genesis II grills for? I haven't seen one around here with a price anywhere near a price that would allow much profit on a rehab.
 
I bought a Genesis II E210 for $150 and sold for $300. Genesis II S310 NG for $200 converted it to LP and sold for $475. It cost me $20 for the new orifices and I had a tank hanger and regulator laying around. I then sold the NG hose and NG orifices on ebay for $35. There was another G II 310 someone moving and picked up for $250 and sold for $400. I look for deals on the Gen II's as they clean up much easier as they have less years of abuse and sell quickly as people like new grills. My best was actually a Summit S470 that I picked up for $375 and sold for $750. But most of mine have been the older models that I clean up, refurb and make $50 -$100 on. So far I have flipped 34 grills in about the last year of so.
 
That is an interesting approach to rehabbing. How much work do you put into cleaning up the insides of the cook box, grates, flavorizer bars and burners?
 
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