On May 23, 12:55*pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
> John Kuthe > wrote:
>
> >We cleaned up and fired up an old Weber charcoal grill last evening,
> >but found that the bottom louver controls were rusted off, leaving the
> >bottom louvers open and uncontrollable. I looked on the Weber website
> >and here's a pic of what should be in the bottom of this Weber kettle:
>
> >http://www.weber.com/assets/en-us/fe...d18_diff_2.jpg
>
> >I searched the Weber site for repair parts but found nada.
>
> >Anyone have experience repairing such a problem? What approach did you
> >use (besides buying a whole new Weber kettle) and where did you get
> >parts?
>
> That's a tough one -- the bottom vent is the failure point you
> may not be able to do anything about. *But if it is stuck in the open
> position, you can still use the grill, the main drawback being
> it will waste charcoal by continuing to burn when you're finished
> grilling.

Yeah, it's the three bladed adjustable louver shown he

http://www.weber.com/assets/en-us/fe...d18_diff_2.jpg

All three blades (inside the grill) have rusted off, and the mechanism
of adjustment from the outside is rusted solid anyway. The grill has
been sitting outside for several years. And with all three blades
rusted off, the vent louvers are wide open which makes the charcoal
burn like a raging inferno! That's my mail problem, I had a slab of
ribs on there yesterday and I had to move each rib segment to the
outside/periphery of the grill to keep them from getting incinerated!

The louver adjustment is not only for shutting off and extinguishing
the charcoal, they are also for adjusting the burn rate and
consequently the temperature of grilling. I know how to use a Weber
kettle, as a buddy of mine has one.

> A large hardware store that carries Weber products is your
> best shot at trying to order a replacement. *(Not Home Depot
> or similar, a real hardware store.)

I hear ya! I know the difference between a real hardware store and a
Home Depot/Lowes chain store. ;-)

John Kuthe...