New Weber S-330 - Excessive Corrosion?

[gnaughton]

Hi guys,

I am new to the barbecue world, and indeed new to this forum. Just last week bought a new Weber Genesis S330, and so far it has been a great success

Today I thought I would give it a clean, as I am expecting grill grates to arrive tomorrow. I was a little shocked when I seen the state of box, particularly the flavorizer bars. I brushed the items with a weber wire brush, and cleaned with a cloth in warm soapy water. The results are in the final two images below - should I be worried, or is this to be expected!? Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers

Before cleaning:


Flavorizer bars removed


Flavorizer wire brushed and cleaned with cloth (worst bar)


Flavorizer wire brushed and cleaned with cloth (best bar bar)

[LightningBoldtz]

those flavorizer bars are just fine(in the before shot), when you BBQ things get dirty and the flavorizer bars are the first to take the hit.

Key is to keep the major crap off of it and rotate them and you will be just fine.

[gnaughton]

Great stuff - thanks for the reassurance! Such a pity - it really was a thing of beauty before that first grill!

[ramsfan]

I agree with LightningBoldtz. The flavorizer bars are usually the first thing to take a hit as they are the only thing standing between the food and the fire (besides the cooking grate of course). However; I agree with what you're saying, for a brand new grill fresh put of the box for only a single week, that definitely looks excessive. It almost appears like it is starting to rust at the top end of that one flavorizer bar?

Your grill is an S-330 so those pieces should be stainless steel. It definitely shouldn't look like that after one week. I have a Summit S-670 that I bought brand new in Jan. 2013 and my flavorizer bars don't look anything like that after 2 years and 100+ cooks on it. You should call Weber and talk to them.

Send them the pictures you posted. Weber offers a very good warranty on all their products. Your serial number on the grill should prove that it's nearly new and I'll bet they will send you some new bars. As far as cleaning them regularly, I use a flat edge scraper to scrape off any baked on crud. It's impossible to get them "new looking" after they have been used, so I wouldn't even attempt to try and make them look clean as new. I have strongly suspected for a while now that Weber is sourcing a lot of their parts from China, even though they claim they are made in the USA. I think a lot of the individual parts are coming from Asia and being sent here to be assembled. I know that steel from Asia isn't nearly as strong as American steel and rusts and corrodes much sooner. Maybe that's what happening here? IDK? Good luck.

[demosthenes9]

That's a pretty dirty box for only being a week old.   Did you by chance use a lot of marinades or sauces on your cooks ?

[toolhead]

Did u buy it new or used.
I ask bc you said you have grill grates coming..
The worst favorizer bars dont look right for one week usage after cleaning.

[gnaughton]

Hi guys,

I bought this brand new - I am pretty sure that the one delivered to me, is the same one which was on display in the showroom, and I'm now wondering if any cleaning products which they may have used could have affected the integrity of the steel. 2 weeks later and I notice what seems like rust on the gas tubes:



I mainly cooked steaks seasoned only with olive oil, salt and pepper. There were some chicken breasts with marinades. I will contact weber now regarding this, as it does not seem right to me.

Thanks for the help!

[LightningBoldtz]

Question

It is not cooking right?  if it is why are you so worried about this, you have a warranty, if this becomes an issue where it doesn't cook right then call Weber otherwise I think you are worrying too much.

[Easy]

My S330 is about seven years old and my flavor bars have looked like yours since year one.
the big thing to watch is the lower floor as corrision will eat the floor up quick. Park your grill on a rubber mat that can drain easily. To reduce moisture build up under the grill. If you notice rust starting remove floor and clean and repaint quick.

[Cochise]

I've said it before...and I'll say it again...new Webers are overpriced GARBAGE! If I were you I would raise hell until I got my money returned and restore an old Genesis from craigslist.

Not to sound like a negative prick but there is a reason why guys are so amped up about finding the older grills and restoring them....its because they are true quality and better than the new ones.

[ramsfan]

Hi guys,

I bought this brand new - I am pretty sure that the one delivered to me, is the same one which was on display in the showroom, and I'm now wondering if any cleaning products which they may have used could have affected the integrity of the steel. 2 weeks later and I notice what seems like rust on the gas tubes:



I mainly cooked steaks seasoned only with olive oil, salt and pepper. There were some chicken breasts with marinades. I will contact weber now regarding this, as it does not seem right to me.

Thanks for the help!

You said this was a display model at the store? Is it possible that it was displayed outside in the front of the store uncovered? I know that the Lowes and Home Depot near me always display their grills outside, uncovered, and exposed. Maybe your grill was displayed outside in the rain and then  moved inside later? You come along, see it displayed inside all assembled already? You buy it assembled and have it delivered as you describe, not ever looking under the flavorizer bars until after you get it home and cook on it for a week? Then you finally discover the rust that was possibly already there before you ever bought it?