Cleaning Advice Needed - Carbon-Off vs Zed and CLR for cleaning aluminum?

[Jcroach]

Hey all, new to the forums. Acquired a 2006 22" One-Touch Silver over the weekend and have been cleaning it up. Already made some amazing progress. Two things I'm still struggling with.

• Aluminum parts like legs and ash pan. This grill has 15 years worth of caked on ash. It's almost like concrete. I'd tried sanding and scraping and steel wool. Nothing is working well. What do others use? I know the site recommends CLR but the manufacturer doesn't recommend it for aluminum. What are people's experience with this?
• Last baked on carbon/grease. I've gotten a vast amount of baked on grease and carbon out of the kettle but some remains. I think it will be fine to use, but if there is a good product people recommend I may make one more go at it. I've tried scraping and oven cleaner and that worked OK, but there's still a stubborn layer. Anyone ever use Carbon-Off? or Zed? Should I leave it be or use one of these products?

Also, best way to tighten up loose legs? Driving me crazy.

Cheers!

[JEBIV]

0000 steel wool and Dawn for the stubborn carbon on the porcelain, try a broomstick or similar inside the legs to widen them out a little to tighten them up. Try the steel wool on the legs for a light clean, or look on the forum page for info on cleaning legs, several methods

[JEBIV]

click on the top of the forum page and look on the right hand side for cleaning tips

http://weberkettleclub.com/weber-charcoal-grill-restoration/cleaning-and-polishing-old-aluminum-legs/

[Cellar2ful]

To fix "loose leg syndrome", I use needle nose pliers. Insert the tip of the pliers inside the aluminum leg. Prying the handles open forces the tip of the pliers against the inside of the legs. Keep rotating the pliers placing them wherever the legs are dimpled inward from the leg sockets. Using this method you can reshape the leg end back to a round shape.

Sometimes, even using this method a leg will still be loose or slip out of the leg socket when the kettle is moved. You can then jam a very small finishing nail between the leg and the leg socket. It works as a shim and will solve the loose leg problem. Place the nail to the inside of the leg so it will be less visible.

I've used CLR to soak ash pans that have that concrete like ash buildup had any problems with it harming the aluminum. You may still have to use #0000 steel wool to clean te ash pan after soaking in CLR. As @JEBEV suggested above, look at the WKC Home Page for cleaning tips.

[Andyinlz]

I pop rivet legs into the socket, as I carry my Weber up and down stairs to get it to my trailer for camping  trips.

Best mod ever!

[TXFlyGuy]

A glass bead medium sand blaster would do the trick.

[OkieGirl]

I've had some luck wrapping aluminum HVAC tape around the leg. 
If you calculate the amount of tape just right, it's not visible once the leg is in. 
(I haven't had a lot of luck with that second part, tho.) LOL

[Jcroach]

Update. I ended up having good luck with just regular oven cleaner and a new razor blade scraper on the kettle. For the legs, all that would work was brute force and sandpaper. Still haven't been able to sand off all the ash from the ash catcher. For the wobbly legs I ended up having to use the finishing nail trick mentioned. But I'm done now until I'm ready to replace the wheels! Had my first cool last night. Went great! Thanks all!

[michaelmilitello]

I would not recommend rivets, screws, or nails on vintage, non-black grills as it will likely decrease its collectible value. 


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[Jcroach]

I would not recommend rivets, screws, or nails on vintage, non-black grills as it will likely decrease its collectible value. 


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Thanks. This is a 2006 Black.