Q320 rehab / mod?

[addicted-to-smoke]

Today I picked up a Q320. It works but needs the cooking grates replaced unless we want to eat porcelain and rust chips. Did some reading online and learned the grates sometimes get replaced each year, even with care taken (brass brush that shouldn't scratch the porcelain coating, making sure kept dry.) I hope that's not an issue. Mine will stay on the back porch, covered, so I'll skip getting the cover.

It was a good price, so I might splurge and replace the knobs since they're weathered. Seems this model also came with both piezo and battery ignition, so I may change mine to electric too. I'm seeing the igniter and button (#80543) http://www.ereplacementparts.com/electronic-igniter-assembly-p-1478753.html or igniter, wiring and button holder? (63788) http://www.ereplacementparts.com/igniter-kit-p-1478780.html

[addicted-to-smoke]

These Grill Grates, cut for the 22.5", also tempt if I don't want to replace the stock grates. http://www.mygrillgrate.com/Custom_cut_GrillGrates_for_Weber_Kettle_22_5_p/rweb22.5.htm

Saw a picture on their site, they fit about 90% of the Q320's cook surface. Double-duty accessory?

[Hogsy]

Does it have the thermometer in the lid? If not it's the Q300
The Q320 has a higher lid,thermometer and electric start
Great pick up by the way, there a great BBQ!
I had mine for 4yrs and it works like the day I bought it, there built well and cook great
To me there the kettles of the gas bbq's
I still use my original grates , rusted yes but a bit of TLC and they function great, there CI after all

[addicted-to-smoke]

I guess mine could be a Q300, they don't seem to say anywhere. I've Googled and can't see a difference in the lids. What I've come across so far says the 320 came with one of those lid handle lights and a warming rack, neither of which mine have.

But it does have a lid thermometer, all large Qs over here have them. I'm interested still in converting it to electric start.

Don't think I can really use my cooking grate for the reasons I mentioned above. Bare cast iron doesn't concern me, but flakes of enamel or iron sorta do. But next week I'll give the grate a hard scrub and see what's what.

Any of the 3-series come with colored lids Down Under? That'd be one mod I'd like, but don't wanna paint mine. They now offer the Q1200 in 4 colors in the U.S., but still not the larger models.

[Hogsy]

No as usual no colours down hear....I've seen the colours you guys get and they look great
We have six models down here-
Q100
Q200 piezo ignition, lower lid, no thermometer
Q300
And
Q120
Q220 these are only sold at weber specialist shops
Q320
These have all been superseded by the Q1200,2200,3200
I can understand your issue with the grates, weber are pretty good with warranty on new grates over here. The newer grates apparently have a thicker coat of porcelain enamel

[BBQ Jack]

The 3200 grates do have a better porcelain coating and are better than the grates that came with the 320. I expect mine will last awhile. The 3200 grates should fit the 320.

[Hell Fire Grill]

Id use a wire wheel to get that crap off the grate, right down to the iron, season it real good and cook. A can of jiffy lube works wonders on a virgin grate.

[addicted-to-smoke]

I looked more closely at the grates. They're basically shot. If it were the tops only I'd keep them oiled. But the sides of the "bars" have rust and some bars have ... disappeared. But also like I said, I don't wanna know if porcelain enamel would get onto the food.

In addition to new grates I also picked up the griddle accessory half. So of course I'm thinking, "Why wouldn't a person buy two and have a really nice, large griddle?? Very first thing the "manual" that came with the griddle says is, don't do that, gas will get trapped and either snuff the flames or blow up the machine once it finally gulps air. Noticed the griddle has a smoother surface, too, than the regular grates.

Gave it a basic rubdown and scraped off the big chunks. It'll never be a beauty, the previous owner ran it pretty hard for the last 9 years. 9 years for a gasser ... isn't that 30 in kettle years?

So I consider this a Rescue. Oh yeah, I found the sticker underneath one of the tables ... Q300, born 2006.

Now I'm wondering if the flames are correct. I used a wire brush on 'em, which helped, but can't get about 1/3 of the rear large burner to go. I had the gas on full, waited and so on. Got a little better as time went on but still meh. Intake mesh seems clear for both.

This is the best it looked at one point. Usually much of the back didn't flame. The front's not a ton better. The middle burner is more haphazard but actually produces higher flame (not including the large flame on the left. What's that about??)

[addicted-to-smoke]

... Noticed the griddle has a smoother surface, too, than the regular grates ...

Whoa, just stumbled upon this, "glossy" grates: https://www.grillparts.com/weber/Q300.asp?product_id=69933

??

[addicted-to-smoke]

So ... an experiment of sorts.

First, I took a pushpin and worked on each burner tube hole. This helped the back side in terms of delivering flame, albeit still only a very small flame.

I noticed that the parts that were in better shape were a larger diameter hole ... the pushpin easily went into them, whereas I had to work the pin into most of the others and still couldn't make it go all the way.

And so, a drill bit, right? Figured at this point I had little to lose.

The smallest bit I could find was 1/16" but that's too big, bigger than the most-pristine holes in the outer tube (the inner burner is slotted.) I drilled anyway, but only opening up two holes.

Upon test I did in fact get a nicer, bigger flame (maybe 1/2" high on HIGH), not necessarily "too big" but big enough to make me wonder (compared to most of the rest?) if I'd lose the ability to turn down the heat low enough if I wanted to.

Looked online for examples of how high the flames should extend but didn't find any. Can any of you guys here comment? This would all be with grill grates removed, if that matters.

I'll hunt down a smaller drill bit before spending $50 or whatever on new burner tubes. Problem is, SS is tough to get through, might have to get a hardened bit.

[addicted-to-smoke]

So I bought an electronic igniter, gonna hot rod this thing ... The one I got was the Weber #80453. This gets you the button (a red one, heh), a battery and the electronic module. It's intended for the '20 series (Q120, Q220, Q320) but seems to fit the '00 series as well.

The existing ground wire plugs into the white terminal on the module and the black (center) one connects to the black terminal, but only after you cut off its end and attach a small spade lug to it. Presumably, if you also bought the sparker for a Q320 that attaches at the burner assembly you could avoid having to do this step since it should come with wires already made for the module.

You can see here, how I had to pry it open a little with a flat blade screwdriver. Fit fine after that. (The next size spade I had was too wide to fit in the terminal.)




The module snaps right in place. The button sticks out a little; it's not recessed. I don't care. Works like a charm.

[Hell Fire Grill]

ATS I just cleaned up a Q100 that was having same problem with the flame as yours. As it turns out mine had a gas flow problem in the regulator, i believe the diaphragm was stuck. But yours looks like its got alot of SHEitE in the burner plugging the holes.

The first thing I done was to soak the burner and grate in my lye tank and I sprayed the inside of the Q with oven cleaner. It soaked for a couple days then I pressure washed all off it. After that I used a tip cleaner, thats used to clear the orifices on a cutting torch, to clear the holes in the burner. While I had the burner and regulator off the Q I took the orifice off the regulator and reamed it out with the tip cleaner too. I VERY CAREFULLY (so I dont damage the reg.) used my mouth to blow through the regulator and there was no flow so i blew the other direction too and WahLAH. After that it flowed both directions. My Q has a extension hose that connects to a 5 gallon tank and I blew it with an air compressor and thoroughly blew out the burner too. After that the flame on the burner is just like the flame on your burner, in the left hand part of the pic, all the way around and cooks like a MOFO.


Tip cleaner:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-Electric-Oxygen-Acetylene-Torch-Tip-Cleaner-Kit-KH575/100341101

[addicted-to-smoke]

Very interesting, and thanks for the link. For just a few bucks those look useful.

After my electronic ignition swap last night I noticed the flames were uniformly blue and lit pretty much everywhere ... my earlier assessment might have been off because I was looking at it with grates removed and sorta windy?

So today I decided to get out my trusty oven thermometer and get some grate readings, waiting for awhile for each temp change.

both burners lit, both on low = 450 grate, "390" lid thermo (which I tested in boiling water earlier and it never got above 190 ...)
both burners lit, both on med = 600 grate, "500" lid thermo
both burners lit, both oh high = uh, not tested!

So I'm thinking it's working pretty well. Presumably, lower than 450 temps are achievable with just one of the burners, but I don't know how even the cooking would be (assuming that's the goal.)

[tom bauer]

I own a Q220, a Q300, and a Q320, the grates on the 220 hold up very well, the grates on the Q300 and 320 are rusting badly. I wonder if the higher btu's on the 300 series is the culprit for the grates. I use a 3 pack of GrillGrates when cooking steaks on the 300's for no rust and have used a Lodge griddle for flattop cooking with great success. I love my Q's and will replace the grates someday. The 300 is 5 years old and starts first time withe the push button ignition as so does the 320 with the electronic ignition. The Q series are a great Weber product.

[SteveZ]

I have an old Q200. Was filthy when I got it on craigslist. I took burner out soaked in sink for a while. Used a needle to clean out every hole. Now it burns very evenly, Max grill temp went from about 300 to close to 600. Grill in pretty bad shape. I don't think this guy ever cleaned this thing.