Limited Edition Red 22 Kettle: News, Views & Reviews

[mike.stavlund]

We just got our redhead in yesterday.  We got lucky.  Enamel isn't perfect, but really good overall and NOTHING I'd call a deal breaker and no bare metal.  My one criticism so far is that the lid bale holds the lid too high.  I prefer the bale on my 2016 Performer.

Performer bales are different. If the used the same bale the kettle could become unstable.

Yeah I get why they did it, but for me their solution isn't ideal.

@ABCbarbecue  You could order a 'replacement' lid bale for your Performer, then put it on the new red.  Just be sure to use several Slow-n-Sears stacked up on the triangle for ballast.  I think 5 or 6 should do the trick! ;-)

Best idea I heard all day!  Actually just the one Slow 'N Sear opposite the lid on the charcoal grate would do the trick.

But I prefer having my coals tucked back in the lid side of the grill.  So in the interest of safety, I'd daisy-chain several Slow 'N Sears together, then hang them from the handle.  Can't be too safe!

[RottiGuy]

Well i picked mine up today,my local dealer brought 10 in...The first one we opened had a mini grinder cut on the outside of the lid!!!..The rest of the kettle was great. My question is, what is someone doing with a mini grinder near a finished product? And how did it pass through inspection? The second one we opened was great, a little paint run on the inside of the bowl, that was it, i'm gonna cook the shit out of it!!!.. One i'm gonna keep in the box.I'm not sure about the serial number i know Craig wrote down his thinking that maybe the second run will be better.........Here is mine......B18012549....Jeff, mine was not boxed as nice as your's, just had the cardboard on top, no paper packing or bubble wrap..Also, my bowl handle had the letter 'X'... on it.

[Josh G]

Well i picked mine up today,my local dealer brought 10 in...The first one we opened had a mini grinder cut on the outside of the lid!!!..The rest of the kettle was great. My question is, what is someone doing with a mini grinder near a finished product? And how did it pass through inspection? The second one we opened was great, a little paint run on the inside of the bowl, that was it, i'm gonna cook the shit out of it!!!.. One i'm gonna keep in the box.I'm not sure about the serial number i know Craig wrote down his thinking that maybe the second run will be better.........Here is mine......B18012549....Jeff, mine was not boxed as nice as your's, just had the cardboard on top, no paper packing or bubble wrap..Also, my bowl handle had the letter 'X'... on it.

Is yours just a "B"?  Mine is "BM"

@RottiGuy

[RottiGuy]

Oh shit forgot to look, the 'X'.. is on the side handle.. I have it still in the box, as we are getting ready to move, so boxing up kettles to move to the garage at the other house..

[Troy]

So I'm part of the new red kettle club as well.  When I opened mine, I had a chip on the rim of the lid.  This was clearly due to poor packaging.  The lid is the last part to be packed.  It's placed upside in the box, with a 24x24" piece of flat cardboard set on top.  There was zero sidewall support inside the box.  Any type of impact in the center of the box on top would apply direct pressure against the rim of the lid.  See photos. 
So I contacted Weber C.S.  They asked me for photos of the damage, of the box itself, and asked I check the rest of the grill for flaws or damage.  They also asked what store it was purchased from.  They also asked to inspect and see if there were loose red porcelain chips at the bottom of the box...which there were.  Long story short, they supplied me a new lid which arrived today that was pre- inspected.
The new lid arrived in a 26x26" box.  Included an insert inside the box which was 22" round that fit the rim within it to keep it from shifting. It tool me 5 minutes to unwrap this lid from all the shrink wrap and bubble wrap.  All the empty space in the box was filled in with heavy duty paper packing.  I've never seen anything from Weber packed so securely.  They clearly went out of their way to insure it arrived safely to me.  I'm happy they made things right due to a poor packing design, but it's still discouraging to see some of the other problems and obvious flaws of the porcelain coating processes inside and out that some of the rest of you are dealing with.  I can deal with poor coatings around the bowl handle edges and fish eyes in the paint...but bare metal shouldn't never be called "acceptable".

This makes me feel A LOT better!!
Thank you for sharing this Jeff!!
(I hope this isn't a case of You getting special service because you're Jeff Mother F'in K)

[Troy]

We just got our redhead in yesterday.  We got lucky.  Enamel isn't perfect, but really good overall and NOTHING I'd call a deal breaker and no bare metal.  My one criticism so far is that the lid bale holds the lid too high.  I prefer the bale on my 2016 Performer.

Performer bales are different. If the used the same bale the kettle could become unstable.

Nah, while technically you are right, I don’t think it would be a problem unless your in really high wind.

Complete speculation on my part though.

It's happened.... http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/mt-flipped-over/

Ahhh I saw this comment earlier and I got distracted while trying to find gummi's post!!
Center of gravity on a tri-leg with the lid bale is already unstable, it's way worse with the new performer bale on standard legs.
The wheels being on the same side as the bale makes it even worse.

[Grillagin]

Time to get mine dirty.

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[Jeff]

Time to get mine dirty.

About time...where's all the snow up there in Superior??

[blksabbath]

Time to get mine dirty.

That thing looks mean!


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[RottiGuy]

Look's great !!

[charred]

@mcgolden Love the wheel treatment! I would do the same.

[addicted-to-smoke]

... This was clearly due to poor packaging. ...

I have doubts about that, because the box and packaging is no different from any other 22, right? What IS different is the journey to Weber's distribution center.

The damaged ones are either being mishandled prior to going into the box, or the box is getting bounced around afterwards. I vote for the latter, because how would a paint chip wind up being included in the box if the metal was hurt prior to getting placed in the box? Also, if you damage the metal prior to putting it into the box, you'd have to be a Class-A cretin not to care about it.

********************

Obviously, none of that has anything to do with the missing and misapplied paint issues. Weber's being hit with two unrelated issues here, I suspect. Their somewhat Byzantine efforts to identify purchase locations and so on are likely an effort to determine where exactly the problems are occurring. They can't prevent them if they don't know where they are occurring.

In one of the older Weber videos from a few years ago, they mention that if anything's amiss during a spot check, the entire related run gets opened up and inspected. That clearly hasn't been happening with this model.

[iCARRY]

The paint chips really have me questioning the quality of the coating.


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[Jeff]

... This was clearly due to poor packaging. ...

I have doubts about that, because the box and packaging is no different from any other 22, right? What IS different is the journey to Weber's distribution center.

The damaged ones are either being mishandled prior to going into the box, or the box is getting bounced around afterwards. I vote for the latter, because how would a paint chip wind up being included in the box if the metal was hurt prior to getting placed in the box? Also, if you damage the metal prior to putting it into the box, you'd have to be a Class-A cretin not to care about it.

********************

Obviously, none of that has anything to do with the missing and misapplied paint issues. Weber's being hit with two unrelated issues here, I suspect. Their somewhat Byzantine efforts to identify purchase locations and so on are likely an effort to determine where exactly the problems are occurring. They can't prevent them if they don't know where they are occurring.

In one of the older Weber videos from a few years ago, they mention that if anything's amiss during a spot check, the entire related run gets opened up and inspected. That clearly hasn't been happening with this model.

Yes, it happened after the grill was boxed.  My point is that there is nothing between the outside layer of the box itself and the rim of the bowl.  Any type of moderate to severe impact on the top edge of the box, against the rim is most likely going to cause damage.  That's what happened as evidenced by the paint chips on the bottom of the box.  I suggested to Weber to bolster the sidewall inside the box...or put a foam pipe type of insulation around the entire rim.

[MrHoss]

In one of the older Weber videos from a few years ago, they mention that if anything's amiss during a spot check, the entire related run gets opened up and inspected. That clearly hasn't been happening with this model.

Mumbo jumbo bull shit right there. I got a Copper a couple years ago that Weber fell all over themselves trying to get me non defective parts for. They couldn't do it. Like so many companies they have given themselves over to the lowest common denominator here. Missing and wonky porcelain and sub par.......well pretty much everything and anything at any given point in the production process. The company does not even see a problem...in fact the only problem they see are those that do not want 200 dollar grills that are Red. As per the older grills having inconsistencies and anomalies....yes they did but not to the extent that I have seen on these new ones coming out in the last few years. Right now I think Weber probably sees the collectors as a pain in the ass.....unless they are the type that have their heads up Momma Weber's ass.