Was just wondering if Weber has replaced the top handle with the bolt on style are they going to eventually switch the ones on the bowls as well?
Funny enough I just found some pics yesterday of kettles that appear to have bolt on bowl handles. I will find it and post them up when I get home in a bit.
Yup...seen the bolt on bowl handles as well.
This is interesting - there were a few different pics showing a bolt on handle on ebay.de just yesterday and now they have all been removed. I wonder if they jumped the gun on posting the pic and got their hand slapped by Weber? In the pics it appeared that most if not all of the bowl handle was black... there was both a blue and a lemongrass and it was labeled as a "One-Touch Premium+"
Bolt on bowl handles???.......cheap and crappy looking. Attach the handle too tight and you have porcelain chips. I say boycott the things.....with the possible exception of a Blue Wave that is.
Quote from: MrHoss on August 26, 2015, 10:22:08 AM
Bolt on bowl handles???.......cheap and crappy looking. Attach the handle too tight and you have porcelain chips. I say boycott the things.....with the possible exception of a Blue Wave that is.
it's my understanding that Weber actually ships with a special plastic wrench that will fail before the porcelain.
This little guy...
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/26/e85a827e89da31ab54003776f834e801.jpg)
Quote from: Troy on August 26, 2015, 10:50:44 AM
Quote from: MrHoss on August 26, 2015, 10:22:08 AM
Bolt on bowl handles???.......cheap and crappy looking. Attach the handle too tight and you have porcelain chips. I say boycott the things.....with the possible exception of a Blue Wave that is.
it's my understanding that Weber actually ships with a special plastic wrench that will fail before the porcelain.
@LightningBoldtz had a Black MT that kept on having the porcelain chip around the lid handle and I am pretty sure he was using the supplied plastic wrench. I have a Crimson OTG that has the bolt on handle...it went on fine but I still hate the look of it. I should sell it but have an aversion to letting Webers go.
it will boil down to logistics.
weber customer service and warranty will replace anything that gets damaged.
if the number of 'oh shit I overtightened and chipped the porcelain' is less than the 'the box got bounced around and lid/bowl got damaged', then the bolt on handles are a big win.
(assuming that the bolt on handles will also last as long or longer than the welded)
The Compact has always had bolt on bowl handles.....and yes they are ugly
They need to come with a washer to be placed between the handle and the bowl to stop that metal on metal contact. Same as the SJ's, they seem to chip where the legs bolt onto the bowl
Interesting topic. From a manufacturing perspective I think the bowl handle is used to hang the Weber Kettles on the overhead conveyor of their (robotic?) paint lines. It also does not necessitate smaller packaging as the handles fit in the corners of the box so I would think that the leg sockets would be a better target for cost reduction. To Hogsy's point above, I think the compact has bolt on legs as well.
Quote from: pbe gummi bear on August 26, 2015, 01:18:22 PM
Interesting topic. From a manufacturing perspective I think the bowl handle is used to hang the Weber Kettles on the overhead conveyor of their (robotic?) paint lines. It also does not necessitate smaller packaging as the handles fit in the corners of the box so I would think that the leg sockets would be a better target for cost reduction. To Hogsy's point above, I think the compact has bolt on legs as well.
Well , I had assumed that they were in fact going with the bolt on handles to save a little cardboard and reduce package size, shipping and all that . I didn't consider the corner solution.
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In my opinion this could be great, yes ugly but if we can then purchase a bracket to allow us to mount to carts then I see this as a good thing.
Quote from: pbe gummi bear on August 26, 2015, 01:18:22 PM
Interesting topic. From a manufacturing perspective I think the bowl handle is used to hang the Weber Kettles on the overhead conveyor of their (robotic?) paint lines. It also does not necessitate smaller packaging as the handles fit in the corners of the box so I would think that the leg sockets would be a better target for cost reduction. To Hogsy's point above, I think the compact has bolt on legs as well.
That is a good point, the handles are used to hang the bowls through the painting process. So how are the new style lids done?
Quote from: Josh G on August 26, 2015, 06:23:33 PM
Quote from: pbe gummi bear on August 26, 2015, 01:18:22 PM
Interesting topic. From a manufacturing perspective I think the bowl handle is used to hang the Weber Kettles on the overhead conveyor of their (robotic?) paint lines. It also does not necessitate smaller packaging as the handles fit in the corners of the box so I would think that the leg sockets would be a better target for cost reduction. To Hogsy's point above, I think the compact has bolt on legs as well.
That is a good point, the handles are used to hang the bowls through the painting process. So how are the new style lids done?
Top vent rivet hole maybe?
Like it or not it WILL happen eventually. History has shown that when the lid handle changes, the bowl handles follow down the line. Example, the metal lid handles changed to wood in 1964. In 1981 the bowl handles finally caught up with the lid handles. Now I don't think that this time around it will take 17 years for the bowl handles to catch up to the bolt on lid handles. I see this happening sooner rather than later.....
The plastic wrench will fail. Though I was able to put some nice scratches in my lid before it did. And it hasn't stopped the handle from continuously coming loose.
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Why no bolt on handle for the WSM?
Quote from: Saugust on August 27, 2015, 01:52:45 PM
The plastic wrench will fail. Though I was able to put some nice scratches in my lid before it did. And it hasn't stopped the handle from continuously coming loose.
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My performer is 5 months old and ive had to tighten handle 3 times already :(
Quote from: Josh G on August 28, 2015, 11:33:00 AM
Why no bolt on handle for the WSM?
I would assume the lids of the WSM stack in a way where the handles are not interfering when they are stacked up and shipped from the production facility. The kettle lids can be stacked tight for shipping from the factory with no top handle. I would figure that's why the handle changed on the lid.
Quote from: CharliefromLI on August 31, 2015, 05:05:26 AM
Quote from: Saugust on August 27, 2015, 01:52:45 PM
The plastic wrench will fail. Though I was able to put some nice scratches in my lid before it did. And it hasn't stopped the handle from continuously coming loose.
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My performer is 5 months old and ive had to tighten handle 3 times already :(
Same here, mine continually comes loose on my new performer. I hate the cheapo nuts they use to.
My friend has a boltie OTS and I must admit the handle stays cool enough so a glove isn't needed. That said, I'll probably never buy a boltie kettle. (unless we get yellow, white, and gray). ::)
Loctite thread lock....blue medium strength should do the trick and give the ability to remove if desired. Or even pink low strength.
Quote from: Lumpy Coal on September 01, 2015, 07:14:57 AM
Loctite thread lock....blue medium strength should do the trick and give the ability to remove if desired. Or even pink low strength.
Have you seen the nuts that come with the bolt on handles? Not sure loctite will work unless you switch the nuts out to regular ones. I'm going to swap mine out for stainless lock nuts and a fender washer. I probably have to use a different bolt to so I can keep it from spinning while tightening the lock nut because the stock bolt has no head.
I'm really considering just finding a new 22" one touch silver with a welded handle and swapping the lid with the bolt on from my new performer.
Quote from: Nick S on September 01, 2015, 11:03:22 AM
Quote from: Lumpy Coal on September 01, 2015, 07:14:57 AM
Loctite thread lock....blue medium strength should do the trick and give the ability to remove if desired. Or even pink low strength.
Have you seen the nuts that come with the bolt on handles? Not sure loctite will work unless you switch the nuts out to regular ones. I going to swap mine out for stainless lock nuts and a fender washer. I probably have to use a different bolt to so I can keep it from spinning while tightening the lock nut because the stock bolt has no head.
I really considering just finding a new 22" one touch silver with a welded handle and swapping the lid with the bolt on from my new performer.
Sorry, no I haven't perhaps a change in nut and bolt is required as well.
http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2014/12/30/not-a-fan-of-the-new-handle-and-heat-shield-design-no-problem-go-retro/ (http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2014/12/30/not-a-fan-of-the-new-handle-and-heat-shield-design-no-problem-go-retro/)
(http://weberkettleclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/handlemod8.jpg)
I just hope they will provide some additional matched color(s) high temp paint...
That looks real good,
@Metal Mike
That looks really nice. I agree with the colors not matching, I hate that.
That looks awesome!
I can't take credit, Matt did the work & posted it.
I just found the beautiful pictures he took while googling to see how some welds might look
(same link above photo, old "blog" section is MIA)
Great tutorial:
http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2014/12/30/not-a-fan-of-the-new-handle-and-heat-shield-design-no-problem-go-retro/ (http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2014/12/30/not-a-fan-of-the-new-handle-and-heat-shield-design-no-problem-go-retro/)
Bolt on bowl handle, in the wild.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/for/5187955209.html
Another
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/hsh/5212312077.html
I think that's the walmart exclusive jumbo joe premium.
Quote from: Nick S on September 08, 2015, 03:57:27 PM
I think that's the walmart exclusive jumbo joe premium.
Yea thats the Walmart joe it also has bolt on legs.
Stay away from that. I've not used one but have heard (from I think
@Hogsy ) that these are cheap pieces of crap.
Yep the compact aka mini ranch ......POS!
Either way, looks like crappy products are on the way.