What do you see?

[Mike in Roseville]

I contacted Weber the other day about something I noticed while cleaning my 26.75.”

I will post their conclusion a bit later.

But just for fun, please take a look at these pictures and tell me what you see.




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[vwengguy]

To me that looks like the kettle bowl flex causing the enamel to pop where the handle is welded to the kettle.
My guess is because you pick up or move the kettle when it’s heavy with ? S’nS and charcoal and or other items.
This would cause unexpected stress on the welds causing it to bend and pop.
Or... the handles act like a heat sink and the enamel pops because if the temp difference ?


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[HoosierKettle]

I think the inside of your bowl is too clean. What year is yours?  Mine is a 2010 I believe. Mine probably looks the same on the inside. Here is a picture of the outside of mine.

I’m not going to try and beat them up about it. They have always rusted at the welds first. It’s almost unavoidable I would assume.




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[HoosierKettle]

Also, I don't know what the warranty covers.  Does it cover against any and all rust / defective porcelain or does it just cover rust through?

[JEBIV]

Mine did the same thing, 10 trips to the beach and back, in and out of the truck, the handle can't take the weight of being picked up. My handle broke off 3 years ago and is still broke off

[Cellar2ful]

Agree with vwengguy. Looks to be damage caused by flexing of the handle during movement.  Because the lid is so heavy, I always move my 26er in 2 pieces.  I carry the lid by itself and roll the rest of the kettle, usually making 2 trips for safety.  Please don't tell us Weber denied replacement saying it was caused by the user from the kettle tipping over.

[Seth1025]

I’ve scraped the enamel off on the inside where the handles are welded while using the razor scraper before.   Some are raised on the inside where others aren’t.  I try to use steel wool instead of the scraper at the handles. 


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[Mike in Roseville]

Thanks everyone. The general consensus is that there is damage on the opposite side of the handle.

Weber’s response:

“What you are seeing is carbon.  Take a plastic putty knife to scrape out the carbon and then wash the lid in warm soapy water.  What happens is the grease & smoke oxides into black carbon from normal use of the grill.  The gas grills get the same thing.”

Nothing more.

@Cellar2ful...they aren’t denying a replacement because they believe what is pictured isn’t a problem.

I have since responded


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[addicted-to-smoke]

"kettle bowl flex causing the enamel to pop where the handle is welded to the kettle."

Yep, and it's a dirty little secret 26's have, sooner or later. They use the same metal stock for handles as the smaller kettles but weigh more. Whether or not the handle will actually come off is a question. But it's clear that the metal wasn't designed for the heavier grill.

I have an AT bowl that the previous owner had to bolt back on the front handle. When Weber sent me a replacement bowl, for the mis-welded sockets that caused lean-back, I gave it new, longer legs and a wheel on the front one, so that I never have to lift it up just to move it across the deck.

[Antisven84]

I had this on mine, had to reattach both handles back to the bowl. Shitty welds back then, C coded



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