Originally posted: 08/01/2001
Last updated: 03/30/2010

• Access Door Doesn't Fit Tight
• Access Door Knob Is Loose
• Sections Out Of Round
• Charcoal Bowl Damaged
• Porcelain Finish Chipped Or Missing
• Vent Damper Loose
• Vent Damper Bent
• Damper Tabs Bent
• Damper Won't Close Fully Because Tab Hits Charcoal Grate (22-1/2" WSM only)

• Leg Misshaped
• Damper Rivet Backwards
• Cooking Grate Doesn't Fit Properly
• Lid Handle Loose
• Charcoal Chamber Out Of Round
• Vinyl Cover Logo Upside Down
• Wrong Or Missing Part
• Putting Things Into Perspective

One common affliction of new Weber Bullets is that the access door does not fit tight against the cooking section. An example of this condition is shown in Picture 1.

The access door is not meant to provide an airtight fit, so don't worry if there are small gaps or if you see a little bit of smoke creeping out from around the door on occasion. The main concern is that too large a gap allows unwanted air into the cooker, making it difficult to control temperature even with all the bottom vents closed.

To adjust the door, just bend it gently by hand, making small adjustments and checking the fit often on the cooker until you get it just right.

• If the curvature of the door does not match that of the cooking section, hold the door by the edges and gently flex to add or subtract curvature (Picture 2).
• If the curvature of the door is fine, but the vertical edges are warped or bowed, using the palm of your hand, hold the edge of the door on a sturdy surface with a straight edge and gently bend the door into shape using your other hand (Picture 3). Thanks to Doug D for posting this suggestion on The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board.

A door that fits properly will have a slight spring action that requires you to push on the knob slightly to engage the door latch.

If the access door knob turns too freely while the access door is in place, bend the latch a tiny bit toward the door so it engages the body of the cooker more tightly. Another approach is to gently shape the curvature of the door so that it has to be pushed tight in order to latch—sort of a slight spring action.

If the access door knob is coming off the threaded post, a few drops of Loctite Threadlocker adhesive should fix the problem. Otherwise, always turn the knob clockwise—that way you're always tightening the knob, not loosening it.

A less common problem is what's known as an "out of round" condition, where the middle cooking section or the charcoal bowl or both parts are slightly oval-shaped instead of round. As a result, the sections don't fit together properly and air infiltrates the cooker, making it hard to control temperatures or extinguish the fire by closing the bottom vents. "Out of round" is usually the result of a manufacturing error, not damage during shipping.

In a worst-case scenario like the one shown in Picture 1, the middle cooking section will not even fit into the charcoal bowl. An "out of round" condition this severe warrants an immediate call to Weber Customer Service for a free replacement part.

It should be noted that the Weber Bullet is not intended to be an airtight unit, and as long the parts don't exhibit large, obvious gaps, you should not be overly concerned. Most people get along just fine with a minor "out of round" condition. They just close the bottom vents a little bit more than normal while cooking. Others rotate the middle cooking section within the charcoal bowl until it binds, resulting in sufficient pressure to close the gap between the sections. For moderate gaps, you can place sheets of aluminum foil between the two sections to form a sort of airtight gasket, as shown in Picture 2.

Minor cases of "out of round" can be diagnosed by checking for the following symptoms:

• The two sections fit together, but you see a gap of more than 1/8" between the sections as you look around the circumference of the cooker and the middle cooking section rocks back and forth in the charcoal bowl when you press down on it.
• The middle cooking section turns freely within the charcoal bowl, then binds at a certain point during the rotation.

Again, just because your cooker exhibits one of these symptoms does not necessarily mean you need a replacement part. The cooker may operate just fine for you. If you have a gap of 1/8" or less, you should try to live with the situation. This is a normal variance in fit between parts.

If you feel your cooker has a serious "out of round" condition, you can try to fix it yourself, or you can contact Weber Customer Service for a free replacement part. Either way, you need to do some investigation to figure out which part is at fault—the bowl or the middle section.

Here's how to proceed:

• As shown in Picture 3, use a measuring tape or yard stick to measure the diameter of each part in four positions—first with your right hand at the 12 o'clock position, then at 3 o'clock, then halfway between 12 and 3 o'clock, then halfway between 3 and 6 o'clock. This results in four measurements separated by about 45°.
• You should now have an idea of which part is at fault, how big a variance you have, and the direction along which it occurs.
• If the variance is 1/8" or less, you should try to live with the situation. This is a normal variance in fit between parts.

If you have a large "out of round" condition and want to try to fix it yourself, you'll need to gently bend the part back into shape, but you will risk cracking the porcelain enamel finish in the process, as shown in Picture 4. Do not undertake this effort unless you're completely confident that you can do it and are willing to accept the consequences of some cracked finish.

• Gently bend the part inward along the longest diameter you measured. Position the part on its side on a protective surface like a blanket or towel, then slowly and gently apply pressure to make a small adjustment. Now check the fit of the parts.
• Repeat the process of measuring, small adjustment, and checking fit until there's not more than about a 1/8" variance along any dimension. This takes patience, so take your time and go slowly.
• When you've finished, your WSM should exhibit little, if any, of the symptoms described above.
• Any minor damage to the porcelain enamel finish can be touched-up using black high-temp barbecue paint to prevent rust.

If after all this, you are unable to resolve a severe "out of round" condition yourself, do not hesitate to call Weber Customer Service for a free replacement part.

This problem usually manifests itself as a flat spot along the edge of the bowl. As mentioned in the WSM Unboxed article, this can happen if the top edge of the box is crushed during shipping.

Examine the rim of the bowl carefully. It should be perfectly round, smooth, and have no flat spots. There should be no flaking porcelain finish or exposed bare metal spots.

If you have a damaged charcoal bowl, contact Weber Customer Service for assistance.

In rare cases you may find small areas where the porcelain finish is missing around the edges of the charcoal bowl, the cooking section or the lid. It may be that a spot was missed during the finishing process or that the part was dinged while moving through the factory or during the packing process.

Areas with missing finish can foster rust. You can touch-up these areas with high-temp black barbecue paint, or you can contact Weber Customer Service for assistance.

Sometimes a WSM is shipped with a loose vent damper...it moves at the slightest touch.

A loose damper is the result of the rivet not being compressed enough during manufacturing. To tighten the rivet, position the rivet head (the rounded part that's on the outside of the lid or charcoal bowl) on top of a hard surface like a vise. Using a hammer and cold chisel (or maybe an old straight-blade screwdriver you don't care about anymore), tap on the inside edges of the rivet to flatten it slightly. Take care not to hit the porcelain surface, which will chip if impacted.

On rare occasions, a vent damper on the lid or charcoal bowl will get hung up on something and get bent out of shape during packing or unpacking, or while you are transporting the cooker to an event. Since the damper is curved to conform to the shape of cooker, it's just about impossible to bend it back into shape and get a good fit that controls air flow.

In this case, the damper must be replaced. Order a WSM vent damper replacement kit from Weber Customer Service. It consists of three dampers and fastening hardware: 1/4-20 x 5/8" truss head screws, 1/4" flat washers, and 1/4-20 inch acorn nuts.

To remove the old damper, use an electric drill with a 1/4" metal bit to drill out the inside of the rivet to weaken it, then use a pair of pliers to crush the rivet and pop it out.

Sometime the tabs on the vent dampers are bent or flattened. The damper "stops" that control the open/close position of the damper can also become bent. This happens when the box is dropped during shipping, causing the lid and charcoal bowl to compress into the packing material, bending the dampers.

In this picture, you'll notice that the tab on the right side of the vent is almost completely flattened.

You can easily bend these pieces back into shape by hand or with a pair of pliers.

Editor's Note: Beginning in early 2010, owners have reported that this design issue has been fixed in new 22-1/2" WSMs.

The 22-1/2" WSM is designed such that a damper tab may hit the charcoal grate when the damper is in the closed position. This prevents the damper from closing fully.

Click this photo for a larger image; the problem area it circled in yellow.

The easiest solution is to break off the offending tab with a pair of pliers. The three remaining tabs are more than sufficient to control the open/close position of the damper.

Here's a picture that compares two WSM legs. The bottom leg is normal, but the top leg was misshaped during the manufacturing process and could not be attached to the charcoal bowl. Notice that the position of the bottom bolt holes don't match.

Contact Weber Customer Service for assistance if you get a leg that just doesn't measure up.

The tubular aluminum rivets that fasten the dampers to the lid and charcoal bowl are supposed to be "outies"—the round head on the outside of the cooker. But sometimes you'll see an "innie", where the rivet is installed backwards.

This is purely a cosmetic defect and in no way affects the performance of the cooker.

In early 2000, there were reports of new WSMs being shipped with top cooking grates that were too large in diameter. The handled top cooking grate should fit easily within the diameter of the cooking section and sit flat on the top flanges of the four grate brackets.

In late 2006, there were reports of new WSMs shipping with top cooking grates that were too small in diameter. The slightest movement would cause the top grate to fall down into the middle cooking section.

If you have cooking grates that don't fit right, contact Weber Customer Service for a replacement.

If you have a grate that "rocks" or doesn't sit flat on the grill strap flanges, just bend it gently into shape.

A loose lid handle can be tightened with a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Sometimes Weber gets a little sloppy with the fabrication of the charcoal chamber, resulting in a ring that's not quite round.

While it looks odd, this condition does not affect the performance of the cooker. You can try bending it back into shape by hand if you like.

I have a friend who unpacked a new WSM and found that the Weber logo was applied to the vinyl cover upside down! Someone was clearly asleep at the wheel on this one!

This faux pas does not affect the functionality of the cover, but I'm guessing that Weber Customer Service would replace it if you asked.

It doesn't happen often, but occasionally Weber ships a cooker with a part missing or a wrong part in the box. I know of one person who received two charcoal bowls but no lid!

Give Weber Customer Service a call and they'll provide a free replacement part right away.

I hope you don't read this topic and think, "Gee, look at all those problems. I'm not going to buy a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker." These problems can and do occur, but as I said before, most units arrive in good shape. I just want you to be aware of the problems you should be looking out for. And if you find one, give Weber Customer Service an opportunity to make things right. That's what they do best.