RJM62
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2007
- Messages
- 13,157
- Location
- Upstate New York
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Geek on the Hill
My old Charbroil grill, which I bought well-used about seven years ago for $10.00, seems to need a part that's no longer available (the manifold). It still works, but the flame is very low.
As a point of reference, here are pictures of the grill to be retired, before and after my restoration efforts:
I did some more work on it since then. I replaced the wheels, the flame tamers, and a few other parts when they rotted away. But the manifold seems to be a lost cause -- at least officially. There probably are a bazillion other grills that use the same manifold, and I probably could cross-reference them somewhere.
Butmy friends shamed me into admitting I decided that seven years on a grill that I paid $10.00 for and put maybe another $30.00 worth of parts into was enough. I can donate it to Goodwill and take a tax write-off for more than I paid for the thing.
So with tears in my eyes, I decided to take the safety wire off my wallet and invest in a new grill.
I'm far from a grilling fanatic (obviously). I've used $1,200.00 grills, $120.00 grills, and my $10.00 grill, and I really can't tell much difference. When all is said and done, they all blow propane through little holes. But at the same time, I didn't want to waste money on junk that I'd be throwing away after a season. So I aimed toward the middle: Not extremely high end, but not garbage, either.
After about a month of research (seriously), I'd narrowed my choices down to one of the Charbroil "Performance" models, or a Member's Mark (one of Sam's Club's store brands) model. They were both about $300.00, but I would have gotten a 10 percent veterans' discount from Lowes had I purchased the Charbroil grill there.
The other advantage to Charbroil would have been that parts for Charbroils are everywhere. Except for the manifold for my ancient grill, practically every part for every Charbroil model ever made is still available. And the new Charbroil I was looking at seemed well-enough made for my needs. The wind was pretty stiff that day, but it stayed put just fine.
The Member's Mark grill, however, was much fancier; and although I don't care very much about fanciness in a grill, apparently other people do -- including some of my guests who were horrified by my old grill to the point of refusing to grill on it. The Member's Mark grill was much more grill for the money. I figured it would be at least acceptable to my grilling-snob friends and relatives.
On the downside, however, although the Member's Mark grill got overwhelmingly good reviews, there were a few horrid ones that referenced the same two flaws: premature burner failure, and the coating on the grates flaking off. Also, the parts seem not to be available anywhere except from the manufacturer, at least not searching on the grill's model number; and the manufacturer's parts prices are a bit on the hefty side.
The uniformity of the bad reviews made me believe there was some credibility to them; but the overwhelmingly good reviews suggested that only a minority of reviewers had encountered those problems. So I called Sam's Club and got the manufacturer's phone number.
I called the manufacturer, and a real human answered on the first ring. I expressed my concerns, and she told me that the grate problem is due to people using wire brushes on the grates. They recommend stiff bristle brushes. That made sense to me. Steel is harder than ceramic. It's like a non-stick frying pan.
They also said that I should clean the burners regularly, inside and out, with a nylon brush made for that purpose (which I never before knew existed, by the way) to avoid uneven heating, and that I should spray cooking oil spray on them to help prevent corrosion during the off season or when I planned not to use the grill for a while. Those also seemed like reasonable suggestions.
I then called Sam's Club back and asked them if the grill would be covered under their "Member Satisfaction Guarantee," and they said it was. It can be returned at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all, as long as both I and Sam's Club are still alive. All I have to do is load it up on my trailer and shlep it back to the club, and I will get my money back.
So I hitched up the trailer and set out for Sam's Club. Once I got there, I sought out the General Manager, who being unable to hide quickly enough when she saw me coming, greeted me warmly. Having her effectively cornered, I asked her the same questions about the return policies that I had asked Corporate, and she confirmed that the grill can be returned for a full refund at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all other than that I am no longer happy with it.
She also told me that I could purchase a three-year on-site warranty on it from Squaretrade for $29.88, which would save me the schlepping should some part fail, but I want to keep the grill. I usually don't do extended warranties; but in this case, the weight-to-cost ratio seemed to justify it. I'd rather not have to rent a crane to get the thing off the deck, and then drive it 50 miles to Sam's Club, just because a knob falls off.
But I digress.
Reassured by not one, but two warranties, I forced my trembling hand to my wallet and told Marcy I'd take it. She promptly fainted and needed to be revived. Once she came to, she summoned two burly men to get it off the shelf, roll it out to the parking lot, load it onto my trailer, and pretend to decline my gratuity until I forced them to accept it; and one hour of travel and two hours of assembly later, I have a new grill.
I tell ya what, for $299.98, it seems pretty well-made. It's this one, in case anyone's is interested. I haven't grilled anything yet, though, because we've had rain, snow, sleet, and hail yesterday and today. (We're still waiting on the frogs and locusts.)
Rich
As a point of reference, here are pictures of the grill to be retired, before and after my restoration efforts:
I did some more work on it since then. I replaced the wheels, the flame tamers, and a few other parts when they rotted away. But the manifold seems to be a lost cause -- at least officially. There probably are a bazillion other grills that use the same manifold, and I probably could cross-reference them somewhere.
But
So with tears in my eyes, I decided to take the safety wire off my wallet and invest in a new grill.
I'm far from a grilling fanatic (obviously). I've used $1,200.00 grills, $120.00 grills, and my $10.00 grill, and I really can't tell much difference. When all is said and done, they all blow propane through little holes. But at the same time, I didn't want to waste money on junk that I'd be throwing away after a season. So I aimed toward the middle: Not extremely high end, but not garbage, either.
After about a month of research (seriously), I'd narrowed my choices down to one of the Charbroil "Performance" models, or a Member's Mark (one of Sam's Club's store brands) model. They were both about $300.00, but I would have gotten a 10 percent veterans' discount from Lowes had I purchased the Charbroil grill there.
The other advantage to Charbroil would have been that parts for Charbroils are everywhere. Except for the manifold for my ancient grill, practically every part for every Charbroil model ever made is still available. And the new Charbroil I was looking at seemed well-enough made for my needs. The wind was pretty stiff that day, but it stayed put just fine.
The Member's Mark grill, however, was much fancier; and although I don't care very much about fanciness in a grill, apparently other people do -- including some of my guests who were horrified by my old grill to the point of refusing to grill on it. The Member's Mark grill was much more grill for the money. I figured it would be at least acceptable to my grilling-snob friends and relatives.
On the downside, however, although the Member's Mark grill got overwhelmingly good reviews, there were a few horrid ones that referenced the same two flaws: premature burner failure, and the coating on the grates flaking off. Also, the parts seem not to be available anywhere except from the manufacturer, at least not searching on the grill's model number; and the manufacturer's parts prices are a bit on the hefty side.
The uniformity of the bad reviews made me believe there was some credibility to them; but the overwhelmingly good reviews suggested that only a minority of reviewers had encountered those problems. So I called Sam's Club and got the manufacturer's phone number.
I called the manufacturer, and a real human answered on the first ring. I expressed my concerns, and she told me that the grate problem is due to people using wire brushes on the grates. They recommend stiff bristle brushes. That made sense to me. Steel is harder than ceramic. It's like a non-stick frying pan.
They also said that I should clean the burners regularly, inside and out, with a nylon brush made for that purpose (which I never before knew existed, by the way) to avoid uneven heating, and that I should spray cooking oil spray on them to help prevent corrosion during the off season or when I planned not to use the grill for a while. Those also seemed like reasonable suggestions.
I then called Sam's Club back and asked them if the grill would be covered under their "Member Satisfaction Guarantee," and they said it was. It can be returned at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all, as long as both I and Sam's Club are still alive. All I have to do is load it up on my trailer and shlep it back to the club, and I will get my money back.
So I hitched up the trailer and set out for Sam's Club. Once I got there, I sought out the General Manager, who being unable to hide quickly enough when she saw me coming, greeted me warmly. Having her effectively cornered, I asked her the same questions about the return policies that I had asked Corporate, and she confirmed that the grill can be returned for a full refund at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all other than that I am no longer happy with it.
She also told me that I could purchase a three-year on-site warranty on it from Squaretrade for $29.88, which would save me the schlepping should some part fail, but I want to keep the grill. I usually don't do extended warranties; but in this case, the weight-to-cost ratio seemed to justify it. I'd rather not have to rent a crane to get the thing off the deck, and then drive it 50 miles to Sam's Club, just because a knob falls off.
But I digress.
Reassured by not one, but two warranties, I forced my trembling hand to my wallet and told Marcy I'd take it. She promptly fainted and needed to be revived. Once she came to, she summoned two burly men to get it off the shelf, roll it out to the parking lot, load it onto my trailer, and pretend to decline my gratuity until I forced them to accept it; and one hour of travel and two hours of assembly later, I have a new grill.
I tell ya what, for $299.98, it seems pretty well-made. It's this one, in case anyone's is interested. I haven't grilled anything yet, though, because we've had rain, snow, sleet, and hail yesterday and today. (We're still waiting on the frogs and locusts.)
Rich
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