Propane Grill - Repair or Replace?

Debating whether to repair or replace our old propane grill. If we replace, what to get.

I have a Weber 200 series propane grill. Got it for free about 8 years ago from a friend. It was in pretty rough shape then. Replaced the grates and flavorizers, and cleaned a bunch of corrosion off the burners.

Now, it needs grates and flavorizers again, the igniter doesn't work anymore. It's just lived a hard life. Paint inside is peeling. I need to light it with a stick lighter. Burners haven't gotten any less corroded.

Replacing just the grates and flavorizers would be about $120. Adding in the igniter and burners would be another $70. That's if I'm buying third-party replacements. OE Weber pieces would be about double that.

A brand new similar Webber is about $500. A comparable Char-Broil $200-$300.

So... repair or replace?

Char-Broil or other brand vs. Weber?

I had a really heavy duty professional quality gas grill. It had cast iron burners, later replaced with brass, ceramic briquettes, heavy weight SS grills, etc. I had a love/hate relationship with it because it still had hot and cold spots. 
 

Four years ago my wife bought me a Traeger pellet grill for my birthday. I honestly didn't think I would like it. How will I grill hamburgers, steaks, chicken, etc? We actually bought a small 20" gas grill to go along with it. Well, the Traeger will go up to 450f. I grill at 400F all the time and the food comes out great. That little gas grill has barely been touched. I've mainly used it for quickly cooking hot dogs and sausages. 
 

So, my advice is to get a Traeger. You can find the smallest model on sale in your price range. 

The paint isn't peeling, it's carbonization that is peeling. 
 

I would price it out to repair it, and make the decision from there. Don't forget to apply value to your time, but also consider how long it will take to assemble the new one if necessary. 
 

EDIT: I see that you did that already. If made in USA, I'd buy the Char Broil. If not, I'd repair it. 
 

Third option: replace it, but turn the old one into a flattop grill. 

Go get a new Weber and a Weber official cover and baby it.  We bought the $750 Weber 11 years ago and we baby ours - buy new parts as needed. 

Double check CL and FBM.  You can probably find a nicer used grill for less money than you would pay to repair your old one.

CAinCA said:

So, my advice is to get a Traeger. You can find the smallest model on sale in your price range. 

Okay... that's an interesting idea. I'm not really familiar with what the operation of a wood pellet grill.

How much work to light? How quickly do they come up to temp? How quick and easy to shut off?

Usually I'm grilling up dinner for two people. Most frequently I'm grilling up chicken pieces, corn, and veggies.

mtn said:

EDIT: I see that you did that already. If made in USA, I'd buy the Char Broil. If not, I'd repair it. 

How do I tell if its made in the USA or not? They have them at the local Lowes.

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

CAinCA said:

So, my advice is to get a Traeger. You can find the smallest model on sale in your price range. 

Okay... that's an interesting idea. I'm not really familiar with what the operation of a wood pellet grill.

How much work to light? How quickly do they come up to temp? How quick and easy to shut off?

Usually I'm grilling up dinner for two people. Most frequently I'm grilling up chicken pieces, corn, and veggies.

Fill it up with pellets, set the temperature to 400F, push the ignite button, wait about 15 minutes. It should be ready to roll at that point. It's basically a wood fired oven at that point. You can grill on the bottom shelf and smoke/bake on the top shelf.

Make sure that you test it out before you try to cook with it the first time. Mine had trouble starting the first few times.

My old three burner Weber went twenty some years until the bottom fell out and I had to trash it.  I really miss that grill.  Bought a Weber Genesis to replace it and ended up giving it away.  It just didn't get hot enough - wasn't hot enough to sear sous vide strips, and forget trying to get a char on something like scallops.  I talked to Weber a couple of times and the support guy basically told me that a lot of people had that complaint. 

Ended up inheriting a four burner Genesis and it's OK.  It'll get up to about 500 on a hot summer day, but it's still less than ideal for a reverse sear strip steak - it takes time to get up to temp after you crank it.

Make sure the new one will work for you as well as the old one.  The Traeger is an interesting idea, I was thinking about that when the four burner Weber fell into my lap.

I think the pellet grill is out. I need something that's going to survive living on the back patio and getting exposed to the elements. Propane grill with a cover seems like the best option still...

I get a new charbroil about every 7 years.  Usually around $200 on sale.  4 or 5 burner and has the side burner.

I never cover it or really take care of it in any way.  Sits outside all that time.

I figure I can but 1 comparable weber and have it last 10 years, or buy 2 charbroil and get more life out of them.

Like this one...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Char-Broil-Performance-Black-4-Burner-Liquid-Propane-Gas-Grill-with-1-Side-Burner/5001374857

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

This seems like the easy button, and the direction I'm leaning.

I got a small all stainless steel grill made by Thor three years ago.   It got good reviews. So far no rust at all on anything.  It is a table top unit.  We use it year round so it sees snow.  I went looking for it on line for you but it looks like it is not made anymore. If you ever stumble on a used one I would not hesitate to get it.  I think new it was $250 or so. 

If I had a real sweet patio with an outdoor kitchen, and it was covered, and I wanted to show off to the neighbors, I would buy a real nice propane grill and a real nice Weber charcoal grill.

I don't have a sweet patio or an outdoor kitchen, so I use a Weber Q for propane and a dumpster-found K-Mart branded Weber for charcoal.

Food tastes real good.  

I feel pellet grills are a meme, if you are gonna do something in them just use your indoor oven for baking or indoor stovetop for searing.  

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Double check CL and FBM.  You can probably find a nicer used grill for less money than you would pay to repair your old one.

This is what the wife and I did two years ago.  Plenty to choose from and the prices were good.

This is the grill I got. This is labeled generic but is exactly what I have. I am betting it is made by Thor. Since Thor is a high end mfgr of out door kitchens I am betting they don't want there name on a $150 grill when there branded ones for full kitchens are in the many thousands of dollars. 
 

https://www.amazon.com/Tabletop-Portable-Grill-Propane-Burner/dp/B0BQR1P5DX/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=MZHGH88WNI6H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.L8rpkDylquO7bXHAdNzGA1a85Dw7vByggG6IJ3bza-OCc3EQzjYYv6gq-B9BCqi6mHQ8mc-nnlE3V2LE_gPHIID9l1jziv4wgaS4Zdgojj0KpaZpok3XazFlffQy6_2I435TPkYOZbSsPWUoQjMAfF0IC8lFC51nw5xRcke2B0yRctGY4F2OF_ACpw2zpYuNoZWbrmu4eTrYMY8Qz_-eXA.SYzWE6AKqpNKd65dxPpIYFMEw-Kqr15NZy7Ai6E6q3Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=thor+outdoor+grill&qid=1716947828&sprefix=thor+grill%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-3

portable enough while big enough to cook for four people. 20000 but is enough to incinerate things. I have tested this by accident. 
 

When I got mine the only place I could find the brand lable was on a small sticker on one of the folding legs. 
 

EDIT  actual branded Thor grill

https://www.clickmycart.com/products/thor-kitchen-two-burner-stainless-steel-portable-bbq-barbecue-grill

don't know the seller at all so shop at your own risk  

Grill before our current one was a Char-Broil Classic. It was their most basic 4-burner with a side burner, and it cost us around $200 about 10 years ago. It made it about 5 years before it rotted completely out, and I babied it. Had to replace the grates, burner covers, and at the end, the burners were rotting out too. I did like it, and it worked well when it wasn't being rusty. It was a good grill, aside from the rust issues. I have friends that have the higher end models, including one friend that has an infrared model, and his is still going strong after nearly 10 years of heavy use, so maybe I got a dud. 

We splurged a few years ago and got a Weber Genesis in full stainless steel with the stainless grates to replace the Char-Broil. I absolutely love the thing. It has 3 main burners, a 4th searing burner, and a side burner. I think we are on year 4 or 5 with it now, and it still looks new on the outside. I didn't really use it last year (home renovations kept us away for a year) so when I opened it up this season, it was really gross in there. It cleaned up really well without too much effort, and nothing seems rusty yet. I had already replaced the grates and burner covers by this point on the Char-Broil. The one thing that caught me off-guard between the Char-Broil and the Weber is the temperature control. Not only does the Weber get a lot hotter, controlling temps (especially lower temps) is a night-and-day experience. As good as the Char-Broil did with this, the Weber is that much better. 

If you can swing it, I'd go Weber again, but a non-entry level Char-Broil wouldn't be a bad choice either. 

Just picked up a Weber Traveler for $320. 

It's not huge and won't cook for a neighborhood party, but for a few burger, kabobs, and a small veggie basket, it's fine. 

The nice thing is, it folds up so during winter I can put it under the deck, and I can take it on camp trips. 

The Weber Traveller, while not quite as obnoxious as its ugly cousin the Coleman Roadtrip, is in my expert opinion a bit of a turd nugget.  

• The burners are too close to the grill
• The top of the grill is too short/shallow
• There is no low temp option.  It will cook stuff to death.  
• The overall construction is C minus at best.  Lots of plastic and thin steel

If you are still within the return window, do yourself a favor and get the Weber Q instead.  It is good at everything the Traveller is bad at

• More conventional grill shape with additional distance from the burners and height to the top of the lid
• More refined temperature control due to better positioning of grill relative to shell
• Bombproof cast aluminum construction
• Optional rolly stand, but not needed, and takes up less space.  

I have had all 3, (Q, Traveller, Roadtrip) and the Q is "from my cold dead hands"  The other two I was more than happy to take in for scrap after 6 months.