Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi

"Jimi" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



The manufacturers' sites might have some info about ratios of various metals
used in their products. I've seen them, and don't really understand them,
but someone else might.

"Jimi" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi

I have welded for 33 years now, and worked offshore in the Gulf of Mexico,
and made a couple of hitches in Nigeria. Hey!

The thing about stainless steel to me is the cleaning. I have a Vermont
Castings bbq. It has stainless steel side tables, and a small amount of
stainless steel on the rest of it.

It is a pure D pain to keep looking good. I would never want to own a
stainless steel bbq, as I think it would be a constant effort to keep it
looking good.

I really fell in love with a big stainless steel bbq one time. It was
around $1,000. But, then, I needed a bbq for my vacation rental, and didn't
want to spend that much. So, I went $400 for a Vermont Castings. I really
like this grill, and the experience I have had keeping it looking
presentable showed me that I would have to really work 10x more to keep 10x
more SS looking sharp.

Megallurgically, rust depends on a lot of factors. It can come from the
wrong ingredients in the alloy. It can come from having steel in contact
with SS, and having the steel create a galvanic reaction that rusts the SS.
It can come from low grades of SS, corrosion, food components, all sorts of
things. Nothing lasts forever.

But you may be able to buy one that is guaranteed not to rust. Only problem
is then you have to keep it looking sharp.

Steve

"Jimi" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi


You might check a manufacturer's site and see what they say about care
products. I have some stainless firearms and they will garner the
occassional blem. A gunsmith told me to use chrome polish on them as a
preventative but I'm betting that that is of little use on a grill.

On 31-May-2006, "Steve B" wrote:

Megallurgically, rust depends on a lot of factors. It can come from the
wrong ingredients in the alloy. It can come from having steel in contact
with SS, and having the steel create a galvanic reaction that rusts the SS.
It can come from low grades of SS, corrosion, food components, all sorts of
things. Nothing lasts forever.

And high heat levels can accelerate corrosion in stainless steel, especially
in the presence of high humidity, acidity, salt etc. If the BBQ is not kept
very clean (from food spills - especially marinates and sauces with acid and
salt in them) then the heat might accelerate the problem.

However, the same problem exists with any steel BBQ. Once the coatings
on a plain steel BBQ are damaged, rust ensues. I can't help but notice all
the rusty BBQs out for trash pickup every week.

Mike

Jimi wrote:
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do
not attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality
"stainless" has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the
magnet. So I would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to
determine which parts are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.

"E Gregory" wrote in message
...
Jimi wrote:
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out
there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do not
attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality "stainless"
has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the magnet. So I
would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to determine which parts
are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.





Does your grill have a brand name?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"E Gregory" wrote in message
...
Jimi wrote:
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out
there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do not
attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality "stainless"
has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the magnet. So I
would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to determine which parts
are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.





Does your grill have a brand name?

NON MAGNETIC IS BEST but suggest you ask here. High BTUs for main
burners allows the searing that makes for good tasting food

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.f...e?lnk=li&hl=en

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"E Gregory" wrote in message
...

Jimi wrote:

Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out
there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do not
attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality "stainless"
has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the magnet. So I
would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to determine which parts
are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.






Does your grill have a brand name?



Charmglow is the name, (strange name huh?) it has 3 stainless steel
burners, stainless steel flame tamers (sheets that liquid drips on and
supposedly eminates flavor), and stainless welded rod grill grates (very
heavy). I don't see my model shown on the Home Depot web site right now.

"Abe" wrote in message
...
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.
Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

When I worked in a CNC stainless steel fabrication shop, there was a testing
unit that would identify any grade of stainless steel. I would say they are
expensive, and that it takes a while to learn to use one correctly.

That being said, I would believe that if you bought from a reputable brand
name supplier that they would provide the alloy number of the stainless, and
that they would state a guarantee for that product.

If you bought el cheapo no name, it goes anywhere from there.

Steve

I bought a SS BBQ in 2002 and so far no rust. The brand name is: BULL. The
burners are brass. The sales person that I bought it from told me that SS
burners don't last very long. The brass burners have a lifetime guarantee.

"Jimi" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi

I bought mine from Sam's Club and my only warning would be make sure
you get a cover for it. I never had a problem with birds with my
black one. The second day, that stainless one was covered with bird
droppings. And they ain't fun to get off, expecially if you don't
happen to notice them for a few days. Other than that it is identical
to the Charmglow described below but with some Sam's club name. I
would rate it as the best one I've had, and it's my 5th one. I really
didn't need to replace my old one othr than the paint always chipping
on it. That stainless steel just looks great. - still so far in year
two - so not sure what you can look for other than to not cheap out I
guess. I'd guess Price Club is about the same as Sam's always good
value since they don't want to deal with people trying to return
things - it doesn't fit their business model...Good luck.

On Wed, 31 May 2006 17:45:10 -0400, E Gregory
wrote:

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"E Gregory" wrote in message
...

Jimi wrote:

Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out
there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do not
attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality "stainless"
has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the magnet. So I
would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to determine which parts
are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.






Does your grill have a brand name?



Charmglow is the name, (strange name huh?) it has 3 stainless steel
burners, stainless steel flame tamers (sheets that liquid drips on and
supposedly eminates flavor), and stainless welded rod grill grates (very
heavy). I don't see my model shown on the Home Depot web site right now.

This may have been mentioned earlier in this thread, but good quality
stainless is non-magnetic. Take a strong magnet along with you and check
it out.

On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:51:12 -0400, nospamgoingjag
wrote:

I bought mine from Sam's Club and my only warning would be make sure
you get a cover for it. I never had a problem with birds with my
black one. The second day, that stainless one was covered with bird
droppings. And they ain't fun to get off, expecially if you don't
happen to notice them for a few days. Other than that it is identical
to the Charmglow described below but with some Sam's club name. I
would rate it as the best one I've had, and it's my 5th one. I really
didn't need to replace my old one othr than the paint always chipping
on it. That stainless steel just looks great. - still so far in year
two - so not sure what you can look for other than to not cheap out I
guess. I'd guess Price Club is about the same as Sam's always good
value since they don't want to deal with people trying to return
things - it doesn't fit their business model...Good luck.

On Wed, 31 May 2006 17:45:10 -0400, E Gregory
wrote:

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"E Gregory" wrote in message
...

Jimi wrote:

Hello,

I am a pipeline welder of 26 years. I really haven't had much to do
with stainless steel in my career. I want to buy a BBQ and have noticed
in
the past 3-5 yrs that there are some pretty nice stainless BBQ's out
there
for sale by Home Depot, Price Club etc... I also was told to watch what
you
buy as some of those pretty "stainless" BBQ's eventually start to rust!
This brings about the question of good and bad quality stainless
and
knowing what to look for when buying a stainless BBQ.

Is there a non destructive test to do to check for good quality
stainless? I don't imagine that Home depot would be happy to see me going
at
the side of a new bbq with an angle grinder to look at the sparks. I
suppose
a magnet would be one way. Any other checks a person could make to
guarantee
quality stainless before buying?

Has anyone bought a stainless BBQ that has started to show signs of rust
that would care to comment??


Thanks...Jimi



Hello, I bought a stainless grill last year from Home Depot and really
like it alot. There are parts of the grill, the side panels, which do
show some signs of slightly rusty spots. These parts also attract a
magnet as the stainless parts which still show no signs of "stain" do not
attract the magnet. So I'm guessing that the lesser quality "stainless"
has some aignificant amount of iron which would attract the magnet. So I
would suggest doing the magnet test at the store to determine which parts
are likely to "stain".
As far as the "stains", I used some good quality oil and a green kitchen
scrubby thing and rubbed them all out and then applied wax to the parts,
and the stains have not returned, it's been at least 6 months.






Does your grill have a brand name?



Charmglow is the name, (strange name huh?) it has 3 stainless steel
burners, stainless steel flame tamers (sheets that liquid drips on and
supposedly eminates flavor), and stainless welded rod grill grates (very
heavy). I don't see my model shown on the Home Depot web site right now.