To Refurb or not to refurb, that is my question, lol

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Newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2012
16
10
Pasadena, Ca
Ok all, here Igo. My Char Griller 2121 has at this point only been used for grilling, and as you can see improper caring and maintance has left me with this....

I will be buying a Duo in the next few weeks but can't justify to certain people buying 2 new grills, lol. Also I don't want to make excusses, well yes I do, but I will be busy moving, working, and dealing with some contractors that are repairing 4 of my units and the new house. Time is not on my side.

I believe it's a project can can result in a nice machine, whats your opinions?

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Damn, my poor baby. I mistreated her.

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So opinions? Where should I start? And i'm hoping the first thing that doesn't come to mind is a trash can.
 
All the rust is surface rust, so it should be very salvageable. Start by giving it a good washing and then dry it. After that wire brushing and sanding the entire outside and inside - wire brush will do most of the work the sandpaper gets into some of the corners better. Once it is stripped, clean and dry paint the outside with some high temp paint (spray cans work well... just go slow and do one coat at a time). Use fresh nuts and bolts during the re-assembly, I believe Chargriller uses 1/4-20 bolts for everything.

Charcoal tray and cast iron can get wire brushed and cleaned real well, then re-season the entire inside of the smoker before your first use. Wood shelves can get new boards if you want, or find some stainless sheet and make some metal ones.

She'll shine up nice if you give her a little attention!
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NoPrints, morning....  First thing comes to mind is... Did it make good Q in the past ??? 

If yes, you have learned how to cook on it... Keep it.. refurbish... and cook good Q again....

sometimes it is a PITA to try and learn how to cook on a new smoker....

Dave
 
A little elbow grease, a little paint, wood and you'll be cooking in no time.  Are you adding the SFB to the DUO?  If not, you might want to consider it, I love mine. 
 
My que always came out great on it, I was even asked 1 year to que for Cal Poly's graduating class, which I did. Although it wasn't my best with 2 hour confirmation that they wanted me opposed to some ordered food. Thats why I want to keep her, lol.

My plan is to add the SFB to this unit and not the DUO. I have another post asking which is better the Char Griller Duo vs the Brinkmann DUO, would be great to hear your input since you have the Char griller DUO.

Here is my unofficial refrub kit I picked up last night.

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Still in the middle of getting my new house ready to move in, but wanted to give/show you all some updates.

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It's not complete yet, but it's on it's way. Also there's a sale on the 5050 DUO so I will be picking that up sometime this week. The last of my collection I hope will be the WSM but im already hearing grief about it so......
 
Looking good, but you gotta ditch that Match Light charcoal I see in the background and only use the blue bag with a charcoal chimney.  LOL.  Other than that, looks like you did a fine job.  You'll appreciate the DUO for it's versatility.   
 
lol, Busted hahahaha until the other day I would use about 6 coals to start my kingsford (blue bag is right behind the grill. lol, seriously), but reading a thread on here the other day I will be picking up a chimney and some starter cubes. The hard thing i'm faced with now is getting the chargriller 5050 duo, or picking up the WSM, wife doesn't want all that in the back yard of the new house.
 
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Just get the chimney and use the minion method.  No starter cubes needed.  Works like a champ.  After a few cooks, you'll know exactly how many briquettes you need to get going in the chimney to give you a good burning bed of coals.  I feel you on the whole wifey thing, they just don't seem to understand us boys and our toys!
 
Ok so i'm finally moved in and here's what I have so far.

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I added expended metal to the ash pan, my though's on that are to add some ceramic plates underneath to help maintain heat and use less fuel, the expended metal would stop charcoal from falling and help a little with the ash.

Then I decided to pick this up.

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as you can see my partial mod kit on the side, lol.

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I sealed the firebox and smoke stack using Red Devil RTV, painted over it with high temp black, since it was new, lol I wanted to keep that new look, no red showing.

My hose was 3" which is to small for the smoke stack, I will grab a 4" hose sometime this week to extend it down some.

I now present Beautiful and the Beast

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Beauty being the 5050 Duo of course.

Now if I can somehow sneak in a Smokey Mountain, i'd be set.
 
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