by DaveJFT » 12 Sep 2016, 10:32
Hi folks,
My daughter and I set about putting the barbeque together but found that the body we'd been sent was badly distorted and the lids caught when opening and closing, also one of the ignition flame guides was broken. The distortion is actually so bad that the gas burners were actually diagonal front to back! Homebase, where I'd ordered it from, swapped it out with a new one at the weekend but that one came through exactly the same (different flame guide broken though). It looks like the bodies are being damaged at the factory as the cardboard boxes that the bodies are shipped in are almost pristine - certainly completely unbruised. I've spoken with Outback and they've been utterly useless and told me that any problem with the barbeque is down to Homebase to correct and they don't consider any part of the barbeque body to be replaceable - even something so small as one of the very delicate flame guides which are only held in place by a couple of screws and without them you can't light the barbeque with the igniter. Homebase are now going to send another body on Saturday.
I am really disappointed with Outback over this as, for a barbeque with a RRP of twice as much as my old Graphite flatbed, I think their design and build quality is shocking. The Graphite has individual igniters on each of the control knobs which after nearly 10 years still work quietly first time, every time, the body and metal shelves were made of machined castings, machined extrusions, quality gauge formed sheet steel and plastic mouldings, the wooden shelves were all really nicely made with good fits. Even the wheels came with washers and had compression limiters. There's even a shelf and retainer for the gas bottle.
The Combi is a real step down from the Graphite. The frame is all thin wall, box section tubing with nothing to limit distortion by 'through' fasteners (there is no cross bracing either so the frame "springs" even when all the fasteners are left loose and tightened as the last operation), the main axle has nothing to stop the wheel hubs being over compressed and the threads are too short to allow the nyloc nuts to bite, the nasty single "clang, clang" push button piezo igniter only ignites one of the gas burners and then you have to rely on those flimsy flame guides to be able to ignite each of the other burners in turn, the body and hoods are all pressed thin steel sheet which can obviously be easily distorted (or simply aren't jigged properly during welding and assembly). Given the size of the frame, surprisingly there is no internal shelving or storage, or anywhere to store the gas bottle either which means that for one person to move the barbeque you have to either disconnect the bottle or move the barbeque in repeated steps limited by the free length of the gas pipe.
Quite frankly I cannot see how this barbeque is going to last the 10 years that the warranty states, or that my Graphite has done, and then what if Outback aren't going to offer spare parts?
These are my first impressions of the barbeque. I obviously haven't tried lighting and cooking on it yet given the problems I'm having with getting a useable body. Hopefully I'll find the cooking experience redeems the failings I've found so far ...though it's now not looking like I'll get my first fire in this season.
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