I have a TEC Sterling III infrared grill that is in need of refurbishment. I’ve never used it (long story, but basically came with the house), and frankly it’s more grill than I need. Ideally I would sell as is to someone who is capable of the work, but plan B would be to figure out how to do it myself and then either keep or sell. So:
If I were to sell as is, any suggestions on price and where to sell (hopefully there’s somewhere more specialized than FB Marketplace)? Note that I do have 3 brand new grill plates for it.
If I go with the repair it myself option, what am I getting myself into?
Thank You Reddit.
by elicotham
15 Comments
The outside looks so nice but the inside looks like a Chernobyl reactor. Maybe you can vacuum out all the rust and other particle and then soak some of the parts in vinegar and baking soda? If you can get it going I bet you can make some of the best steaks ever on there!
What model is that?
That’s some serious high dollar shit. The ultimate goal would be to fix it and cook on it, but I have no idea if it can be brought up to cooking standards without spending crazy money. Helps having new grates, those are probably hundreds of dollars. Maybe there’s cheaper than factory replacement parts or the ability to retrofit other readily available burner systems/pieces, you’d have to research. It looks like a hell of a cool project if it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
You can ask someone to help you haul it off
Likely need a pilot assembly (150ish), 3 new burner heads, (300 ea) and 3 grates (130 ea). Maybe a 2 outlet rotary ignition as well.
Should clean up very well, very high quality stainless.
Honestly, I’d give you $300 for it and fix it up myself, but you would probably loose money on the freight.
Note, my prices may be off. If I recall, someone on the west coast (Solair maybe) does make or made aftermarket for the Sterlin II line.
Trash it
I’ve got a TEC sterling II built in NG grill. Came with house. It’s never looked that bad, but it was pretty rough a few years back.
Spent a day getting the thing looking nice again. Lots of scraping, cleaning products and elbow grease. The most expensive part for me were the replacement porous infrared panels. Can only get OEM from TEC I think.
But man once those were replaced and the gas is flowing good to it that sucker will cook anything.
I haven’t had to replace the grates so that’s a bonus that you don’t have to either. I’m probably in need of another super clean and new infrared plates again (they do clog up easily so make sure to wipe and blow them out after cooking). Thanks for the reminder!!! Good luck!
Call a scrapper
I’ve repaired a lot of grills in my day. First thing is to see how bad things are. Take out all the IR burners and see if there is any holes that shouldn’t be there in the firebox. If the grill is structurally sound other than the burners and igniters, fixing it shouldn’t be that hard. Chances are you’ll need new burners and burner screens. It looks like you have a Sterling 3. Each burner assembly is $285. The screens are $122. You’ll probably need 3 of each. So you’re at $1200 already, minimum. Then there are other things that you may need.
[https://www.tecgrillstore.com/sterling-3-parts?page=2](https://www.tecgrillstore.com/sterling-3-parts?page=2)
If that’s not something you want to do, then get rid of it. I probably wouldn’t even try to get money for it.
It’s a lovely cache to stash your weed.
Absolute unit of a grill. It was probably close to 10 grand new. I have a TEC Patio II which was ridiculously expensive as well.
Parts are still available directly from TEC in South Carolina or knockoffs on Amazon.
You’re probably close to $1500 in parts if you go that route.
Good luck. I’d keep it but I’m a crazy girl guy.
Cry
You can look online for replacement parts and see if the cost is worth it. Looks like a beast of a grill and probably worth refurbishing.
Contact the manufacturer and ask for assistance and tell them that you will post the resurrection
Just spend some time and fix it up. Those TEC grills are a godsend.