Weber 7553 Genesis Series Cover

The Weber Genesis Grill cover provides great coverage with tightly constructed, quality material that is resistant to the elements. It is a one-size-fits-several with good adjustment range, and it's easy to put on and take off the grill. Bottom line: it does the job it was designed for, and it does it well.

Like so many others, I instinctively bought the 7553 cover thinking it was exactly what I needed to protect my new Genesis S-310. After seeing the envelope-sized vents above the side trays (and the gas controls), I was skeptical. I don't want to criticize Weber yet about this design without having some long-term evidence, but I'm not willing to take any chances with water standing on my grill. So I took this back and fortunately found the 9985 cover at my local True Value for $60. The 9985 has an the elongated vent along the backside of the grill box. This seems to be a better design. Hopefully I made the right choice.

Highly recommend this cover if you purchase the older Model #9985 which has the rear vent located beside the lid hinges. I would avoid this newer verion, Model #7553, which has those awful side vents which are located over the top of the end tables and let in all the rain. The picture on both boxes is identical so be sure to look at the model number.

I usually read the reviews before I buy but, this time I did not and what a surprise.
After I finished covering my new grill with my brand new cover I noticed the openings on the side, I was confused, It did not make any sense why would Weber put openings on the side when you want to protect your investment from the elements especially the rain. Anyway, confused, I went and checked the cover picture on the box, it didn't have openings on the side. So I thought I got the wrong product and did a search in the internet and that's when I realized my mistake about getting this cover. If you want to protect your grill from water DO NOT GET this cover.

The side vent is quite bothersome to me and many others. There are good reasons behind the madness. The side vent allows moisture to exit. If there were no vents, condensation would build up every night, grill would get moist/wet therefore increase the chance of rusting and shorten the life span of your grill parts. If parts break during the warranty period when it's not suppose to break, Weber needs to replace your part for free. That warranty period at least for my stainless steel Genesis ranges from 2 - 25 years depending on the part.

But wouldn't the vents allow rain and snow to get on the grill? Yes it would but your grill is built to withstand the elements of rain, snow, sleet, etc without the need of a cover in the first place very much similar to your car. Water getting on it and drying off is far less dangerous than staying wet all day and night and not having a chance to dry.

Why remove the rear vents and place side vents? My take on this is that rear vents doesn't provide adequate ventilation. If they placed a rear vent on my cover, it would be mostly blocked by the back of my grill. By putting it on the sides, there's better air flow for ventilation.

This really makes me wonder why buy a cover then if it's got holes? When you boil down to it, the cover pretty much is only good for helping keep the grill look new. It's thick, resists fading and it's actually pretty high quality. It fits your Weber grill like a glove. There's velcro straps on the sides to hold onto your grill to prevent strong wind from blowing it off. If something were to hit it by accident, for example a shovel standing next to the grill falls on it, the cover would do a good job of protecting your shiny grill from scratches. It would block off bird poo or tree sap to help protect the finish. The cover also makes your yard look a lot neater than a bare open grill.

So I gave this three stars because this cover is quite pricey pretty much like any Weber product and the fact that there are vents. The reason I bought this and the same reason many people bought this is to protect it from the rain thinking that it would help, but the reality is that the grill just doesn't really need anything to protect it from the rain, snow, sleet, etc. It's suppose to last a long time without the cover. All this cover does is protect your grill's finish and keep it looking as new as possible. This is a little misleading from Weber's part because they intentionally leave out any information about vents.