Weber Searwood XL 600: problems, parts and running costs

Checked: 2026-10-20

Summary

The Searwood XL 600 is a 120 V pellet smoker and grill with 972 sq in of cooking area and a 20 lb hopper that can genuinely sear, which is unusual in the pellet-grill category. The main caution is temperature accuracy: several owners report units running 50°F or more below the set temperature on long cooks, while others report stable performance. Running costs are wood pellets, and the grill is a fair buy around $1,199-$1,299.

Common problems and fixes

Temperature reads low on long cooks — owners on the Weber forum report units 50-100°F below the actual chamber temperature, with one XL displaying 300°F while an independent probe read 185-250°F; Weber has refunded or replaced some affected grills, and electrical components carry a 3-year warranty [10].
Grill cannot reach high set temperatures — forum and Reddit owners report cooks topping out near 475-500°F and one 600 XL that never passed 375°F when 500-600°F was expected; Weber’s troubleshooting guide attributes many temperature complaints to pellet quality, ash buildup, frequent lid openings and cold or windy weather [11][13][17].
Control panel fails to turn on — a Reddit thread reports a Searwood 600 control panel that would not turn on on the third cook and had to be reseated; the reports are isolated and no defect rate is established [14].
Hopper fuel gauge reads inaccurately — Tom’s Guide flagged an inaccurate hopper gauge on the XL 600, and the non-XL 600 does not list a fuel gauge at all [4][2].
E21 low-pellet error trips early — a Virtual Weber Bulletin Board owner reported an E21 low-pellet error that triggered too early; the documented error codes include E10 (improper shutdown) and E21 (low pellet) [12][16].
Assembly is awkward and bolt threads are dry-locked — assembly takes roughly one to two hours and benefits from two people because of the 157.80 lb weight and two-wheel design; one owner found bolts pre-coated in dry thread-locker that were hard to start by hand [5][9][12].

Parts and consumables

Burn pot, heat diffuser and heat deflector — covered by the 3-year warranty; a full clean means removing the flavorizer bar, cap and heat deflector [3][8].
Disposable drip pan — sold separately and not included in the box [1].
Front and side work shelves, rotisserie and griddle insert — all sold separately by Weber [1][5][8].

Yearly running cost

The inputs give no priced pellet cost and no consumption rate in lb/hour, so a dollar figure cannot be computed. What is documented: the hopper holds 20 lb of wood pellets, Tom’s Guide measured the 20 lb hopper lasting about 8 hours at 275°F, and How-To Geek found an overnight brisket used less than half a hopper. Weber sells wood pellets as the recurring consumable, with the drip pan, shelves, rotisserie and griddle insert sold separately [4][9][1].

When it is a good buy

Weber US lists the XL 600 at $1,299, marked down to $1,199 [1].
Tom’s Guide (April 2025) listed $1,199 in the US and £1,399 in the UK, with the non-XL Searwood 600 at $899 / £1,099 [4].
AmazingRibs lists the XL MSRP at $1,299 and the non-XL at $999 [8].
Weber Canada lists CAD $1,599 for the XL 600, and a Canadian retailer lists the same CAD $1,599 [18][22].
Weber Australia lists A$2,199 for the XL 600 [6].
FindMy Smoker’s price snapshot lists $1,199 [7].
Weber’s Searwood XL 600 Starter Kit (grill, cover, two pellet bags, tongs, brush and drip pan) is listed at $1,457.95, reduced to $1,353.95 [24].

Alternatives:

Non-XL Weber Searwood 600 — shares the same design and control system for roughly $300 less (about $999); the better choice if you do not need the extra 324 sq in of cooking area [5][8].
Traeger Woodridge Pro — around $999 with virtually the same ~970 sq in cooking area; Tom’s Guide lists it as a close competitor [4].
Traeger Woodridge Elite — around $1,599, also near the same cooking area [4].