Burner assembly questions
Posted by:
Kelly (IP Logged)
Date: December 31, 2007 11:17PM
Hi all,
I'm making some progress on the burner -
- all 4414 holes drilled out to #54 (32 with drill bit fragments left in them)
- small hole drilled at the end of the 2 small cracks, to keep them from spreading
- burner grate pan crimped on
- new burner pan and fiber insulating sheets on hand
- old face plate cleaned up (still needs redrilled & tapped for pilot keeper screws)
I was pretty pleased with the way the inner pan went. I took the old inner pan and flattened the screwholes down to a little dot, then laid it on the new sheet metal and punched through those little holes. Then I cut an X across each punch mark to allow the metal to distort when the screws pulled it into the central rib of the burner grate. Screwed the uncut sheet metal onto the grate. Then I cut a tiny sliver of the sheet metal and wrapped it around the burner grate flange, with just as much wrap as I wanted. Then I re-flattened that, and learned how far out from the edge of the flange the sheet metal needed to be. Then I scribed that distance all the way around the flange. Took the sheet metal back off, cut it to the scribe mark, then screwed it back on.
I started the crimp with a medium weight hammer and bent it over about 90 degrees all around. Then started many gentle taps around and around to push the edge of the sheet metal down toward the flange surface. It curved beautifully - I only had to slit it at 4 places, each end of the straight sections. Finished up by squeezing it down all the way around with pliers. No busted cast iron!
But now I've run into a couple of questions. I'm trying to figure out how to get holes in the outer pan which will line up with the mixing tube holes in the grate. The best idea I've been able to come up with is -
1. Hold the face plate against the pan with its bottom edge resting on the rolled edge of the pan.
2. Mark the pan for cutouts that match the 4 face plate holes (mixing tubes, peekhole, vaporizer end) and the "frame" around the pilot.
3. Cut openings and drill holes in the pan, and mount the face plate.
4. Place enough insulation and blocking in the pan to raise the grate until its mixing tube holes align with the holes in the face plate.
Questions are -
Is this a good way to go about it?
What's a good tool for cutting those openings in the outer pan sheet metal?
Should the edges of the crimp be sealed somehow to the grate flange?
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Kelly