Filling a hole in a jet burner cast body

[eknee]

I'm using the 23 tip jet burners on my brew stand. One of them had a pin hole leak in the cast body. I called them and they sent another one. That one had an even worse defect. I called them and they sent another. That one was fine.

My brew stand is now good to go, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do with the burners with flaws (they didn't want the bad ones back). Is it possible to weld this cheap cast crap? I wondered about something as simple as JB weld, but wasn't sure about the temps it can handle.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I'm very much a beginner welder so I'm no expert but it's my understanding that cast iron is a pain to weld. That said, it's not going to be subjected to the kinds of pressures that say a cast iron engine block would be subjected to. I'm not sure what temp rating is for JB, but I once had an exhaust shop use it to temporarily plug an exhaust leak on my car while they were waiting for their new welder to be delivered. So I'd give it a shot...grind off any paint and put a good sized glob on there and give it plenty of time to cure before firing it up. Brazing may be another option but if it's a pinhole it might not be big enough for the brazing material to flow into.

 

[TonyR]

Looks like JB Weld should be fine for your burner, according to their site it is rated up to 500*F - http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php

 

[pigroaster]

You need a high nickel content rod for cast iron. Most weld shops should do it for you since these rods are expensive. Cast iron has whole carbon and dissolved carbon in the mix so it wants to crack from whole carbon particle to whole carbon particle. You can try heating casting cherry red. Weld it and stick it in a pail of sand so it cools slowly and it may not crack. 7018 would be my choice for this attempt if you can't get Ni-rod

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Alternatively, you could drill and tap the metal where it is flawed. Put a bolt or screw into the threaded hole along with some high temp sealant (RTV).

 

[Homercidal]

Does it affect the flame?? If its a small hole I can't see a real problem.

 

[JRems]

I had a burner with a hole I just used a dab of hi temp silicone and it was fine. Jb weld would work fine too. The burner itself doesn't get very hot.

 

[weaselchew]

JB Weld would probably be the fastest and easiest patch for it. You can get high temperature epoxies as well, some are designed for patching automotive exhaust leaks, etc. but I think the JB weld would be fine in this case.

 

[fall-line]

Apologies for reviving an older thread here, but this is the same question I have and I've got some photographic evidence to contribute for future thread searchers:

I ordered 3 of the non-returnable (as-is) natural gas 10-tip jet burners from Bayouclassic, and one of them has a pinhole leak in the side. It seems to operate just fine even with the hole, and I don't imagine this will present a safety concern as the pressures involved in natural gas are so low. Even so, I'm considering applying some JBWeld to it. I haven't taken any precise temperatures of the cast iron, but I do not think it gets above 500ºF.

Here is a photo of the leak in action. Thoughts?

 

[JonW]

There's no harm in just applying the JB weld and trying it out. It's not like it would be a safety problem or hurt anything if it didn't work. Then come back and post a pic of the fix in action.

 

[fall-line]

Thanks, Jon. Will do. Lots of credit coming your way from me in the coming days as well as I get my 'JonW inspired' stand operational.

 

[eknee]

Agreed. I slathered JB Weld over the casting voids and it did the trick. Thanks all.

 

[KPSquared]

So, you got 3 burners for the price of 1? Sweet deal! JBWeld FTW!

 

[eknee]

Four for the price of 2. The first one was fine, the 2nd one took 3 tries. I ended up making a change over. One for propane, one for natural gas.

 

[fall-line]

Agreed. I slathered JB Weld over the casting voids and it did the trick. Thanks all.

And thank you for confirming. I'll be posting my experiences as well once I get mine patched up.

 

[eknee]

fall-line. Did you drill out the jets in your burners for natural gas? I'm not getting nearly the flame you show in your build, so I'm wondering if I need to drill them out a bit more.

Thanks.

 

[fall-line]

Nope, I bought the natural gas specific burners here.

 

[eknee]

OK. Thanks

 

[starsailor]

Nope, I bought the natural gas specific burners here.

...which just has a larger gas oriface, a.k.a. drilled out (to the correct NG size that is).

 

[pigsaarz]

If the casting is thick enough which it should be just give a tap with a centre punch to the side of the hole forcing the closure of the pinhole thats how to fix leaks in cast iron pumps

 

[jCOSbrew]

Look for a patch/filler material designed for auto exhaust at the local auto parts store.