inexpensive vaporizer bars

[bigun94]

so the vapor bars/burner covers on my old perfect flame grill from lowes are shot and gone.

they want $ 12 each for some replacements.

i bought a 8' stick of 2" angled aluminum from lowes and cut me three pieces to length last night and put them over the burners.

worked like a charm last night. i'm not sure how long they'll hold up due to the heat. i consulted with pt49er before i bought it, i don't see how it would give off any bad fumes, you cook stuff in aluminum foil all the time. this is 1/16" thick so i think it'll hold up for awhile. there's enough left to make another set if i need too.

[Richtee]

Hmmm... perhaps not as long as ya think. Aluminum is best left out of any grilling/high heat application. But maybe you'll get a few uses outta them. Any metal shop should be able to bend ya some 14 Ga steel sheet....

[ptt49er]

I offered to try and get some stainless from work, but it sounded like he was in a hurry...;-)

[Richtee]

I offered to try and get some stainless from work, but it sounded like he was in a hurry...;-)

Go ahead and do it..he'll need 'em soon ;{)

[aczeller]

stainless would work, as would the 14 gauge. I made my dad some out of 16 gauge and they are holding up far longer than the originals. still not great, but good enough. the rest of the grill is rusting out, so the bars were the least of his concern.

as far as the aluminum goes, i don't think you should have too many issues with it. if they didn't melt the first go-around, you should be good. depending on how leaky your grill is, distance from teh burners, BTU output, etc., they may not melt. i wouldn't worry about any fumes/gases either after the initial burn. Once they are in there for a few minutes and get nice and toasty, any factory oils/coatings will be gone anyway.

Later,
Andy

[bigun94]

Yeah I was in a hurry it was 545 and I needed to grill the chops for dinner. I need them 18" if you youbcan scavage them from work. The aluminum didn't melt yesterday. I tapped it with a fork afterward and it sounded solid

[Fishawn]

Interesting topic..... I know the Weber flavorizer bars are expensive for sure...... I think I paid somewhere around $40 for my gasser a couple years ago..... Keep us posted

[DDave]

Couldn't you just use some 1/8" x 2" angle iron? They would take a bit longer to heat up but should last a long time.

My tuning plates in the SnP are 1/8" plate and I don't ever anticipate the need to replace those.

Dave

[ptt49er]

What size angles Phil? 2" x 2"?

It's pretty funny that you called Sunday about those...I went to fire up my Weber gaser and one of my flavorizer bars had rusted in two and was laying across the burner, preventing it from lighting...time to replace mine as well!

[Richtee]

Yeah I was in a hurry it was 545 and I needed to grill the chops for dinner. I need them 18" if you youbcan scavage them from work. The aluminum didn't melt yesterday. I tapped it with a fork afterward and it sounded solid

Hmmm was looking... but it might have been at SMF... someone used an aluminum block as a heat radiator over an electric element, and found it in a puddle after like 5 hours. It will take longer on a grill prolly, but I'm still betting they are short lived.

[aczeller]

yeah... aluminum will take a while to completely melt... you need to get the whole piece up to over 1200*F, but if you have them an inch or two above the burner on high for 45 minutes, i bet it would still melt.

the problem with using mild steel is that the drippings are super acidic, plus the heat of the burners only accelerate the rusting actions. with that being said, stainless is the only way to go that will even remotely make you guys feel better...

think about it this way though: assuming you have to buy your materials, stainless is always going to be more than mild steel. depending on the parts and pieces, figure anywhere from 600-1,000% more than mild steel. now, based on the average life expectancy of a grill (say 5-6 years), the supports, brackets, etc. will rust out in about 5-6 years, and your "flavorizer" bars will rust out every 2. just to keep the numbers round and easy, let's say each bar costs $5.00 and you need 4 for your grill ($20 per replacement). now stainless on the other hand will be at LEAST $30 per bar ($120 per replacement).

based on the life expectancy of the grill, you will replace your stainless bars once at a total cost of $120, or the mild steel bar at least 3 times for a total cost of $60.

obviously, these prices are from a welder's standpoint... i'm talking about either getting a piece of steel and bending it, or getting some large angle-iron pieces and cutting them to length. these are not based on prices from Home Depot/Lowes, so it may not be the same for everyone. I guess the moral of the story is that it may not really be worth "upgrading" unless you have a serious grill that you expect to last longer than average.

Later,
Andy

[bigun94]

sorry guys out of town for a bit.

yes philip 1/8" 2" x 2" angle steel would be perfect.

as for the aluminum it did not melt yet but they are a bit warped and right now. i'm going to try to straighten it out some. that will certainly let me know if there's any disentegration or integrity to the metal itself yet.

so far i've gotten 2 uses out of them but i don't cook on high usually low keep the grill at 350 or so.

[bigun94]

well these bars went fine until last night they vaporized all i dont' know that my grill will be useful again the top is baked in aluminum.

i'll have to figure it out sometime next month i guess.

[Richtee]

Hmmm... perhaps not as long as ya think. Aluminum is best left out of any grilling/high heat application. But maybe you'll get a few uses outta them. Any metal shop should be able to bend ya some 14 Ga steel sheet....

well these bars went fine until last night they vaporized all i dont' know that my grill will be useful again the top is baked in aluminum.

i'll have to figure it out sometime next month i guess.

[aczeller]

well these bars went fine until last night they vaporized all i dont' know that my grill will be useful again the top is baked in aluminum.

i'll have to figure it out sometime next month i guess.

I don;t see why it would be bad. I would crank the heat on high and walk away for an hour or two... take the grates out first and just let the extra aluminum melt off. once it gets hot, put on a welding glove and some old clothes/leathers/denim, and try brushing the extra bits off with a metal brush. hell, if there was enough "gunk" on there before, you might be able to just whack it a couple of times and it might pop off...