CB 1200 i firepot problems

[shorehaman]

Last week I started to get more ash in my pan beneath the fire pot. This morning I noticed that it had almost overfilled in a single day of burning. I did a deep clean thinking it was somehow related to poor air flow, but on restarting I noticed that pellets were dropping into the pan below as they entered the fire pot. On inspecting the fire pot I observed a hole had developed in the movable floor of the fire pot. The bottom walls of the fire pot in general looked corroded.

I assume that I need to replace the entire fire pot . Has anyone else experienced this problem and what difficulties lie ahead that I should be aware of?

 

[Lake Girl]

New firepot Not sure if it is a common problem - you could search the threads...

 

[PutnamJct]

The part number is 812-3351. looks like a three - four hundred dollar item...ouch!
Never changed mine. As a quick fix, could you have a new plate welded onto the bottom of the existing "door" to cover up the hole?

 

[shorehaman]

I am wondering if I could patch it with a muffler putty as a temporary fix? Yep I have also look for the replacement parts and it is a $350 part. There is also a replacement part for just the movable trap door which is ~ $75. I am not sure yet if the fire pot is too corroded to replace just the door. i will need to take it out which looks simple, but I still wonder what difficulty that will entail.

 

[moey]

I think I would go buy a flat piece of steel and fabricate my own.

Is the fire pot that corroded or just some pitting. Its pretty thick.

 

[bartly]

I have a quadrafire 1200 insert and mine did the same thing. After about 5 years the front of the plate burned through so I mad a new plate out of 1/4" plate steel. At 7 years or so the front of the burn pot burned out leaving a hole right in front of the heating element. I bent some more 1/4" plate to match the curvature of the pot and widdled it into shape with my dremel tool. Then welded the patch in only welding to the sheet metal the heating element sits in as it is not cast iron. I didn't want to mess with welding the patch directly to the cast burn pot as I kind of think that might start cracking the pot. I made sure the plate closed off nicely around the new surface before welding. Its only been a month or so since the last patch, but am guessing I'll be needing a whole new pot and plate before long. Thinking I'm going to make the whole thing out of 1/4" steel instead of spending $400.

 

[shorehaman]

It is hard to examine the bottom of the fire pot carefully at this point because I have not pulled the fire pot out as yet. It look like most of the corrosion is in the trap door, but I can also see substantial corrosion at the base of the fire pot directly adjacent to the igniter. I started a patch using quick-steel epoxy supposedly good to 2500 degrees F. I would like to get a temporary fix to get the stove back on while I research the problem and identify a source for the parts. I also want to make sure I understand what I am getting into when I start to remove the fire pot. Bartley's description sounds exactly like my problem. This is the 6th season I have used the stove and this is the first problem I have had during that time.

 

[DBCOOPER]

Just curious as to how many tons you have put through it in those 6 seasons?

 

[shorehaman]

I have been using about 4 tons a year, for the last three years all okanagen.

 

[shorehaman]

I was able to successfully patch the hole using the qwik steel putty so I am back on for the time being. But I decided to replace the fire pot and will pull the old one this week end. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks to everyone for chiming in and particularly to Bartley for his thoughts.

 

[moey]

Make sure you have a new gasket before you pull it. Also you may have to replace the bolts they may shear and need to be drilled out. Make sure you have a plan before you pull it in case they do shear. There may be some threads here if you search on it.