Secondary air retrofit rebuild... Stainless vs Brass?

[Mr4btTahoe]

Hey alls...

So after 4 years... my black pipe secondary air system finally failed. I knew it would happen at some point and only used black pipe as a proof of concept.. but it held up great so I never changed it. Finally had a tube fail (no safety issues... secondary air just quit functioning).

So.. with that said, I'm going to pull the stove apart tonight... replace the baffle plate that I had installed (used 1/8" plate.. its what I had and again.. was just a proof of concept) with heavier plate that will handle the heat better along with fresh insulation and replace a few damaged bricks while I'm at it.

On that note, I'll be pulling out the burn tubes and rebuilding.

Question is.. which route to take. I can get stainless or brass for relatively cheap. Brass conducts heat better and will not become brittle over time. Stainless retains heat and has a higher melting point (1700F vs 2700F).

Which route would you take?

I strongly doubt the firebox would ever reach the melting point of brass (hottest temps I've seen is ~750F at the doors measured with IR temp gun.

Input?

Thanks
-Chris

 

[bholler]

Hey alls...

So after 4 years... my black pipe secondary air system finally failed. I knew it would happen at some point and only used black pipe as a proof of concept.. but it held up great so I never changed it. Finally had a tube fail (no safety issues... secondary air just quit functioning).

So.. with that said, I'm going to pull the stove apart tonight... replace the baffle plate that I had installed (used 1/8" plate.. its what I had and again.. was just a proof of concept) with heavier plate that will handle the heat better along with fresh insulation and replace a few damaged bricks while I'm at it.

On that note, I'll be pulling out the burn tubes and rebuilding.

Question is.. which route to take. I can get stainless or brass for relatively cheap. Brass conducts heat better and will not become brittle over time. Stainless retains heat and has a higher melting point (1700F vs 2700F).

Which route would you take?

I strongly doubt the firebox would ever reach the melting point of brass (hottest temps I've seen is ~750F at the doors measured with IR temp gun.

Input?

Thanks
-Chris

Brass will melt in a firebox. You are not measuring temps where those tubes are just under the baffle

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Brass will melt in a firebox. You are not measuring temps where those tubes are just under the baffle

That settles it. I figured there was a reason that stainless was the most common.

Thanks!

 

[Mech e]

IR gun does not work through glass. Temps inside the stove are way higher.

 

[blades]

yep like twice + where brass melts. on occasion my stainless tubes are glowing red in places.