Hello everyone, I am trying to detach the burner from my Optimus no. 00 that I inherited from my father-in-law. The burner is fimly stuck. I have tried clamping and other methods, but to no success. I then proceeded to fill the tank with water and protect the joints with damp cloths, and applied direct heat with a torch to the nut, doing this twice, yet the burner remains very solid and resistant. Any suggestions, please?
Just an observation: So you are trying to detach the burner from the riser tube? Can you not first detach the riser tube from the fount and then you wouldn't need to worry so much about heat and keeping soldered joints cool? My guess is that you have already tried this .... Dean
I attempted that @Dean and discovered it to be quite resistant too. I'm uncertain about how much I can increase the tuning power on these before causing damage. That's why I was considering an alternative method. @Tom Pedersen I'm not sure this is welding; if that's the case, I'll require another riser tube unless I can find a way to melt it. Sharing kindly additional pictures. Thank you
Like a hopeless case. I tried with full power, nothing moving but splinters of brass. Will focusing the torch on the lower nut melt the connection between the rising tube and the tank? I didn't pay attention to that @Remus1956
Most likely. Probably better to focus on removing the burner complete with riser from the tank, then you can direct real heat-to the point where the brass is incandescent- on the riser to burner joint. Other's experience may be different but I have found that if a burner will not unscrew with reasonable force it tends to take a lot of heat to loosen it.
Thank you @Blackdog. The lower one is also quite stubborn. I will try with a vise. Regarding the rotational direction, does it rotate in the opposite direction to the one above or in the same direction, please?
It has very obviously had a hard life, so anything is possible! Either way a few cycles with high temperature and cooling would give it a chance. They are both the same, i.e. clockwise from above to tighten and anticlockwise to remove.
Thank you everyone for the valuable contribution, will keep trying. Thank you @kerophile for the important link.
The burner is quite worn out. It has several deformities and vulnerable areas. I have a similar spare. I will try to repair it in the future if feasible.
If your tank is filled with water, it’s heat sink may be too much for a torch to over come that so you can melt the solder. The wet paper towel you have wrapped around the riser may be too much also, maybe try more of a heat sink at the base of the riser so the solder can get hot enough to melt. Can try filing some of the solder off first. Duane
Thank you, @hikerduane. Actually, there was no solder; it was just very tight with some dry material. I reduced the amount of water in the tank, and took the risk and applied the torch flame to the lower nut. After it cooled down, I applied a lot of power with some assistance and managed to unlock it finallly!. I then went back and used the torch on the upper stubborn nut before plunging the burner into a bucket of water as a form of quenching. Later, I secured the burner catching the riser tube nut in the vise and, with more power, successfully detached that stubborn burner from that riser. Pictures are below. I will return with more pictures after installing the new burner. Best wishes.
