A frustrated mind wanders

[George Curtis]

Ok, as I'm cleaning up a few grills,, one of them being an old ga gasser, I was looking at the burner tube. Figuring how much room I have to put a baffle plate under it. At some point, I know I have noticed it before but so long ago I forgot. I noticed that the gga tube has no screen on the air intake whereas the q tube does. Why ? Also the gga tube has square holes and they are angled so the gas or flame burns forwards, away from the regulator. When my brain latches onto stuff like that I like to find answers. Any ideas out there ? Thanks,
george

 

[Ed P]

Hi George! I hope all is going well.

The screen on the air intake is intended to keep the bugs (spiders, webs, nests, etc.) out of the burner tubes.

I've never laid eyes on a GGA burner but from other Weber burners I have seen, Weber produces the burners with the rectangular holes while the aftermarket favors the round holes. I think the rectangular holes permit openings of a given area that can be spaced closer together than round holes of the same given area, but it's only a guess as to why they are rectangular and not round. Anyway, there are openings that are punched, where the area of the hole is removed ("chad"), and openings that are stamped, where the material is displaced but not removed, like in a louvre. Louvres are great for directing air or gas flow and remove a big headache for manufacturers...the chad from punched holes goes everywhere but where you want it and eventually must be disposed of or recycled. Louvres also induce turbulence which may help with mixing oxygen with the gas but I think the primary reason for not removing the waste material is because by not removing the waste it makes it easier to produce. Just my opinion.

 

[George Curtis]

Hi George! I hope all is going well.

The screen on the air intake is intended to keep the bugs (spiders, webs, nests, etc.) out of the burner tubes.

I've never laid eyes on a GGA burner but from other Weber burners I have seen, Weber produces the burners with the rectangular holes while the aftermarket favors the round holes. I think the rectangular holes permit openings of a given area that can be spaced closer together than round holes of the same given area, but it's only a guess as to why they are rectangular and not round. Anyway, there are openings that are punched, where the area of the hole is removed ("chad"), and openings that are stamped, where the material is displaced but not removed, like in a louvre. Louvres are great for directing air or gas flow and remove a big headache for manufacturers...the chad from punched holes goes everywhere but where you want it and eventually must be disposed of or recycled. Louvres also induce turbulence which may help with mixing oxygen with the gas but I think the primary reason for not removing the waste material is because by not removing the waste it makes it easier to produce. Just my opinion.

The gga air hole is rectangular, no screen. Thus my wondering why it's not protected. I plan later to find or make plugs for mine which covers the air inlet and the gas regulator inlet. I guess they felt there was no need due to the regulator being removed. Enter shrug here. As to the holes in the burner tube, they really do look like they were made rectangular on purpose. Gas or gas and air flow ? Just something I noticed.