Blasting the box: which tool do you use?


 
DanJC

DanJC

TVWBB Fan
I’ve seen people mention using sandblasters, angle grinders, and wire brushes on drills. Others just chip away manually like some sort of sisyphean martyr. What do you use to clean the inside of your fire box and why?
 
Check out this thread...

tvwbb.com

Put your die grinder away

There is a product called Carbon Off. First pic is just a quick wipe with a paper towel Directions say rinse with water. Out came the garden hose. Second pic Inside of end cap off of a red head. Need to test a fire box next. This stuff is not good for paint. Will have to...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com

It looks like there is an easier way.
 
My bottom line on this is that unless your intention is to resell the grill, just a good scraping and maybe some basic scrubbing is fine. They only reason to go further is if you want to sell the grill as a like new rehab.

If so, you really cannot beat a full out media blasted box. It will remove all the gunk and make it like new again which prospective buyers like, a lot. The problem is the cost and the fact that after a dozen cooks, you won't be able to tell it was nice and clean to start with.

In between the scrape out and quick scrub, you have all the oven cleaners, angle grinders, Pressure washers etc...
Some use Oven Off, some use Sams club Grill Cleaner, Some use Dawn Power Dissolver, Carbon Off and others. I like Sams and Dawn myself. I have never tried Carbon off. Sams is cheap and effective. Dawn is probably more effective but much more costly. I have not tried Carbon Off which I think is in the expensive category.
Bruce
 
Sam Bee said:
Check out this thread...

tvwbb.com

Put your die grinder away

There is a product called Carbon Off. First pic is just a quick wipe with a paper towel Directions say rinse with water. Out came the garden hose. Second pic Inside of end cap off of a red head. Need to test a fire box next. This stuff is not good for paint. Will have to...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com

It looks like there is an easier way.
Click to expand...

Bruce said:
In between the scrape out and quick scrub, you have all the oven cleaners, angle grinders, Pressure washers etc...
Some use Oven Off, some use Sams club Grill Cleaner, Some use Dawn Power Dissolver, Carbon Off and others. I like Sams and Dawn myself. I have never tried Carbon off. Sams is cheap and effective. Dawn is probably more effective but much more costly. I have not tried Carbon Off which I think is in the expensive category.
Bruce
Click to expand...

I splurged on Carbon Off, and was not impressed. The difference between Carbon Off ($28/quart) and Member's Mark (Sam's Club $8/3 quarts) was minimal.
 
DrewZ said:
I splurged on Carbon Off, and was not impressed. The difference between Carbon Off ($28/quart) and Member's Mark (Sam's Club $8/3 quarts) was minimal.
Click to expand...
Good to know, I haven't tried it myself but was interested. I guess I'll just stick to the Sam's Club oven cleaner and pressure washer method as that has worked out for me.
 
Bruce said:
My bottom line on this is that unless your intention is to resell the grill, just a good scraping and maybe some basic scrubbing is fine. They only reason to go further is if you want to sell the grill as a like new rehab.

If so, you really cannot beat a full out media blasted box. It will remove all the gunk and make it like new again which prospective buyers like, a lot. The problem is the cost and the fact that after a dozen cooks, you won't be able to tell it was nice and clean to start with.

In between the scrape out and quick scrub, you have all the oven cleaners, angle grinders, Pressure washers etc...
Some use Oven Off, some use Sams club Grill Cleaner, Some use Dawn Power Dissolver, Carbon Off and others. I like Sams and Dawn myself. I have never tried Carbon off. Sams is cheap and effective. Dawn is probably more effective but much more costly. I have not tried Carbon Off which I think is in the expensive category.
Bruce
Click to expand...

So Bruce...how did the Dawn Power Dissolver work out for you?
I just purchased another case of 6 for less than $50 with the Staples coupon.

Jeff
 
If you want bare metal have it sand-blasted or buy a new box- life is short...

There are 2 firebox types in my experience:

Dry ones where people just cooked chicken or fish. Scraping and scrubbing the surface to get rid of the powder like residue should be good. Burn-offs don't help the dry ones.

Wet ones where people cook beef or pork and the box is "seasoned" - Scraping, grinding or blasting is needed to get rid of the carbon and crud build up. Burn-offs help with the grease residue after heavy cleaning.

Make sure you get rid of the heavy crud before burn-offs to avoid fires.
 
I feel like I've absorbed decades of experience distilled into one thread.

Really helpful to have the varied and valid perspectives that allow me to make educated decisions based on a number of factors, rather than just simple "instructions" that will not apply in all cases.
 
Jeff MA said:
So Bruce...how did the Dawn Power Dissolver work out for you?
I just purchased another case of 6 for less than $50 with the Staples coupon.

Jeff
Click to expand...
I haven't used it a whole lot, but I had a lid that I used it on. It wasn't terrible like some lids, but the DPD made it wipe off like grease with no scraping needed. The biggest difference between DPD and Sams CLub is two things. First DPD smells better and second, and most importantly is that DPD doesn't simply turn to water and run off after a couple minutes. It sticks and continues to dissolve the grease and carbon. I am impressed with it but I hate that price.
 
Ordering from Staples with the coupon code makes it around $8.30 a bottle and a little goes a long way.

Screenshot_20201001-162634.png

Jeff
 
Bruce said:
I haven't used it a whole lot, but I had a lid that I used it on. It wasn't terrible like some lids, but the DPD made it wipe off like grease with no scraping needed. The biggest difference between DPD and Sams CLub is two things. First DPD smells better and second, and most importantly is that DPD doesn't simply turn to water and run off after a couple minutes. It sticks and continues to dissolve the grease and carbon. I am impressed with it but I hate that price.
Click to expand...

That interesting. I didn’t think there was any substantive difference. I am glad you found a way to get a bunch at a more tolerable price.

One thing you can’t say about the Sam’s product is to call it weak. That stuff literally burned a hole in my leg before I knew what happened😱. Needs to be used with care and eye protection.
 
Has anyone done walnut blasting? I have the kit from harbor freight that I used for another project. I'm hesitant to use the strong oven cleaners as they tend to cause pitting in aluminum. Last rehab I wire wheeled it but man, the dust/mess. I'm envisioning walnut blasting in a large cardboard box. Way less dust and would contain the media so it's easily tossed
 
Ed Pinnell said:
Yes, as part of my employment, and no, not in this context. The cutting efficiency is lost pretty rapidly with hardened steel (you end up with little rounded pills) but may last longer with aluminum.
Click to expand...

The kit that I have, is not really designed for use often. It's not even a cabinet. Just a gun and bucket for media, about $20 w/ coupon, plus another $20 for a big box of walnut shell media. I bet it would work well for onesies twosies of grills, maybe not for continually refurbing and re-using the media. I think the only 'gotcha' is you need a 4-5 gallon air tank at least or you spend a lot of time waiting for it to refill. https://www.harborfreight.com/portable-abrasive-blaster-kit-37025.html

I used mine for cleaning carbon off of intake valves, which is really pretty similar to baked-on carbon on a grill. Big benefit to the grill is you really can just do it in the yard, the walnut media and carbon isn't going to hurt anything, so no real need to catch the debris
 
Dry ice or frozen co2 works. Use as a media for sand blasting. When done it boils away. Less clean up, especially for dangerous waste.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top