Solution for mounting SS pipe onto SS dog bowl?


 
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NickMV

TVWBB Fan
Alright, so here's the rundown --- I'm trying to design a dogbowl solution for a large offset smoker. I've got my rotoblower set up and working just fine, but I'm struggling to get the contraption made that I need in order to mount it, because I can't seem to solder 2 pieces of metal together.

See picture here for what I'm working with. I'm trying to solder this 304SS pipe onto this "stainless steel" dogbowl I got off Amazon. I only actually need about 2-3 inches off that pipe, so I'm probably going to go ahead and cut if for future attempts to get this done. The printed rotoblower I have is designed to mount onto this exact diameter pipe, so what you see here is what I have to work with (unless someone has a better dogbowl, haha).

So that hole dremel'd into the dogbowl is slightly smaller than the pipe. I sanded the "ring" around the cut and also sanded near the edge of the pipe, then applied some flux and torched the hell out of it. I think the water soluble flux I got is crappy, so that doesn't help, but I had the hardest time getting anything at all to stick to that dogbowl, whereas the solder adhered to the pipe decently well.


Does anyone have any tips or better solutions for getting this done? I'm looking at about 8-8.5 inches diameter that I have to cover up on the firebox venthole. I'm totally open to all ideas, but really wanna try to get this pipe and dogbowl solution done, if possible.
 
What diameter is the pipe? I think if it's small enough (1" or less maybe?) - that it may be easier to get a threaded pipe the same size and then a couple nuts that you'll find in the electrical conduit section of a hardware store - and put one on each side of the bowl to keep it mounted to the pipe. That's how I connected the 1" pipe to my weber grill.

Crude drawing...

IMG_20160308_095242.jpg


I'm not sure if the drawing I attached is showing up...I'm at work and they block dropbox.
Here's the link (I think) if it's not working above...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vh55ep2tj35i957/IMG_20160308_095242.jpg?dl=0&oref=e
 
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Unfortunately it's 1.9" internal diameter for the pipe. It's for a 15cfm fan setup so I made sure to keep a sizable opening for it, otherwise it constricts the airflow and gets noisy.

I've also been looking at possibly using a high-temp adhesive caulk of some sort, but it's gotta have pretty good adhesive properties. I suppose, if I went that route, that I could carefuly expand the hole on the bowl til the pipe can barely pass through, then use adhesive caulk on both sides until it holds and seals, but I have no experience with adhesive caulk @ high temps, specifically how well it holds.
 
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I'd use whatever Benjamin suggests because he has a lot of metal working knowledge. Also keep in mind your dog bowl isn't going to get that hot, plus I assume you'll be using some nomex gasket between the bowl and the pit itself which will cut down on conductive heat
 
WBegg said:
So how was the fit with the adapter to the pipe? Was it a good fit?
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It fits fine though I may run a thin bead of silicone sealant where the pipe meets the adapter, for competition time, just to eliminate any air leaks. I'm itching to get to our smoker (it's down in Louisiana right now) and test fit the whole thing, hopefully soon. I'm confident it'll work fine, as I used the same size dogbowl as last year. It'll weigh more, but I use long bolts and wingnuts and those seem to hold pretty damn well.
 
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Great news fellas --- the JB Weld seems to be holding just fine, on the first application. I'm now just laying it on in additional layers to fully seal it up and provide max strength. I went with the 5min quick-cure version I have on hand.

I guess I'll probably want to run it through the oven a few times in order to get the smell to go away. I've got plenty of time for that.
 
SteveCK said:
JB weld can work miracles. Glad it worked out for ya
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Yep seems to be a solid solution. After a few hours of curing, I placed it in the oven at 200F for about 2 hours to try to drive off the smell. Surprisingly, it didn't give off much so I think it'll be fine in terms of any fumes, especially since I don't need to use it until mid-May.
 
NickMV said:
Great news fellas --- the JB Weld seems to be holding just fine, on the first application. I'm now just laying it on in additional layers to fully seal it up and provide max strength. I went with the 5min quick-cure version I have on hand.

I guess I'll probably want to run it through the oven a few times in order to get the smell to go away. I've got plenty of time for that.
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As long as it is working, but the slower cure JB is much stronger. If the JB Kwik fails, try the other type.
 
Don't use JB weld for cooking unless you just don't mind polymers in you food. Get a MAPP Gas torch from Home Depot and some 56% safety silver from your local welding store and you can stick stainless together just like soldering copper pipes.
 
JayC said:
Don't use JB weld for cooking unless you just don't mind polymers in you food. Get a MAPP Gas torch from Home Depot and some 56% safety silver from your local welding store and you can stick stainless together just like soldering copper pipes.
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I would imagine this use case will be perfectly fine. It's on the outside of the smoker. It probably won't see dangerous temperatures, and the amount of gas produced will most likely be super insignificant Especially since he cooked it in the oven.

I would agree to not put it inside the cooker though, or where it might get really hot.
 
Benjamin Thibault said:
I would imagine this use case will be perfectly fine. It's on the outside of the smoker. It probably won't see dangerous temperatures, and the amount of gas produced will most likely be super insignificant Especially since he cooked it in the oven.

I would agree to not put it inside the cooker though, or where it might get really hot.
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Yeah I cooked it in the oven at 200-225 for about 2 hrs. The majority of the glue is on the outside, and if it gets to a temp where JB-Weld would fail, I'll have much bigger issues on my hand, namely the 3d printed rotoblower melting on the pipe.

The only time it will ever even get hot at all is when the output gets cut off, and I had no issues whatsoever last year when I was using a very similar dog bowl solution (with an Auber blower).
 
I think you're good. Anyone who reads this forum thoroughly enough they'd know I'm a bit anal about the materials I use on a bbq pit. In this case since you baked off any current offventing chemicals and since it's far from the heat source things would have to be going very bad for that piece to reach a temp high enough for it release harmful chemicals. Outside of an external fire around your pit you're much more likely to end up tossing your food in the trash before realizing that it has taken on chemicals from the JB weld you've used.
 
I had a bad time trying to silver solder (SilFos) onto a PetSmart cat bowl. Done lots of silver soldering over the years. The solder flowed out nicely but once I was done it had no adhesion to the bowl. I think that Chinese cat bowl SS is some odd alloy - possibly not even anything we'd classify as SS here in the US.

I used a 1-1/4" nominal rigid conduit nipple and two lock nuts instead - fit the 1-1'2" aluminum flex hose I was using perfectly.
 
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