Wolf $10K Built-In Grill Restore

[Bill Pudim]

I did finally get the IR rotisserie burner working. It does have a small spot that does not glow red but is still very hot and very much lit. I had to clean out the gas line with compressed air and adjust the orifice as it screws in and out for adjustment. Here are pics of it lit up and behind the scenes with the safety and thermocouple setup.
View attachment 36646View attachment 36647

You may have just solved the problem with my Summit Platinum IR burner…

 

[Joe Anshien]

You may have just solved the problem with my Summit Platinum IR burner…

I hope it helps. Please report back when you get to it. If that doesn't work I am sure the collective will help find a solution.

 

[Bill Pudim]

I hope it helps. Please report back when you get to it. If that doesn't work I am sure the collective will help find a solution.

When you say “adjust the orifice” what did you do to adjust?

 

[Bruce]

Yah, I have never heard of an adjustable orifice.

 

[Bill Pudim]

Yah, I have never heard of an adjustable orifice.

The only thing that I can think of is moving it closer to the burner opening, but I don’t see that adjustment on the Wolf, or my Summit.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

$1650. Sounds pretty good if you ask me. That’s a great piece of equipment and you’ve done a fine job in the restoration!

 

[Joe Anshien]

When you say “adjust the orifice” what did you do to adjust?

If you look carefully at the pictures on P2 of this thread you will see the orifice is in an elbow threaded into the bracket. With the gas line disconnected I could thread it closer or further from the venturi. I tried some different lengths until I got it to be red hot. Maybe it helped or maybe I imagined it.

 

[Ed P]

A venturi is critical to the operation of a carburetor and we studied those in HS auto shop 55 years ago. Air speeds up as it travels through a venturi and in so doing causes a pressure drop. That pressure drop causes the fuel along with outside air to be drawn in and mixed inside the burner tube. By moving the orifice closer or further from the venturi suggests that you are fine tuning and optimizing the fuel/air mix (stoichiometry) by changing the location of the fuel metering jet. Those IR burners evidently have a catalytic material inside that causes the fuel to burn without a flame. I've got a butane-powered pencil torch that is like that...all heat, no flame. It's like...science.

 

[Joe Anshien]

A venturi is critical to the operation of a carburetor and we studied those in HS auto shop 55 years ago. Air speeds up as it travels through a venturi and in so doing causes a pressure drop. That pressure drop causes the fuel along with outside air to be drawn in and mixed inside the burner tube. By moving the orifice closer or further from the venturi suggests that you are fine tuning and optimizing the fuel/air mix (stoichiometry) by changing the location of the fuel metering jet. Those IR burners evidently have a catalytic material inside that causes the fuel to burn without a flame. I've got a butane-powered pencil torch that is like that...all heat, no flame. It's like...science.

For me it was 43 years ago. I loved HS auto shop, Too bad teacher was a jerk, and only favored the guys with cars, I think I got a C. I went on to restore a few cars and do all my own maintenance after college. Did not care much for wood shop, liked metal shop a lot, but the best was....Home economics as we got to cook and eat...not to mention there were a lot more girls!

 

[Ed P]

I was sorry to see shop classes taken out of public schools. My daughter was enrolled in 7th grade wood shop many years ago. We went to a PTA/Open House meeting once and she was most eager to show me around, but there was nobody there. Come to find out the teacher had injured himself on the table saw and had to go to the hospital. That is the one tool that scares the bejesus out of me. I know too many people that have been severly injured with saws.

We were at the wife's kidney Dr. not too long ago and there was a young man there with his kids and an elderly woman. His hand was all bandaged up. Anyway, they saw the doc and then they left. A minute or so later one of the kids came back in and retrieved a jar that he had left jn the chair he was sitting in. Turns out he was related to one of the office people and that he had cut his fingers off on a brand new table saw...he had the fingers in the jar and brought them to show his relative in the office. Can you imagine going to the doc and seeing a jar in the chair with fingers in it?

Another one...one of the guys I knew from flying RC many years ago cut his fingers off on a table saw at work. Before he went into shock he picked the fingers up and put them in his pocket. When they got him into the OR at the hospital they sedated him and just before he went into la-la land he heard one of the people say, "Did they bring the fingers?" The way he told the story, he tried to tell them they were in his pocket, but it was too late...

He was missing fingers on both hands from separate table saw accidents. I think I would have looked for a different job.

 

[Joe Anshien]

I was sorry to see shop classes taken out of public schools. My daughter was enrolled in 7th grade wood shop many years ago. We went to a PTA/Open House meeting once and she was most eager to show me around, but there was nobody there. Come to find out the teacher had injured himself on the table saw and had to go to the hospital. That is the one tool that scares the bejesus out of me. I know too many people that have been severly injured with saws.

We were at the wife's kidney Dr. not too long ago and there was a young man there with his kids and an elderly woman. His hand was all bandaged up. Anyway, they saw the doc and then they left. A minute or so later one of the kids came back in and retrieved a jar that he had left jn the chair he was sitting in. Turns out he was related to one of the office people and that he had cut his fingers off on a brand new table saw...he had the fingers in the jar and brought them to show his relative in the office. Can you imagine going to the doc and seeing a jar in the chair with fingers in it?

Another one...one of the guys I knew from flying RC many years ago cut his fingers off on a table saw at work. Before he went into shock he picked the fingers up and put them in his pocket. When they got him into the OR at the hospital they sedated him and just before he went into la-la land he heard one of the people say, "Did they bring the fingers?" The way he told the story, he tried to tell them they were in his pocket, but it was too late...

He was missing fingers on both hands from separate table saw accidents. I think I would have looked for a different job.

In college I worked in the dark room and we used to mat photos for class. I chopped the top of my finger off in a paper cutter. I did bring it with me to the hospital and they sowed it back on. I did make quite the mess in the campus police cruiser though.

 

[Ed P]

In college I worked in the dark room and we used to mat photos for class. I chopped the top of my finger off in a paper cutter. I did bring it with me to the hospital and they sowed it back on. I did make quite the mess in the campus police cruiser though.

About the worst thing that ever happened to my hands was that I got my HS class ring ripped off my finger at age 20. Lucky the ring was a loose fit and didn't take my finger with it, but I still have the scar as a reminder. This was shortly after I was messing around with a starter under the car and shorted out the battery cable with it...that burned me good. I have never worn jewelry since then, not even my wedding band, which my wife was not too happy about.

 

[Steve Hoch]

I was sorry to see shop classes taken out of public schools. My daughter was enrolled in 7th grade wood shop many years ago. We went to a PTA/Open House meeting once and she was most eager to show me around, but there was nobody there. Come to find out the teacher had injured himself on the table saw and had to go to the hospital. That is the one tool that scares the bejesus out of me. I know too many people that have been severly injured with saws.

We were at the wife's kidney Dr. not too long ago and there was a young man there with his kids and an elderly woman. His hand was all bandaged up. Anyway, they saw the doc and then they left. A minute or so later one of the kids came back in and retrieved a jar that he had left jn the chair he was sitting in. Turns out he was related to one of the office people and that he had cut his fingers off on a brand new table saw...he had the fingers in the jar and brought them to show his relative in the office. Can you imagine going to the doc and seeing a jar in the chair with fingers in it?

Another one...one of the guys I knew from flying RC many years ago cut his fingers off on a table saw at work. Before he went into shock he picked the fingers up and put them in his pocket. When they got him into the OR at the hospital they sedated him and just before he went into la-la land he heard one of the people say, "Did they bring the fingers?" The way he told the story, he tried to tell them they were in his pocket, but it was too late...

He was missing fingers on both hands from separate table saw accidents. I think I would have looked for a different job.

The tool I spend the most time thinking about before and during use is my table saw. It literally frightens me to use it, still have all my fingers.

 

[Ed P]

We had to go to Arkansas back in the late 70s for my Father-in-Law's funeral. I met a relative named Clarence who was missing an entire shoulder from a lumber mill accident. First time I ever saw anybody drinking coffee from a saucer...I was told that it helps the coffee cool faster.

EDIT: My wife reminded me that his "disability" did not slow him down one bit. He still did his farming and his other chores.

 

[Bruce]

In wood shop one day, a kid was cutting something on the table saw and the blade caught it and sent it across the room about 20 feet before it slammed into the wall. If he had been directly behind the blade, it probably would have killed him.

 

[Jon Tofte]

It is a good thing for us to keep reminding each other about dangers of power tools (also solvents and spray paint) so that we don't drop our guard when using this stuff. I know I can get lazy about it and rely on the flimsy plastic shield on my bench grinder. Use those safety glasses and adding a face shield would be even better.

 

[Joe Anshien]

This is mostly for @LMichaels. I had an opportunity to test using the ceramic igniters from a Genesis 330 and aftermarket cheap igniters on the Wolf and they work great. Here is a picture and video. It was also quite easy as I just had to crimp the metal base of the igniter (the part that usually slides on the burner) over the bracket with vice grips.

 

[Ed P]

That hooded ceramic igniter and bracket looks like it could be adapted to the early Gennies, too.

 

[Joe Anshien]

That hooded ceramic igniter and bracket looks like it could be adapted to the early Gennies, too.

If you could figure that out it would be great as you can get 4 of those with the electronic igniter for $16. I have a bunch of piezo buttons.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WVV77Y2/?tag=tvwb-20

 

[Ed P]

If you could figure that out it would be great as you can get 4 of those with the electronic igniter for $16. I have a bunch of piezo buttons.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WVV77Y2/?tag=tvwb-20

It depends on the overall length of the ceramic portion of the igniter. The electrode would need to be close to the length of the OEM version. How long is the ceramic portion between the arrows (I didn't quite draw that up like I should have)?

EDIT: Made a better picture.