Sunday, June 10, 2012

A Barbeque Heat Distribution Tent Reconstruction


These things lead a hard life; two years and it's game over.


That tent had been serving as a replacement for the original vaporizer bar in a Thermos Quickset barbeque. The good news is that I've still got two tent sections left over from the original tent kit, like so.


I should be able to salvage enough of the old tent to make up a reasonable facsimile of a replacement tent. If I get one more season out of it, I'll be happy.

- - -

It's not pretty, but it'll get through one more season at least.


I ground and drilled off the heads of the screws that were holding the old tent together. Some wire-brushing with a six-inch diameter wire wheel got the pieces reasonably clean. Aviation snips work fine for cutting the material, but eye protection is called for -- the porcelain coating erupts into a great spray of particles as the snips go along. 8-32 or M4 screws and nuts are ideal for fastening the sections together. There was a full set of four of the long 'leg' bolts left over in the box along with the two spare tent sections. Had I not had that, 3 1/2" long 1/4" carriage bolts would have served fine.

I checked Canadian Tire's web site, and it appears they still carry this item. It does the job for a reasonable price, and it spares you the aggravation of tracking down and ordering an OEM part.


Update -- SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Well, I got almost all of a full season out of my barbeque burner tent reconstruction. Then it sorta, kinda collapsed.


That tent is at the point where even I give up on a thing.

My son went looking for a replacement, and found what looks to me like an excellent one at Canadian Tire. Here's a view of it.



Here it is installed in my old Thermos Quickset barbeque.



It fits almost as if it were made for the thing. There was no need to install the optional 'legs' to prop it up off the 'floor' of the barbeque.

And here it is with the grille in place.



That looks to me like a fine barbeque burner tent.

Here's a view of the product's wrapper.



I don't know the price. P/Ns are GT-RAD-012; CTC P/N 085-1379-2

- - -

Update -- FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019

Almost six years later, here's the condition of the replacement tent.


That's about had it. 'Time for a new tent again.

Canadian Tire still carries the same part number -- 085-1379-2. The brand name has changed from "Grill Trends" to "Master Chef", but it looks like it's still the same thing.


So, 'time to open up the package and see how it goes.

- - -

And here we are with the new tent assembled and in place.


Again, there was no need for the 'legs'. The tent perches nicely on ridges that are integral to the barbeque's casting. The tent's shortest assembled length (about 19 1/4") is right for my smallish barbeque.

The fasteners are all M6. A 10mm wrench, and a No. 2 or No. 3 Phillips screwdriver are needed for assembly.

# # #


# # #