Brass Burner Bell Material?

[houdini16]

Hello, I am trying to get a opinion on what material would be best used for a Burner bell on a camp stove, most of them seem to use some type of brass, i didnt think one of the free machining brasses like 360 would work due to the lead, and the bell get extremely hot.
Ill attach some images, tell me what material you think.
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[MikeHalloran]

Brass doesn't do well at red heat.
Steel would be okay, stainless steel would be better.
The Primus part is priced like titanium, which is popular in camping equipment for its light weight, but I don't know if Ti can take the heat.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[ScottyUK]

While brass isn't a logical choice, experience says it has a very long life in this service. My little Optimus Hunter stove has accompanied me for thirty years and still works as well as it did when new. It looks a little battered these days but it still throws out an awful lot of heat. Mine has always run on automotive gasoline, not Coleman fuel because it's cheaper and much easier to get hold of.

 

[houdini16]

Every manufacture is using some type of Brass or Copper Alloy, there are a couple reasons. Aluminum would be good due to high thermal conductivity and light weight, but has a low melting point, wont work. Titanium is light weight but, has a low thermal conductivity and is expensive.
Brass/Copper Alloy has a high thermal conductivity, wont melt like Aluminum, costs less than Titanium, low corrosion for application, higher thermal conductivity than titanium..so it's only down fall is the weight.

My question, in not being a materials engineer is, which type of brass, i am a Mechanical Engineer(Tool and Die)and a CNC machinist, we usually use 360 for most things, but that has lead in it, I'm sure no one wants lead in there burner getting red hot, possibly gassing off etc.

I would use stainless or Titanium but the burner bell needs to reach a temperature that upon liquid fuel entering the bottom would heat and vaporize the fuel to a gas. Some mfg. add a separate copper tube to pass through the flames, i want to avoid this, so the high thermal conductivity has to be there.

 

[CoryPad]

I would not use 360 brass. AMPCOLOY 940 would be good for this application:

http://www.ampcometal.com/products/high-copper-alloy/ampcoloy-940-extruded/

 

[ornerynorsk]

360 is not commonly available in thin sheet, that I'm aware. 220 or 260 would be the more likely candidates.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[houdini16]

AMPCOLOY 940 Looks good, Ill have to price it out though.
Most companies I can tell are either stamping sheets, or casting, and possibly machining the casting. Currently I am just going to machine the part on a lathe and mill, so extruded bar stock is needed.

 

[houdini16]

In this image you can see one of the mfg. have a machined part, not to say that it wasn't a casting first, it probably was.
Link

 

[ornerynorsk]

From that angle it is definitely not formed sheet.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.