5 year burn chamber rebuild update

[FordMan59]

Glad to give the update. I have no doubt the mat would have lasted longer if I hadn't disturbed it removing carbon build at the fuel inlet. While I was there I went ahead and replaced the mat and gaskets hoping I won't have to tear into it for at least another 5 years.

[handyandy]

Thanks for the update FordMan

[FordMan59]

Thought I'd update this thread. The heater was giving problems so I took it apart today, the burn mat was brittle, lifting and curling up so it was replaced about 1 month short of 6 years. This was a burn mat made with McMaster-Carr product number 8799K3 and glued down with Rutland 77 stove cement. As I said earlier in this thread the gasket material McMaster-Carr product number 9323K21 is stronger than Monitor brand gaskets but it does get soft and brittle when exposed to heat. I replaced all 4 disturbed gaskets. The gaskets were fine until I took it apart but at that time they started falling apart kind of like the Monitor gaskets do. If I'd bought Monitor parts and glue the cost would have been about $100. instead I used supplies left over from the materials I bought in 2012 and still have enough of both materials to last the rest of my life. There's still enough Rutland 77 cement to do the mat probably 3-4 more times. Took about 30 minutes to mark/cut the mat and gaskets so unless your time is worth a lot more than mine it's well worth the savings.

[hawkins111]

Thanks FordMan for the McMasters numbers. They will help others out in the future.

Tom Hawkins

[FordMan59]

The reason for this thread is for people who are looking for cheaper/easier to find alternatives to MPI products and want to know how well they last. I used cheaper products, thanks to HayZee518 for this information. Lots of people on this forum have used cheaper alternative products in their chamber rebuild, but no one I know of has reviewed them after several years service. I rebuilt the burn chamber in my Monitor 422 5 years ago this month. I used a new MPI flame ring, McMaster-Carr product 8799K3 for the burn mat, McMaster-Carr product 9323K21 for gaskets and Rutland 77 stove cement for gluing the mat. The McMaster-Carr 8323K21 material is much stronger and less brittle than the original MPI gasket material. After 5 years of service I still have a nice even blue flame and no signs of problems. There are other McMaster-Carr products that will probably work just as good, you'll just have to decide for yourself which one you want to use. At the time I did the rebuild a new flame ring, more of each McMaster-Carr product and Rutland stove cement than I'll use in my lifetime cost less than $100. Next time I need to do a rebuild the only cost associated with it if the pot is still good should be a new flame ring. I'm in a warmer area of the country than many using Monitor heaters, so my heater doesn't run as much. The original flame ring, burn mat, and gaskets lasted 16 years on my 422 and I probably average using about 125 gallons of kerosene per winter. My 422 is now over 21 years old and still running great. The only parts I've replaced on it are the parts for the burn chamber rebuild and a new time/temperature controller. Some of the buttons on the original controller got so they didn't work very good. Thanks to another member of the forum I was able to replace the controller with a new one for $100., which was less than the cost of getting the old one rebuilt. I still have the old one in case I ever need to have it rebuilt for future use. For the past 6.5 years since moving to our new home I've been using capsule tanks and recently started having problems with the fuel not wanting to feed to the oil reservoir. I took the filter beneath the capsule tank out and soaked it a few hours in vinegar (mild acid) and it's doing great again. Thought I'd add this information in case anyone else ever has a similar problem. Carburetor cleaner or a similar item would probably work fine too, but I didn't know what effect it might have on the plastic or the filter media.