Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Hi,

A friend asked how well Nichrome mesh would work in what was a ceramic burner.  I had made small burners using mesh so I had a go altering some larger ceramic burners.  The result:



Take care.

Tony.

Looks very good Tony, now where to find some in Australia.

Hi,

I was wondering how switching to metal mesh affects the performance of the burner when compared to the ceramic?

I had thought there might be only two positive benefits using mesh: being able to make a lower burner and not crumbling if it got damp but yesterday I found another, it won't crack.  I had resurrected a vertical boiler that was made many years ago and when I checked the ceramic it had broken into four pieces. I have no way of measuring wether there is a difference in the heat output between the two elements however I am going to replace the ceramic of this burner with mesh to see how it performs in practice.

Judging from the video, the radiating effect of the glowing ceramic is not present with the metal mesh.

I think there is little or no radiant heat produced by the rectangular burner on the video however the round burner at the end of the video is producing quite a lot with the mesh glowing red?  It is only a feeling but the mesh seems to remain red at a lower gas setting than ceramic, but it might be wishful thinking.

I will report how the boiler performs after I have fitted a mesh element.

Take care.

Tony.

Hi,

Thanks. You should also check if the glowing mesh is durable or burns out after some time.

I have used Nichrome mesh for many years on poker burners and a few small (12 mm) or less ceramic style burners and all it seems to do is blacken, not burn through like the stainless steel and bronze mesh I have tried.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichrome

Take care.

Tony.

That's good to know.

By the way, do you know a source for the type of ceramic as used by Cheddar in their burners and like in the picture above? It is a rather soft and porous material.

Hi,
You can obtain the ceramic plaque from: -
https://www.pollymodelengineering.co.uk/

Look under the 'Bruce Engineering' section and down load the free catalogue and a PDF order form.
They do mail order but you need to send in the order form by email since they don't have an on-line shop.

The ceramic Plaque is the same as was used by Cheddar Models.

Hope this helps.

Sandy.