B vs BZ vs C

[RobbiQuest]

Jack,

This is basically what I've done. I had a B and needed it to be propane. I didn't want to do the "Plan B" suggested by the manual where you cut the tops off the chimneys of the regular B burners, so I went on the hunt for BZ parts. Those pop up on e-Bay on rarely - you're much more likely to see the whole stove than parts.

I did end up buying an ugly BZ and scavenged the parts that way. You will need the following from a BZ (I hope I remember all this):

1. The pilot - the BZ pilot is shorter, which allows the flashtubes to fit into the shorter burners.

2. The stove top burners: these are shorter, more like the C burners, but have the little "tabs" of the B to fit into the B top.

3. The drip pans - they're shallow, not deep like regular B's. They're notched to fit the B top, so aren't interchangeable.

4. The grates - your regular B grates will fit, or the BZ ones will fit - the BZ's look like the C's (all the same design, not unique for each burner like the B's). The C grates aren't interchangeable again because they're notched differently to fit the B design.

5. You don't have to do it, but I did: my B broilerbox was shot - rusted thru at the front lip, so I swapped it for a Model C (the Model C and the BZ broiler-boxes are the same.) In my case, I had a few to pick from so I picked the cleanest one, which happened to be the C model.

6. Although I had a BZ chrome top at my disposal, I kept the B top of my original stove because I like the black porcelain top better.

I think that's all I did. It's been a while so I can't remember the details sometimes. One of the nicer adjustments I remember making is the tension on the arm that controls the damper on the T-Well: When the burner is off, it shuts nice and tight now (it didn't before and I was afraid that the heat would escape, which would have made the T-Well CWTGO less effective.)

Hope this helps. If I remember anything else, I'll add.

t.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ September 30, 2006 10:59 AM: Message edited by: RobbiQuest ]</font>

[jsrose]

OK, I know that the BZ is the best of both worlds, the classic looks of the B with the updated functions of the C, etc.

So, what about the BZ's burners, the burner grates, the burner pans, the t-well burner and grate, the oven burner and the various pilots? Do they fit the C or the B?

I'd love to find the parts to convert a B to propane and I'm wondering if those parts from a BZ would do it.

Of course, then, if I had all those parts from the BZ, why would I need the B?

Don't ask.

Jack

[jsrose]

Hey Robbiquest, thanks for all of the info. That's exactly what I needed.

So, bottom line, the crucial BZ parts are backwards compatible. That's what I was hoping.

Now I just need to wait for that ugly BZ to come along.

Thanks again,

Jack