Out of the Closet

[jsrose]

I have to say that this is one of the most enthusiastic and informative news groups that I've ever joined.

But after lurking around here for a couple of months, I've finally come up with a question that I can't find the answer to.

I need to convert my Chambers 15-B ('47, I think) from natural gas to propane which I understand isn't gonna be easy. And yes, I bought the manual from Sam (sorry Todd, but I saw it on eBay and it was just too easy).

Anyway, I've read, here, that a sure sign of a natural gas B is the little peaks that were supposed to keep you from setting a pot directly on the burner.

So, here's my first question (with many to follow). Two of my burners have two peaks and one has only one. I've read of the reason for the different burner grates, but is there a reason for one peak vs. two on the burner, itself? Or did someone accidentally break it off and re-porcelain it?

As for our stove, we recently bought it from my wife's step-mother's 99 year-old mother, who bought it new in the 40s, though she hadn't used it for several years.

It was in Indiana all its life until a couple of months ago when we (looking kind of like Jed and all his kin when they headed out of these parts on their way to Beverly Hills) brought it down to Tennessee. On the way, we stopped and paid homage to its birthplace in Shelbyville, IN.

I'll try to attach a photo, but if that doesn't work, it's right here: [URL=http://www.flickr.com/photos/22105420@N00/172341649/][/URL]

Jack Rose


[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/22105420@N00/172341649/[/img]

<font color="#FFFFFF"><font size="1">[ June 21, 2006 10:36 PM: Message edited by: JSRose ]</font></font>

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ June 21, 2006 11:48 PM: Message edited by: JSRose ]</font>

[maryopal]

Why don't you try again, following these directions. Image Shack, it is a bit easier.

[url="http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7954&t=709"]http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7954&t=709[/url]

[Kitzig]

Let's see if this works.

[img]http://static.flickr.com/44/172341649_4b846a22ea_m.jpg[/img]

I'm not sure what happened with your photo. I had to go to [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackrose/"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackrose/[/url] and then right click on the photo to pull up the properties. Normally I can click on the picture then right click for properties. When I did that with your photos it said it was a gif file named spaceballs. I know that was wrong, but that's what it said. I'm not sure why it is doing that.

Welcome and cute picture. Not sure what to tell you about the 1 peaked burner. I have a model A with peaked burners, but I haven't checked them lately to count. I'll have to check this evening.

Lori G.

[maryopal]

Very cute photo - when does she get unveiled? I
n answer to your question about the peaks on the burners - my model b has 1 burner w/ 1 peak & 2 burners w/ 2 peaks. Not sure why they are like that. I raised the question before, but apparently no one had an answer.

[tux_sf]

Jack-
I raised the question about the peaks too. . .mine all have 1 peak, but the set I'll get someday from a recent eBay purchase all look to have 2. In the case of the original set on my B I'm 99% certain that this is the way they came from the factory (in other words they didn't cut one off or have it break off later). Sam said he thought they were there in case you forgot to put the grate on a burner then proceeded to set something on it, just so it didn't put out the flame & gas you. I seem to recall that something in the service manual or parts list corroborated what Sam said.

That said, you have to remove them anyway to convert to LP, as you probably know. I think the manual says to cut them off with a hacksaw. I know you also need shallow drip pans (these were sold for LP on the B models, but are also the standard ones on model BZ from what I understand). There are other parts required too, but I suspect that the shallow pans are the harder part to find. They do come up on eBay regularly & others may know of suppliers you could ask. If you don't have a manual you definitely need to get one before you do anything. Both Todd the owner of this board & Sam the Uncertain Stoveman on here sell great copies of them for a reasonable price (I think they both list them on eBay in addition to selling direct).

Good luck with your project & keep us all posted on your progress!

--Danny

[Todd W. White]

I'm pretty sure the peaks on the older burners are to prevent you from setting a pot directly on the burner...

[maryopal]

Call me crazy, but why would anyone set a pot on a burner w/out the grate? And why would some burners have 2 peaks and others only have 1? I am fairly certain that my 1 peak burner came that way from the factory. I prefer to think of it as a mystery yet to be solved.

[jsrose]

Darn! And I was trying so hard to not look like a newbie and thought I had followed the posted dxns on how to post photos. But thanks, Lori. I'm pretty sure it was a .jpg when I uploaded it and I'm real sure I didn't tag it space balls. Oh well.

So, one peaks or two will remain a mystery. I can deal with that, especially since I was still trolling around eBay around 1am this morning and saw a nice looking Chambers C that someone had just listed a couple of hours earlier with a "buy it now" price of $200.

Considering the hassle and expense on my horizon of switching the B from natural gas to propane, plus some re-porcelaining and re-chroming, plus trying to build Lowracer's safety shut-off, I had to wake my wife up, and get her approval to go for it, which we did.

So, now we're the proud owners of a 15-B and high-back C. We really prefer the look of the B, so I'm wondering if I can swap the backs out. Or would that be anathema to purists?

Either way, this one is in Indianapolis, so we'll pick it up on our next visit to my wife's family, and probably run it through Shelbyville for another photo-op on the way back to Tennessee.

Just when I thought I knew all there was to know about a B or at least enough to take the top off, I get to start over with the C.

Looking forward to the adventure, but wondering if I shouldn't have taken up stamp collecting,

Jack

[Kitzig]

Jack, I think you did everything right with the picture, things just goofed up at flickr.

Great job on the new C. [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Chambers-Antique-Stove_W0QQitemZ190000548729QQihZ009QQcategoryZ12QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Chambers-Antique-Stove_W0QQitemZ190000548729QQihZ009QQcategoryZ12QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

It is a good looking stove.

[img]http://i10.ebayimg.com/01/i/07/83/0e/c3_1.JPG[/img][img]http://i11.ebayimg.com/05/i/07/7e/02/aa_1.JPG[/img]

Trust me, there are several of us that couldn't stop with just one. Welcome to the club.

Lori G.

[tux_sf]

Well, regarding the prongs or tips on the regular B burners, I double checked my service manual. In the section on converting between natural & LP gases, it describes the position of the burners and says the following:

"LOW" TOP BURNER POSITION FOR CITY GASES: Used on natural, mixed, manufactured and butane-air gases. Requires regular or deep drip ring and tips or prongs on top burner chimneys, [b]to prevent flame-smothering, should grate be removed and utensil set on burner.[/b]

(emphasis mine).

So, it does appear that they were considered a safety mechanism. I know they used them on both the A & B models, but why some have 1 & some 2 tips is beyond me. It seems like you would really want 3 or 4 tips if that were the reason for having them since that would REALLY stop a pan from smothering the flame (and spilling all over as well, which would especially be a problem with a smaller pan & 1 prong). The service manual & parts list reproductions I have from Sam seem to show the 2 tip model. The only idea I can come up with is that maybe they were trying to save on cast iron use during WW II & so they decided 1 prong would do? OK, I know that theory sounds like a stretch, but I've been doing some genealogical research on my family & my mind is in a 'thinking up theories mode' because I can't quite piece things together with skeletal facts. I guess that is spreading to this Chambers mystery too! But it will remain a mystery unless someone finds some archives to pour through.

But I'm with maryopal--who would remove the grate & set a pan on the burner directly? You would have to [b]really[/b] not be paying attention to do that. I guess they decided it wasn't a necessary safety measure when they designed the BZ & C models since they don't have 'em!

--Danny