Dismanteling a 200A-Problem...

[Micro469]

I'm trying to remove the burner tube from the cage, and even tho the nut is loose, I can't get it to unscrew from thr gooseneck. I even tried to insert a dowel into it so that I could use vicegrips to unscrew it, but all i SUCCEEDED TO DO IS warp the tube. Any suggestions on how to get it loose?
I probably will have to buy a new burner tube, but would like to save the gooseneck...

[doug hodder]

John....on my little stove I was working on this weekend, I used some penetrating oil. It's a really old can of stuff I got form Mike A...killer stuff, It knocked loose rust and corrosion on steel and brass. Also...lightly tap on it with a small hammer to help knock it loose, not a major whap! While I've never done a 200A, I'd think some penetrating liquid would be of help. When you do get it out, the replacement part is available if it is tweaked badly. Steady torque will work better than jerking on it. You can feel when it starts to bust loose. I usually leave all those parts together as there isn't a whole lot that can go wrong up there, it's just a tube threaded into a base. Usually a blast of air and a pipe cleaner can get any spider webs or bugs out.

At this point I'd use padded jaws in the vice to hold the burner frame top and then use either a good pair of channel locks or the vice grips and some penetrating lubricant. If you've deformed it, you'll probably want a new one. That's sort of a part that nothing goes wrong with, and can be polished without removing. Whatever you do, don't distort the base that it threads into. When you get it out, and if you need a replacement, make sure which end you thread into the mixing body, the top part of the burner frame where the air and fuel mix. There are different lengths in the threads and it can affect the burning abilities. Typically, the shorter threads go down for the cap that the mantle ties to. Hope this is of some help. Doug