Replacement coals for gas fire .

[Shayne]

The time has come to paint and or replace the imitation coals on our gas fire (an annual event that should probably be done every 6 months) . It annoys me that i cannot for love nor money find good long lasting coals made from the same stuff as the 4 imitation logs that sit in the fire which need no more maintenance than to be washed occasionally . I don't no what the logs are made of , some sort of hard ceramic i would guess .

Can anyone offer a good reason why firebricks couldn't be smashed up and painted to resemble coal ? My thinking is being solid they should not crumble and dust up the fire thus lasting a long time , but my fear is they may allow the fire to exceed whatever the safe maximum heat for gas fires is .

Your thoughts please .

 

[Chas]

Can't help you with replacements but I would think whatever you do put on the fire it won't produce any more heat than the gas can supply.

 

[Shayne]

My fear is Chas that i think fire bricks reflect heat which means the bottom of the fire where gas connects might get as hot as the top of the fire .

 

[Chas]

You'll probably find that the original coals are made from a similar material, so should be OK.

 

[clivehorridge]

My experience of that type of gas fire is that the pipe feeding gas to the coals was buried in loose silica sand, and the coals were set on top of the sand.

On mine, the sand used to get pretty hot and I can't imagine that it would have got any hotter if I'd used fire-brick instead of the supplied coals.

Anyway, it was very easy to re-black them. I remember getting a sachet of black powder from the gas fire supplier shop, mixed with water in a saucepan then just dip the coals in. Half hour to dry and they were back on the fire.

 

[Shayne]

Thanks lads i will give it a go then i half expected some expert gas fitter to throw a dicky fit and start lecturing me about corgi dogs and safety standards blah blah . It's a nice fire and a one off as it's a parts bin special made up of 4 or 5 different gas fires bought for pittance on ebay . It's surprising how many people think its a proper coal fire so i would be gutted if it disintegrated .

Heres a vid for posterity should it not survive

 

[Chas]

Nice looking fire Shayne but that mantelpiece you've fitted above the fire looks a bit wonky to me.

 

[Shayne]

It's as nature intended Chas it was growing out of a hedge on a council estate when i found it

 

[Philip A]

Not sure what is available in your nick of the woods... But around here, what we use to have real good coals for the barbecue is mahogany logs.

Seriously.

 

[clivehorridge]

Nice one Shayne, very homely.

I've had that type of fire in three different houses, all installed by me and not a corgi in sight.

I know I did a good job, and that was enough for me. If the new owner doesn't like that, then he should rip it out and replace it, that's my motto.

Someone's sure to disagree with me, and I'll stand to be criticized, but the UK is regulation mad these days. Yes be safe, but for goodness sake, taking responsibility off the owner/user just encourages them to become uneducated and irresponsible idiots, who can just blame the corgis when something goes wrong.

I'm ranting again, aren't I. Sorry! Having a Meldrew moment.



And another thing....

 

[Shayne]

Couldn't agree more Clive but i must admit i did sweat just a little bit when we got around to actually buying the house off the council coz they sent in the Corgi regiment to check everything , kitchen gas fire is gone - walls have been moved - gas cooker too - house is completely rewired and re-plumbed and much more . The man in charge was a good old school chap though he gave me a wink and signed it all off as good

 

[clivehorridge]

Not that it's so different here, at least the checks ensure safety in the UK.

Here, there's more regs than you can shake a stick at. Everything is controlled, design and installation checks, signed, stamped, verified by state checkers who have to be certified, signed and stamped. It's a joke, wherever you go there's bare wires poking out of walls, leaking taps, loose fittings and dangerous installations

 

[Shayne]

Halfway through painting them and realized i bought the wrong paint I've used PJ1 before on the cheap and nasty foam coals and its good stuff so i didn't give it much thought but i was just about to order it when i decided gloss would be better than my usual matte black , turns out the gloss is engine paint and so has a lower resistant to temperature

 

[clivehorridge]

Look on the bright side, maybe you'll get a bit more heat of the fire Shayne

 

[Shayne]

Doubt it the brick soaks it up like a sponge so what i've ended up with is 25 quids worth of undercoat and another 25 quids worth of PJ1 exhaust paint as top coat is on the way . It will be worth it if they last well and i see no reason why they shouldn't , it's a fairly big fire 19" x 12" with a depth of 3" to fill before you build the exposed decorative fire so replacing the coals (again) with the foam ones i hate so much would still cost more .

 

[clivehorridge]

Blimey Shayne, that's a lot of cash! It shows I'm really out of touch after 12 years away...