Official Luthiers Forum!

Good evening OLF,

I bent a charcoal starter pretty narrow to fit into an exhahst pipe for bending tight radii. The end split, it still works, but there was a white powder coming out and now when I fired it up smoke is coming from the crack. Is this toxic or nothing to be worried about? I opened up the garage doors to let the place air out.

Thanks

Don't know the answer, but I thought I'd bump this up to the top for you. Safety is important.

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George :-)

If those charcoal starters are constructed like an electric range/oven element, the resistance wire (hot- both temp and electrically) is separated from the metal outer covering by insulation. If the insulation fails, the burner can develop a 'hot spot' or short to the cover.

Considering the cost (low), my inclination would be to toss out the heater. Another more adventurous possibility would be to put it outside (on a dry concrete surface) and plug it in and see what happens. My guess is that it will burn out or blow the fuse fairly promptly.

How did you bend the heater? That's always sounded like the trickiest part, to me.

Cheers
John

you may want to heat the next one up and bend it in a vise.

I would toss this one out - it is not worth the risk.

how about using a torch for the smaller pipes for a tight radius ?

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I bent it cold in a vise, maybe not the best idea. I actually did some bending with it already and the element was fine.

Yup! Toss it out before you have a melt-down! Once the outer shell is cracked (or even kinked) it will short out & get very hot.