what to make, what to make...

[aczeller]

a friend of the wife said her water heater was leaking, so i was volunteered to replace it. no problem... i got an excuse to get out and play with my tools, so it was worth it. just for some icing on the cake, i got a free water heater tank out of the deal. lol.

the question is, what should i make out of it? a grill, a smoker, or some other food-cooking-contraption? I am thinking about possibly using it to make the fire box for a friend's smoker, but i'm not sure yet.



that pic was taken after the outter casing and insulation was removed for the most part. after i took the pic, i sanded the remaining insulation off (just old, crumbly, pour-in foam stuff) and the tank is pristine as far as I can tell. there is supposed to be a hole somehwere, but i have no clue yet... i think i know where it is, but i havn't gotten to the bottom of the assembly yet to check it out.

the biggest issue i see so far is the 3" diameter tube running through the center of it. lol. if I turn the tank into a grill, i have a damn good starting point for the exhaust, and the same goes for an offset smoker. i'm not positive about the wall thickness yet, but i am thinking that it is somewhere around 3/16" or so. it was made is 1985 by Rheem, if that makes any bit of difference. it's about 18" in diameter and about 4' tall if I had to guess (i didn't pull any actual dimensions other than the flue tube). the full assembly is about 5' tall, but that includes a few inches for the legs, some more for the firing chamber, and a little bit more for a catch tray.

anyway, i already have a smoker (which i am finishing up/tweeking/fine-tuning as time allows), and a grill, but the grill could use some work (light weight char-broil sheetmetal contraption). any ideas? there will obviously be a step-by-step build thread as it progresses.

Later,
Andy

[SMOKE FREAK]

I dont know but Im sure you can turn it into something...Get after it

[mulepackin]

I can't tell you what to make from it, only what I've done. I have made some cylinder stoves for our wall tents out of old ones. They work well. No matter what you make be aware that the tanks are almost always lined or coated on the inside with a kind of fiberglass resin to prevent corrosion. It takes alot of elbow grease, or multiple firings in an open area to burn this stuff off. Good luck whatever you choose.

[aczeller]

No matter what you make be aware that the tanks are almost always lined or coated on the inside with a kind of fiberglass resin to prevent corrosion. It takes alot of elbow grease, or multiple firings in an open area to burn this stuff off.

yeah... that's going to be the fun part. i know a guy on my welding forum(s) that tried grinding it off with a wire wheel in his angle grinder. it worked on most of it, but between the shards of fiberglass, the smell of melting/burning resin, and the time involved, he still regrets ever attempting it. I am confident that I can figure out some way to get it out... just gotta think about it some more. maybe an OA torch and some sort of acid? I dunno. i'll have to look into it a bit more.

Later,
Andy

[DangerDan]

I'd say the easiest thing to make would be $2.00 at the scrap yard.

Throw in a few more pieces of scrap and you might come up with enough for a Butt. There ya go! Turn a water heater into a piece of meat with little or no effort.

[Mikey]

I'd say the easiest thing to make would be $2.00 at the scrap yard.

Throw in a few more pieces of scrap and you might come up with enough for a Butt. There ya go! Turn a water heater into a piece of meat with little or no effort.

I'll second that!^^

[aczeller]

that's what will probably happen. i'll cut it open to examine the innards first, just to make sure, but i need to make a run to the scrap yard this weekend anyway... have about 3500 lbs of "crap" sitting on the side of the garage (or some my wife says). lol

Later,
Andy

[Slanted88]

I dont know but Im sure you can turn it into something...Get after it

Dis ol Idiot....was thinking the same thing!