Source for fire brick? Can anyone help me out?

warno

Could anyone tell me where I can get good refractory style brick to reline my homemade wood boiler firebox? I used 2 different types last year and one type held up great the other was in pieces before the end of the heating season. Turns out the ones that fell apart were just insulating brick. The others came from a forging plant my buddy used to work at. I have no ties back to the forging plant anymore but I still need to replace the brick that broke.

Does anyone know where to source good fire brick?
Mine measure 9 X 2.5 X 4.5.

I'll attach a picture of what mine look like. I'm guessing they are refractory but I don't know. My buddy said they are ceramic.

Gordy

Local brick/cement products supply house should have refractory brick.

warno

I asked the local readymix plant last year and they don't anything other then prefab fire pits.

hot_rod

Fairly common at masonry supply, Interstate Brick, etc. Ace Hardware, Home Depots has or can get them.=

Unless you want to ship rocks through the mail? Amazon has a selection.

Gordy

He Is looking for full refractory brick. Those are for prefab fireplaces, and wood burners.

Not a Redimix plant. Look up a cement products company. Usually they carry block,brick, spec mix mortar,ect. Around my area it's rockford cement products. 2 bucks a brick for full size.

Abracadabra

any brick supplier should have

warno

Last year when i called Any lumber yard or cement place questioned me when I asked for refractory brick or refractory supplies material. Like they've never heard of the stuff. Even the pace that made fire pits and sold them, which is now closed, didn't know what refractory was. Last year I ended up ordering my refractory cement online at woodland direct. They have brick on their site but it's not quite the size I need. Plus the whole shipping rocks in the mail thing.

Gordy

Menards carries refractory cement. Pricey stuff at about 50 bucks a bag.

Fred

Any brick and block supply has them. They are used to line wood burning fire places in homes, masonry BBQ Pits, etc. I don't know where you are but they are easy to get.

Gordy

Maybe call again, and use the term "fire brick" 2.5x4.5x9". Online prices are rediculous plus shipping.

Gordy

What's your 20?

warno

I'm in central Illinois. I'm good on the refractory cement I just need the brick.

Gordy

Illinois brick, or alsey refractory company. Closer 20 good buddy?

warno

Champaign IL is about 30 miles from me

Gordy

Illinois brick is in champaign.

warno

I could swear that's one of the places I called last year and they didn't know anything about any refractory brick.

Gordy

Ask for fire brick. It's slang so maybe that's all they know. However I would think they would have mentioned it.

warno

I'll call them tomorrow and ask about it. What should I be looking for in material make up to make sure whatever brick I get don't fall apart on me? Just refractory or are there certain materials to look for.

Fred

warno said:

I'll call them tomorrow and ask about it. What should I be looking for in material make up to make sure whatever brick I get don't fall apart on me? Just refractory or are there certain materials to look for.

Ceramic
"Usually dense firebricks are used in applications with extreme mechanical, chemical, or thermal stresses, such as the inside of a wood-fired kiln or a furnace, which is subject to abrasion from wood, fluxing from ash or slag, and high temperatures. In other, less harsh situations, such as in an electric or natural gas fired kiln, more porous bricks, commonly known as "kiln bricks" are a better choice.[1] They are weaker, but they are much lighter, easier to form, and insulate far better than dense bricks. In any case, firebricks should not spall, and their strength should hold up well during rapid temperature changes"

Gordy

Lol okay Fred......

hot_rod

If these are going in the firebox where you will be chucking wood in, you want the fire brick as Fred mentioned.

Nothing wrong with two layers of the 1-1/4 thickness, just replace the ones that break or get "consumed"

The guys with gasification boilers buy the 5 gallon bucket of refractory cement to build, or rebuild the nozzles at the bottom of the firebox. I think you have seen those examples over at the hearth website.

I cast a new nozzle in mine last year after 7 years of run time, just poured it in place around a foam form.

Gordy

Unless you special order then typical fire brick is what you will get. They will be fine. The 1 1/4" thick will not fare well for obvious reasons in your application. Until codes have changed typical type n mortar was always used in the fire box or a fireplace. Mine has lasted over 60 years. Hot fires too.

warno

Ok. Thanks for all the help.

Now as far as laying them in the firebox what should I use? I have 2 options on hand right now one is 100 pounds of refractory cement that I bought to rebuild the rounded spots in my firebox and the other is some high temp mortar I got from menards last year. I didn't try the mortar last year so I dont know how well it holds up. It does say on the bag only use for joints of 1/8" or less I believe.

hot_rod

Trying to fasten them to a vertical surface?

I just dry stacked some inside my firebox to save some wear on the refractory that was cast inside.

warno

The firebox of my boiler is an old propane tank, so I'm stacking them up the rounded inside surface. They will just lay in but there's a gap between the brick and the tank wall and a gap at the brick to brick joints. I want to try to fill those gaps to basically make a solid piece in there.

hot_rod

It's just a drag to replace one when they break if you cement them in. My firebox is small to begin with, so I used the 1-1/4.

I think with a round vessel the bricks pretty much lock in. Like when you build a brick archway.
You would probably need to remove bricks from the top down to replace one.

The ash will fill in the cracks within a few days, if that is a concern.

warno

again thanks everybody for all the help. This is a great site.

I called Illinois brick today and apparently you have to ask "do you have any fire brick?" Then ask "are they made of refractory?" Because they do have them and they have the size I need. $1.53 a brick. I guess I shouldn't give up on a resource so quickly.

thanks again for all the info.

Gordy

warno said:

The firebox of my boiler is an old propane tank, so I'm stacking them up the rounded inside surface. They will just lay in but there's a gap between the brick and the tank wall and a gap at the brick to brick joints. I want to try to fill those gaps to basically make a solid piece in there.

If you are still here I would stack on edge so you end up with the 4 1/2 as your floor, and wall thickness. It takes more brick, but they will be stronger, and lock together better on a radius profile. You'll never need to replace a brick unless you are chucking tree trunks in there.

warno

That's not a bad idea. I could go get more of them. At 1.53 a brick is not to bad.

Gordy

Much stronger. If laid flat there would be a void under the brick because of the radius. That would cause the brick to fail. Unless you used a bedding mortar corse. That refractory mortar is expensive. Another option would be a silica sand bed for the bottom. The added number of brick will give more mass also.

Gordy

I would like to see some pics of your work in progress if you don't mind it.

warno

I used masonry sand under my brick last year and once it dried completely, it all settled to the bottom and allowed the brick to move. Which made them uneven and allowed creosote to run down underneath the brick. Which is what I'm hoping to avoid this year. Also hoping to avoid making as much if any creosote this year with modifications done. Hopefully the brick on edge will lay in tight enough I won't have to worry about anything under them.

Gordy

One other thing to think about is the brick expanding with heat. By laying on edge the expansion becomes less across the 2 1/2" verses the 4 1/2 width.

hot_rod

warno said:

I used masonry sand under my brick last year and once it dried completely, it all settled to the bottom and allowed the brick to move. Which made them uneven and allowed creosote to run down underneath the brick. Which is what I'm hoping to avoid this year. Also hoping to avoid making as much if any creosote this year with modifications done. Hopefully the brick on edge will lay in tight enough I won't have to worry about anything under them.

Where is the actual heat exchanger in the boiler, are there fire tubes somewhere, or just the wall of the tank.

With too much sand and brick how would the heat get to the metal and water?

The refractory lining in the gasification boiler protects the fire box, the heat transfer is via a series of tubes that the water surrounds, and the bare metal "wet" wall around the upper and lower burn chambers.

With creosote build up you have cold conditions going on inside some where.

warno

My boiler is a "traditional" style non gasser. So it was doing alot of idling last year. Which is why I'm putting in my storage setup. But to answer your heat exchange question. My firebox is half (upper half) submerged in water and there's a 6" X 10" tube that equals about 7 feet long up above the firebox for heat exchange area. The creosote was from idling so often. I attached a few pics of my boiler in building stage.