Convotherm 4, Bottom Burner – Gas Burner technicians.

[ryantruck9]

great pictures!

the factory may be concerned about liability with a welding repair. I would think reliability as well trying to keep it all flush.

maybe they come up with plates to cover cracks?

I just cant see a factory signing off on the welding, unless they were doing it. and they would never do it.

but being a 20.20 it would be hard to just replace the oven.

A mini sure but floor model ?

 

I find that the burners are gassed so high and the restrictions they have in their heat exchangers really cause a potential

for failure. be it blown exchangers or combustion leaks or even back flaming into the burner “sock”.

thankfully the ignition module is normally one of the first things to melt so its fairly obvious when there is a leak

 

I have never found anti seize on any heat exchanger studs from the factory, only units serviced by a technician familiar with these studs breaking.

 

when asking tech support if the nuts were standard or metric thread was told either will work….. 

this was several years ago however.

[olivero]

ryantruck9 wrote:

 

when asking tech support if the nuts were standard or metric thread was told either will work….. 

this was several years ago however.

 

Haha, gotta love that “either will work”.

 

I believe it though, its all metric though all german parts, they even use torx or however its spelled screws which I don’t see too often.

 

Their former model seemed to be a bit less “German” in terms of their esoteric things.

 

It’s rolling forward but they did agree to let me weld it, just making sure its nice and clear that they are authorizing me. They don’t have to sign off on anything, I am not charging them for it I am doing it since they are paying 3.5 K for parts and add overnight to that then I’ll gladly do my part to get the oven fixed.

 

“You would be correct. You will need to weld it pad the thin area and weld it down. Let me know if there is anything else.”

 

That was the last email. 

[olivero]

Well, they did end up sending all new parts. Heat exchanger should arrive in a couple of weeks, for now I welded a new stud on the existing one and will be welding closed those cracks and flattening it out and whatnot later tonight. Tomorrow morning I should have all new gaskets, ignition module and combustion blower.

 

All in a days work.

[ectofix]

olivero wrote:

 

Their former model seemed to be a bit less “German” in terms of their esoteric things.

 

I think Cleveland built those less “German” Convotherms right here in the U.S. only up until a few years ago.

 

Around that time when I was oven-shopping oven for our Executive Chef (another story), I”d conversed with Cleveland about their Convotherm ovens and was told that their production would soon to move back to Germany.  That information was soon amplified by the separation of the their two names shortly thereafter.  As recently as three years ago, you could go to Cleveland Range’s website to find Convotherm ovens emblazoned all over it.  They were Cleveland Convotherm ovens…a Cleveland product.

NOW – there’s nothing on Cleveland’s website about combi-ovens AT ALL.  For Convotherm ovens, you must go to THEIR website.

 

Need I say that they’re BOTH Enodis, uh Manitow…ummm…I mean Welbilt companies?

 

 

Probably not necessary for me to say that “they don’t make things like they used” but I said that to point out that – indeed, THEY DON’T!

 

Your Convotherm’s 4’s predecessor, a Cleveland Convotherm OGS 20.20 (built in the U.S.) was a different animal.

Granted, its technology is dated now, but consider THIS:

The OGS 20.20 weighed 970 lbs. The C4eT 20.20 GS weighs 791 lbs.

So the newer oven that does exactly the same thing as the the old one is nearly 200 lbs. lighter.  Where did that 200 lbs go?

 

Well, the newer oven is 10″ narrower and a 4″ loss in depth.  Mostly that’s just less cabinet space for functional components and insulation.  The cooking compartment is the same.  Otherwise, thinner metal ALL around.  That being due to newer manufacturing techniques that relies on metallic strength from folds and bends rather than the brute strength of thicker metals.

 

That fact was right in my face when I did THIS project last year:

COMPLETE COMBI-OVEN REBUILD: Before & After

 

When I tore down that oven to its last bolt, rivet, etc. – I’d discovered that the ENTIRETY of its structural integrity…relied entirely on strategic attachments to the COOKING COMPARTMENT.  The cooking compartment was the foundation. NOT the base frame – nor the exterior cabinet.

Much like a cardboard box – without its contents,  it was as if you could jump on it and it would collapse.

 

Along with the cooking compartment’s strength (from its curves, recesses and welds), all OTHER metal piece’s strength was bolstered merely by MORE folds, bends and angles.

I don’t think a single metal panel or piece in it exceeded 18 guage in thickness.

[fixbear]

Olivero,  How about sectioning out a circle?  That way you could make a machined piece to weld in instead of trying to weld cracks that will eventually re-crack and making it level and true thickness would be easier.

[olivero]

Ectofix,

 

I whole heartedly agree with you, when we bought the OGS it was in 2009 or so, its been sitting for 3 years or so before they moved in and it got used by that time, the software was already outdated which led to a fatal error that resulted in the oven going out the door and the Convotherm coming in.

 

The convotherm 4 unit has smaller burners and less BTU’s than the OGS. So all that weight and honking goodness went out along with the performance, very dissapointing. Now this, this was just about the 3rd last straw I’ve had with Cleveland on their combi’s it just shows it was not built right and it wasn’t properly tested.

 

Fixbear

 

We thought about that but figured that for now, this will have to do. The plan is to get rid of these units and switch over to Alto Shaam, they have a much better support group and 24/7 tech support which is a good enough reason for me with all the problems we went through on these 2, I would have expected much more support from Cleveland on it.

 

Here are the after shots.

 

 

Both sides.

 

It went pretty smooth, took a while but we got it done and parts showed up this morning, put everything in with gaskets and all, turned it on, no visible heat leaks and I ran my finger around the flange and I don’t feel any heat escaping so it looks like we are good.