Not surprisingly, I get a fair number of questions on how to secure silent caps on stoves. Traditional silent burners have some air ports around the base of the burner skirt which make it easy. But, with the caps I build, the caps are on stoves that have burner bells. I actually rarely secure caps to the burner bell as I find it unnecessary.

But, for those folks who are worried about losing their caps, here’s what I do. It works well for me, but, as always, you are welcome to do your own thing.

The subject stove is my bench Optimus 8R. The wire is 19 gauge (1.0 mm) stainless wire that I bought at the hardware store in a 30′ (9.1 m) blister pack for $3.99USD.

Through a bit a of trial and error I cut and shape a piece that looks like this:

Hook one end in the air vent of the burner bell:

Pull it snug across the top of the cap:

And, hook the end on the opposite burner bell air vent:

It should look like this:

Then, take a pair of pliers (small is good):

And turn a kink in the wire. Snug is fine. If you turn too much you will deform the burner bell, so take it easy here:

This may look a bit loose, but it holds it in just fine, even after repeated firing cycles:

In use, the stainless wire will light up and may throw off small amounts of yellow. I don’t worry about it myself. I think it looks pretty cool. I suppose in the long run, you’ll replace it from time to time. That’s why the 30 feet (9.1m) of wire, I reckon.