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**BrewBeemer** · 12-01-2008, 02:58 AM

If gas was my only option for heating it would be natural gas vs propane one hundred to one hands down. Besides I have a capped off natural gas line in my open patio area. Congrats on working with it until you got the results you wanted without spending big bucks on LHBS burner unit. There is a reason why they are in business and doing good especially in my area. Many people with money and not a clue how to build a thing drop coin in a heartbeat, i've seen it a couple times. I can't believe Bobby_M that a 8mm tap is above your available pocket money. A electricians EMT bender up one size you can bend your pipe to your needs, drill and tap and make a burner cheaper than what the LHBS sell 'em for last time I checked. Having the spare nozzles was the clincher. Just need a reducer with mounting bracket, jet and valve then a scratch built burner can be made. Air control jetting just a testing process.
Great stand it will hold up anything you want to boil on it.

mykayel · 12-01-2008, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby_M

The pro to my plug pattern is a more even flame across the entire vessel but the con is that you have to light the tips in a few places and cannot use a pilot.

Yeah, I orginally followed your lead trying to get a more "even" heat across the bottom, but I don't really think that is an issue at all with the burner on full blast the flames are spread across the entire bottom of the keggle. Would the heat be a little more even with your patter, probably but IMHO, its insignificant, especially considering the pro of not having to light every jet and being able to use a pilot light. But to each their own.

mykayel · 12-01-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fat x nub

Looks VERY nice. I hve been thinking about switching to natural gas but have to move all my brewstuff from the garage to the porch where the natural gas line is.

I don't know if this helps you at all or not, but I have a good 30' from of pipe from my meter + 25' of hose to the burner. If you keep as large a diameter of pipe/hose as possible in route to your garage, you shouldn't have any supply issues.

**Bobby_M** · 12-02-2008, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykayel

Yeah, I orginally followed your lead trying to get a more "even" heat across the bottom, but I don't really think that is an issue at all with the burner on full blast the flames are spread across the entire bottom of the keggle. Would the heat be a little more even with your patter, probably but IMHO, its insignificant, especially considering the pro of not having to light every jet and being able to use a pilot light. But to each their own.

I notice that your burners sit a little lower than mine too. I occassionaly still get some orange flame from what I'd call "CO pillowing" under the keg skirt. Let me know if you have any problems with that due to the enclosed wind shielding after like 10 minutes of boiling.

mykayel · 12-02-2008, 03:08 AM

I'm hoping that I won't have any issues like that. That's part of the reason I left a 1/2" gap at the top of the wind shield to allow good flow of air (flames) from the bottom up but just protecting it from the wind.

**jcryan2** · 12-03-2008, 01:25 AM

I ended up using Bobby_M's design but with 17 jets, blocking the center four and two others. I have no problems with using a pilot light and not having all jets light as long as my kettle in on the stand when the jets light off. Take it off and not all jets light up.

I also fought orange sooty flames by trying various heights of the burner. Nothing worked until I put a couple of angle irons on top of the stand and set the kettle on them. I have wider kettles (Megapot) and I believe they block enough of the side area that the CO2 cushion Bobby_M talks about develops very quickly underneath the kettle. Raising the kettle an inch or so provided enough vent area that everything works fine.

My NG supply is half inch and I have a regulator dropping the pressure to 3.5 pounds. I also have a ball valve downstream of the control solenoid.

D-Boss · 12-03-2008, 02:28 AM

Here is my 32 tip setup. I use it often. Me and my dad ( who is a welder/fabricator) built the stand. Have about 17' of 3/8" hose off of my 1" gas meter. You have to run it low, makes it a little sooty, but works great!

Reddog68 · 12-03-2008, 03:45 AM

Nice thread OP, i am currently thinking about changing over my 10gal sculpture over to NG. The convenience of never having to change the LP tank out is my main motivation. I have two concerns. 1. Can NG burners bring 10gal to a boil as fast as high pressure LP? What kind of BTUs do they put out? 2. IS there a problem with black soot? Where did you pick up those burners?

mykayel · 12-03-2008, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reddog68

Nice thread OP, i am currently thinking about changing over my 10gal sculpture over to NG. The convenience of never having to change the LP tank out is my main motivation. I have two concerns. 1. Can NG burners bring 10gal to a boil as fast as high pressure LP? What kind of BTUs do they put out? 2. IS there a problem with black soot? Where did you pick up those burners?

I have not yet brewed with mine (I've been busy lately) but I will update you once I have, but from my reasearch people have said that a 10 tip burner is on the overkill side for a 10 gallon boil, that's the reason I took out half of the tips (I figured I could always add tips back in). And from the little testing that I did, I beileve this 10 tip set up will be just right, more than enough heat to get it to a boil quickly while easily adjustable to back off the flame to keep a steady boil without overding it. I cannot comment on the soot just yet but my guess is that so long as you don't have the flame to close to the bottom of your brew pot so that you get complete combustion, it won't be an issue.

As in my original post, I got my burner from 23 Tip Round Nozzle Jet Burner (natural gas) - CHINESE WOK RANGES - RANGES - EQUIPMENT www.morebeer.com also sells a variety of naturl gas burners but they are a bit more expensive when they appear to be the same exact thing.

Maybe some of the other posters can chime in on how well their setup works, how far they have the top of the tips to the top of their stand. How many tips they are using and how fast it brings it to a boil. That was my whole point of showing what I did so that others could get a good idea of how to do this.

mykayel · 12-03-2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcryan2

I ended up using Bobby_M's design but with 17 jets, blocking the center four and two others. I have no problems with using a pilot light and not having all jets light as long as my kettle in on the stand when the jets light off. Take it off and not all jets light up.

I also fought orange sooty flames by trying various heights of the burner. Nothing worked until I put a couple of angle irons on top of the stand and set the kettle on them. I have wider kettles (Megapot) and I believe they block enough of the side area that the CO2 cushion Bobby_M talks about develops very quickly underneath the kettle. Raising the kettle an inch or so provided enough vent area that everything works fine.

My NG supply is half inch and I have a regulator dropping the pressure to 3.5 pounds. I also have a ball valve downstream of the control solenoid.

What are you using for your pilot? I just smashed the end of the 1/4 copper tubing, it works but its not the best.

Also, I thought house hold natural gas pressure is around 0.5 psi to start.