Helo with Banjo burner and high fuel consumption

Hello guys,

I'm new to this forum, but I need to confess that I have no desire to brew beer. But I could use your experience to help me with some issues related to my burner and regulator. I've scoured the internet looking for answers and can't seem to find a solution. So what better place than to seek help than from a bunch of home brewers right?

I use a KAB6 Banjo burner under a 120quart stock pot cooking crawfish and good ole southern boiled Cajun peanuts. My problem is the burner uses so much fuel that it causes me to have low flow problems. There is a 30psi regulator on the line which I feed from 20lbs cylinders. Usually I have to keep a water hose nearby soaking towels on the valve and regulator to keep the temp of the tank high enough to maintain a sufficient flow of fuel through the regulator.

I have several questions.

Would it damage my pot to use some sheet metal for a wind shield/heat deflector to focus more of the heat to the sides and bottom of the tank to conserve some fuel? As you all know too well there is a ton of heat lost to the outside of the burners.

Also, what can I do to reduce this freezing problem? Would submerging the tank itself upright in a tub of water help? Would the pressure of the water around the regulator if it were submerged just create another problem?

I've thought about buying a changeover valve to alternate between tanks, or even buying a larger 7gal RV tank, but that still wont change the freezing problem, or at least I don't think it would.

I never imagine this thing being so dang fuel hungry that it would cause regulator problems. It kicks butt bringing water to a boil, but it's at a pricey cost.

Anyway, your help would be appreciated. Who knows, one day I might cave to trying to make some brew.

Thanks much,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B7USOM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Kenny T

Many people make wind shields for their burners. It should not be a problem.

I don't understand the freezing problem you are referring to. Is the regulator freezing because of high flow of propane?

The problem you are describing sounds like a major pain in the rear. I suspect your regulator may be broken and probably needs replacing.

You also may want to consider a new burner setup. I use the Blichmann burner, http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/blichmann-floor-burner.html. It's a little more expensive, but extremely well made. It's uses less fuel than the bannjo burner, and definitely the banjo burner you are describing which will save you on propane. It's also very quiet whereas the banjo burners tend to be loud, like you are standing near a jet engine. That might make for a more relaxing day doing your cooking, probably more enjoyable for the customers too.

Best of luck to you.

I have the same burner and I know exactly what he is talking about. The problem is as the propane is evaporating out of liquid inside the bottle, the bottle starts to cool down (the frost on the outside of the bottle). Then the evaporation slows down and you don't get enough gas out to feed the burner properly.

The cheapest solution would be to submerge the bottle maybe halfway in water then there will be a larger mass that has to cool down and you should stay warm enough, unless it's really cold. You could go to a bigger bottle, but the tall bottles for RVs still have the same diameter and will do the same thing when they get low. I was thinking of going with either two bottles to feed it so that there is twice the surface area in the bottles to feed the burner or a switch over as you suggested.

If you want something more elegant then submerging it then I think the switch over would be the easiest. I think you can find kits for that. I usually just make sure the bottle is full and I don't have an issue to get through my 60 minute boil.

i have 2 banjo burners on my regulator and while the tank is coated with ice the propane flows. I do have it painted black and sitting in the sun.

You might be opening up the propane too high. For my setup there comes a point where opening up the valve doesn't get me to boil significantly faster but uses much more fuel.

outside92129 said:

You might be opening up the propane too high. For my setup there comes a point where opening up the valve doesn't get me to boil significantly faster but uses much more fuel.

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+1

I have 3 of these burners running off of 1 regulator, but never have more than 2 on at a time. I have found significant reduction in fuel efficiency when opened too far - doesn't boil faster, just uses more fuel. Though trial and error I have found a general sweet spot - mostly by listening to the sound of the burn and looking at the length and color of the flame. I did put wind screens on all three, but since I've never run them without the screens, I can't say how much it helps. I just saw others struggling with poor performance in windy conditions. I actually have an another problem I have to watch: too much heat. I use keggles, and the chines can glow if I get the flame up too high.

I'm not sure what a previous poster meant about these being noisy - I've used single jet high pressure burners, and THOSE are noisy. My burners are no louder than my buddy's Blickmanns.

outside92129 said:

You might be opening up the propane too high. For my setup there comes a point where opening up the valve doesn't get me to boil significantly faster but uses much more fuel.

Click to expand...

The needle valve near the regulator or the tank valve on top?

ColoHox said:

The needle valve near the regulator or the tank valve on top?

Click to expand...

For me, it's the needle valve at the burner orifice. I keep the tank valve and the regulator valve wide open.

Thanks guys. I might try to round me up some sheet metal and make a wind screen. I don't normally start to have problems till the cylinder starts to get less than 1/2 full. Cooking a batch of crawfish is usually no problem at all, but the long burn times for peanuts is when I have problems. Those take 3-4 hours of cook time.

I'm going to tinker around with the wind screen and see if I can maintain a decent boil using a lower flame. I may have been trying to keep a hard boil for too long which starts the problem. I also have one of those 10-15 gallon rope handled buckets I may try to submerge part of the tank in to see if that makes a difference.

On a side note, last night after I made this post, I sifted through you guys forum here. Ya'll got some pretty dang cool stuff. Seen a few burner modifications that have been made to this type of burner by raising the burner up a few inches. That sounds like a cool idea. I'm a lil worried about putting the heat that close to a aluminum pot, but going to do some more reading to see how others have had luck when they done it.

Thanks for your help guys.

Kenny T

Here's what I did for a windscreen on that burner. I had a huge amount of heat that was coming up the sides of my kettle, causing problems with my sightglass/3 piece valve. I had some small pieces of aluminum flashing laying around, so I pop riveted about 7 or 8 of them together then drilled holes to use the existing mount screws to get it on (note: I've added the last piece that is missing in the picture).

I have the same burner and use a keggle.

I cut the arms that the pot sits on lower, the keggle fits perfect inside of the outer "arms". I get better efficiency because the pot is now closer to the flame.

I was kinda thinking about making a ring of flashing that would go up to about 3/4 of the length of the pot. Not sure of the gap space around the pot. I'm guessing 2-3" maybe? then leave a cpl three inches of ground clearance to allow proper oxygen flow for the flame. Anyone ever made anything like that?

bigken462 said:

I was kinda thinking about making a ring of flashing that would go up to about 3/4 of the length of the pot. Not sure of the gap space around the pot. I'm guessing 2-3" maybe? then leave a cpl three inches of ground clearance to allow proper oxygen flow for the flame. Anyone ever made anything like that?

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I basically did this with 20" x 10' aluminum sheet flashing. Wrapped it around until it was about 6" gap from the pot. Seems I got a little better efficiency, but not much. I do most of my batches in the evenings ranging from 60F to 30F outside temp. I am getting just under two 5gal all-grain batches on a 20lb tank. To me that seems low, but have nothing to base it on.

Ok, so I spent a hour or so Youtubing videos on home brewing. I must admit my curiosity is somewhat higher. As a young pup to my grandfather, I do remember bottling several hundred bottles of beer, wine and this clear substance in mason jars. My job as a young pup was to pick the fruits, squeeze the juices and make sure water was put in the bubble thingys. So I do have background sorta speak. lol

So at the risk of asking a question that probably belongs in another thread, let's say I wanted to toy around with experimenting with making a pot of brew. Obviously the only equipment I have is a 120 quart pot and burner. lol. Ok, I have a 3' long stir paddle too. lol

What would be the minimal amount of money needed to toy around with making a beer similar to....I dunno, a Michelob Ultra or some other lighter beer? Lite beer, yeah I said it. lol

Kenny T

You could easily make an extract batch rather than all grain with one of the simple kits from Northern Brewer, Austin Home Brewing or Midwest Supplies using less than $100 in equipment. It's easier to make an ale rather than a lager when starting out, but quite a few recipes can make something with a light, balanced flavor although more robust than your examples.

A basic equipment kit consisting of a fermentation bucket, bottling bucket, siphon, hydrometer, hoses, bottling wand and bottle capper is available inexpensively, along with an ingredient kit.

Look through the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum at the sticky threads for some ideas, or at the Extract Brewing forum. It's easy to just dive in and ask questions as you go along. You'll end up making beer and have fun along the way.

Lord, just prior to you posting this I was in that forum reading a few post. Five minutes of reading caused my wallet to start quivering with yet another hobby. Lol, It would be cool to watch some of that being done though. Can't say I've ever strayed off the beaten path drinking home brew, but i'll give you guys a bit more respect now each time I pick a case of suds up from the store.

I appreciate the help regarding the burner. Eventually I think I'll carry it to a shop and have the burner raised up a few inches, add a wind screen and call it done.

Just as a follow up to this thread, and perhaps the remote chance to help someone else out who might share this problem. This and a windscreen is what I chose to do today while cooking up 40lbs of peanuts for Halloween.





Although I usually cook outside, this still reduced my fuel consumption by almost half compared to the last cpl times I cooked up a batch.

Hot&Spicy Cajun boiled peanuts for the friends tonight during trunk-n-treat.

Happy and safe Halloween,

Kenny T