Did they send me a propane burner

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dcbc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
381
Reaction score
35
Location
Tyler
I have been using a pair of these 20 tip Natural gas burners for some time. Recently, I bought a third to direct fire my mash tun. On its inaugural brew, soot city. I thought it might be the ASCO valve choking it, but the other one on the same type of valve did fine. Does it look like I was I sent a propane burner by mistake?

Propane%2520Burner.jpg
 
I would swap a known good burner to the valve that one is hooked up to, Just to rule out any other component. I think the jets just unscrew. Just screw in one of the other jets and see how the flame is then. You should becable to compare sizes of the holes in the jets as well.
 
Propane will run very rich if used on a natural orifice. That looks like what you've got.


Sorry - I didn't read that good enough. Natural gas running on a propane orifice should be a very lean flame. Propane uses a much smaller orifice than natural for the same BTU rating. I would not expect to see any orange/yellow flame (which indicates a rich mixture).

It is not uncommon to "make" natural gas by mixing air into propane in jus tthe right ratio. Basically diluting the propane and running it through the same orifice as natural would normally be ran through.
 
The orifices look about right. If anything, they look a little larger than the ones on my other two burners. This is the middle burner and it has a couple of bends in the pipe before the burner to make the pump easier to access. At first, I thought it was the smaller diameter asco valve. But my other burner is doing just fine with the same asco valve reduction.
 
If the orifices are right, then it's a gas flow issue. If you don't have enough flow coming out of the orifice, then the air intake ports won't 'suck' like they should and you end up rich.

It seems kinda backward that not enough fuel would make the jets run rich, but the system has to be pretty balanced or it doesn't perform right. Check and see if there might be some obstruction in the throat of the cast part of the burner. Either some casting slag from production or, as tends to happen around my part of the country, a dirt dobber has built himself a nest in there.
 
Okay, that makes total sense. I was on the phone with the plumber yesterday and we were scratching our heads as to how it could be running rich. Thanks. Fortunately, they put some big breakaway nuts in the middle of the plumbing. So I will be able to pull only the part that affects that burner rather than dismantling my entire system.
 
Back
Top