Hurricane Burner won't light

Woke up early this morning to get my burner stand finished so I could brew today. Got it all done, took it outside and attached the NG hose from the grill and screwed it on the NG orifice from Hurricane. Turned all valves on and I hear gas, light a match.....nothing. The match stays lit, I move it around the burner and nothing... Any ideas? I was really looking forward to brewing on this thing today.

Turn the gas off. Hold a match near one of the orifices and slowly open the valve. Very good chance the burner will light.

Too much gas and the air/fuel ratio is off.

Give it a little more time. Likely the gas hose has a lot of air in it. Once you get the air purged out it should light up right away. Purging the air may take a minute or more sometimes depending on the length of the hose.

Do you smell gas coming from the burner? Hearing might just mean its leaking. Some of those cast burners have blockages that need to be cleared, although both my Hurricane burners looked to be pretty well made. Mine light up pretty quick, certainly less than 10 seconds so check the valve to make sure it is clear as well.

I definitely smelled gas. I'll give it another go with the suggestions above. The hose should be filled with gas since it was already on the grill.

Nothing! I took the valve off, blew through it to make sure it was getting through. I lit the match and held it over different areas of the burner while slowly turning the valve but nothing happened. Even if the gas supply was to small it would still light, correct? The grill works great. This is really frustrating.

Are you sure you have the NG valve? Do you have a small set of drill bits that you can use to measure the orifice size? It should be rather large of an opening and look like it was drilled after the original manufacturing process (meaning - a not so well drill hole). If it is the propane orifice the burner might barely light or not at all. And in the daylight direct sun you might not even see the flames as they don't come up very high. I don't remember the exact number but the drilled out version was about 3/32".


edit 3/32" might have been for LP, NG would be bigger - look at these charts to help figure it out http://www.bacharach-training.com/orifice_chart.htm and at some point you should do the test from here http://www.komar.org/faq/manometer/ took me only a few minutes to set it up and test for my system.

I don't have any bits that small, but just looking it with a metal ruler it appears to be almost exactly 1/16 and it doesn't appear to have been drilled at any point.

Close the air shutter all the way, put lit match above burner, open gas valve slowly until burner lights off, adjust air shutter until just tips of flames are yellow. NG is harder to light off than propane especially if the mixture is too lean.

Still nothing. I guess I should call NB Monday.

Pretty sure you have the propane valve and it does not let enough gas through to light the burner.

samc said:

Pretty sure you have the propane valve and it does not let enough gas through to light the burner.

Click to expand...

This is probably the correct answer. The burner could be set up for propane and if so, the tiny propane orifice is much too small for use with NG. Is the burner hooked up to the gas line directly, or to a regulator or valve. The regulator is not needed and wont' work with NG and if there is a control valve, sometimes it will have an integrated propane orifice. You could drill out the orifice to enlarge it, but I don't remember what the correct drill bit size should be. Some close up pictures might help figure this out for you.

Well, a quick call to Northern Brewer and a new valve is on the way. They didn't really confirm that it was the wrong one but offered to ship another out anyway. Hopefully in a couple days I'll be up and running.

I got the new valve and it works! The new one is about 1/32 larger in diameter. Anyway, this is the flame I get at full blast. Feels like a lot of heat, but it does blow out pretty easily. Is that normal? Sorry for the pic, it's the best I can get at this point. I know it's hard to see, but I may need raise the burner. I'm also thinking of wraping that entire stand in 30g flashing as a wind screen/heat shield.

BarnabyHooge said:

Is that normal?

Click to expand...

I have never used a Hurricane burner but I doubt that is as high as it can get.

Looks like they sent you the low pressure LP orifice size valve, if you have a drill set try a 11/64 or 3/16" drill bit in the valve orifice opening. If the hole is smaller than the bits it needs to be drilled out to at least 11/64". The flame should be at least 1" above burner surface at full open, not a 1/4" like in the picture. If the 11/64 size opening does not give high enough flame use 3/16" bit to drill valve orifice opening.

I'm worried it may be the supply line. The NG comes up through the middle of the patio (stupid, I know) from what I've seen I think its 1/2 copper. The gas leaves the house in hard pipe, though. Anyway, I'm thinking I may not be getting enough gas in the first place. I know I've broken most of my smaller drill bits, but it may be time to re stock.

I think they originally sent me the low pressure valve, which didn't light at all. This one at LEAST lights up.

Thanks

Check the size with a drill bit, then here is a quick and dirty way to check NG system pressure only, low pressure propane systems operate at pressures that would require a 18" deep container. take a bucket or other container 8 - 10" deep and fill with water, place in an outdoor well ventilated area and place end of hose at bottom, turn on NG and there should be no bubbles, raise end of hose towards water surface and measure distance of water above end of the hose when first bubble shows. This will be the gas pressure as measured in inches of water column, normal household pressure should be between 4" and 6" of water above end of hose in water bucket. All that is needed is a couple bubbles to confirm water depth then drop hose to bottom and shut off hose NG supply. If you try this with Low pressure LP gas it would start bubbling when there is 11 - 13" of water above hose end in water container.
This is not an activity to try indoors or in enclosed spaces as careless release of gas beyond a couple small bubbles may make you the star attraction on the local news channels when it ignites.

That's a cool method to check the pressure. I'll have to remember that one. Now then, sufficient pressure is only half the story. The flow volume might also be an issue if the line under the patio is squashed, kinked or split open even. This could happen if the slab settled, water got in the line and froze causing it to split, improper installation (ie a splice fitting under the slab which may have failed), or a partial blockage for any other reason. A very long run of pipe could also reduce the flow volume. Sounds like they used 1/2" soft copper which has only about a 3/8" ID. That's pretty small for a natural gas line especially when trying to feed that big burner which will require a lot of gas at wide open throttle.

I converted mine to natural gas. It sounds like you got the orifice for propane. When I got it a 1/16th drill bit wouldn't fit in the hole. The burner would just barely light. I ended up drilling it out to about 1/8th inch. I think I could still go bigger but I get enough heat out of it for the size batches I am making. It brought 5 gallons of 86* water to a boil in 25 minutes. Here is what mine looks like at full blast.

Ok, new drill bits it is. Thanks everyone.

I'll definitely check the pressure in that manner as well.

My advice is to....CALL A PLUMBER!!!!!!!!

This stuff is nothing to play around with.

IF you have soft copper under the patio
IF it is 1/2 O.D.
IF it has been there for a while
IF the patio slab has settled
IF it is not buried deep enough.....

Don't mess with the NG of your house.

A cracked pipe under the slab can lead to gas pockets that wind up in weird places, like your house!

IF the line is not installed to code and is too shallow then you could have a whole bunch of condensation in it and if that freezes then the pipe cracks and BOMB!!

Use propane with the orifice you have. Call a plumber. Why and i repeat WHY play games with this stuff. The 6 o'clock news has enough goofy crap on it. Lets not run for the Darwin awards here.

The line has been there for at least 8 to 10 years and has been runnng my grill for the last couple months without incident. The line will be relocated next year IF we have the funds to rebuild the patio, and I think we will.

Call 661-257-5888 (8am-4:30pm / Mon-Fri PST) Hurricane Products , I forget the guys name but he is more than helpful. Ask him what the orifice size should be for NG. That is your starting point I think.

Since your grill works you should be getting good pressure, but if in doubt call NG company and they should come out for free if you suspect any issues/leaks. When I called about smelling gas in my house the guy was there in 5 minutes and replaced the entire meter immediately. The pressure test I linked to previously is safer than the bucket with water test and easier to read the results off a piece of paper taped to a board.

Your flame is what I get when my valve is barely open.

Drilled it out to 7/64 and it works much better. I've got a call in to hurricane just to double check it's where it should be at. I just need to measure the pressure so Ive got that info and Ill be good to go.

Thanks for all the help.