Which propane burner to buy

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swatman260

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Hey guys, I just found that SWMBO got me a gift certificate to KegCowboy for Valentines Day. That being said, I'd like to upgrade the burners on my brew rack. I'm currently running a two tier RIMS system with small bayou classic burners (from turkey fryers at Lowes) on propane. With these burners, I have a hard time getting much more than a slow boil in my keggles. Keg Cowboy sells the BG14 Banjo Burner, the 23 tip, and the 32 tip Jet burners. Any suggestions from those of you using these as to which will give me the best boil, while still being reasonably efficient for propane use? I'm sure that any of them will be an upgrade over what I have, but I only want to buy them once, so suggestions are requested.
 
As long as you have a 10PSI regulator or greater, with those burners, you SHOULD be able to make the wort jump out of a keggle. I know that I have NO problem, I have even had 5 gal boil over my 15 gal pot using one of those.
 
Try the SQ14...it sounds like you're using SP10's. Banjo's are overkill, unless you like wasting propane.
 
KegCowboy doesn't seem to carry the SQ14. Any recommendations on the three burners that they do carry? I just don't want to throw away good money, only to buy a propane hog. lol
 
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Well crap. lol. I pretty much need to get them from keg cowboy because of the gift certificate that I have...However, I don't want another sucky burner as I already have two of them.
 
I just looked at that SQ14 on Amazon's page, and it is what I already have, that doesn't work very well. Not sure if there are problems with mine or not, but they're running off of 10psi regulators. Wide open on the gas, and using the O2 mixer to get good blue flame, I barely can get 5 gallons to a rolling boil.
 
Well crap. lol. I pretty much need to get them from keg cowboy because of the gift certificate that I have...However, I don't want another sucky burner as I already have two of them.

In that case, the BG-14 would be the better choice IMO. I really, really do not like the wok burners at all. You may have noticed that!:D

I would use the gift certificate to buy something other than a burner from KC and get the SQ-14 elsewhere.
 
The BG-14 is overkill but isn't that what you are looking for? I had to play around with them and the regulator a bit to get the flame and range I wanted but I got them dialed in, or down I should say. Plus they look cool on a beefy stand.
 
I just looked at that SQ14 on Amazon's page, and it is what I already have, that doesn't work very well. Not sure if there are problems with mine or not, but they're running off of 10psi regulators. Wide open on the gas, and using the O2 mixer to get good blue flame, I barely can get 5 gallons to a rolling boil.

Then yours is not operating as it should for whatever reason. There's not much too these burners, so it should be easy to troubleshoot the problem. The SQ-14 should bring 5 gallons to a boil very easily and at much less then wide open throttle.
 
I was talking to a guy the other day that builds smokers and bbq grills. He says that he takes those BG-14 burners and sands/grinds down the top of the holes a tad just to make them all nice and level and then re-drills each hole making nice crisp edges. He says that helps the flame a lot. I haven't done it but thought I would pass that along.
 
Not to hijack, but I was recently reading on brewershardware.com that he sells low pressure propane burners. What is the difference aside from pressure? Is that not something you can use with a regular propane tank, or is it meant more for natural gas?
 
Ok, not to hijack my own thread, but it seems that everyone is recommending the SQ14, which I already have. I've done some reading on this burner in particular, and I think maybe I've got it mounted too far from the keggle, which could explain the poor performance. When I mounted it into my brew stand, I mounted it at the same height as it was in the original stand, which is believe is about 4" from the bottom of the keggle. From other threads on here, it seems that this distance should be more like 2.5" or so. Any of you that are using this burner (and getting good performance) know what distance you have the burner mounted from the keggle? This would certainly be a cheap solution to my burner problem.
 
I was going to say, the 10,000 Btu burner on my stove top can bring 5 gallons to a rolling boil without too much trouble so that fryer burner shouldn't have any troubles either. It takes a little while to get up to temp, but I don't need it on "full throttle" to maintain a boil.
 
The SQ14 if it is operating correctly should be easily able to boil 10-15 gallons. It should also sound like a HUGE blowtorch at full throttle. Look for some youtube videos of it to see if yours looks/sounds right.

When you open the tank valve (triangular metal one) make sure that your regulator is all of the way off. Otherwise you will activate the excess flow protection device in the tank-coupler.
 
Yeah, I'm familiar with the excess flow protection that you're referring to, and that is not the problem. I get a good, strong, blue flame, with just tips of yellow. It sounds like a big blow torch, and really looks like it should be heating great. However, it just doesn't seem to be performing the way others have said it should, so I think the problem may be in my distances.
 
I mounted mine about 3" below the bottom of my kettle. I can raise 12 gal of wort about 3 degrees a minute or so at full blast, in other words at 160 coming out of the MT, I can get to a boil in about 20 minutes... therfore if I start as I start batch sparging, I can usually have a full boil just a few minutes after my 2nd sparge is complete.

Based on the above, I am actually applying about 18,000 BTU to the pot, and for a 55,000 BTU burner, I don't think that is too bad.
 
Try the SQ14...it sounds like you're using SP10's. Banjo's are overkill, unless you like wasting propane.
I disagree about the banjo wasting fuel. I moved from a cheap turkey fryer burner to the banjo last year and I was NO difference in fuel consumption (batches per tank). I've got a couple guesses why. With my turkey fryer burner it took forever to heat the sparge water and then to achieve a boil. With the banjo it is ridiculously quick. Also, with the banjo, I can almost shut the gas off and maintain a nice boil. Couldn't do that with the turkey fryer burner. I had to have a decent flame.

One caveat, however, I had my banjo modified to lower the kettle closer to the burner. Out of the box the distance is like 4.5" and THAT wastes fuel. You decrease that distance and there is ZERO wasted fuel (i.e., flames going up the side of the kettle). Couple photos that illustrate what I am talking about:
DSC_0530.jpg

DSC_0532.jpg
 
I disagree about the banjo wasting fuel. I moved from a cheap turkey fryer burner to the banjo last year and I was NO difference in fuel consumption (batches per tank). I've got a couple guesses why. With my turkey fryer burner it took forever to heat the sparge water and then to achieve a boil. With the banjo it is ridiculously quick. Also, with the banjo, I can almost shut the gas off and maintain a nice boil. Couldn't do that with the turkey fryer burner. I had to have a decent flame.

One caveat, however, I had my banjo modified to lower the kettle closer to the burner. Out of the box the distance is like 4.5" and THAT wastes fuel. You decrease that distance and there is ZERO wasted fuel (i.e., flames going up the side of the kettle). Couple photos that illustrate what I am talking about:
DSC_0530.jpg

DSC_0532.jpg

I have the little bg 10 burner and I'm tinkering with it now to figure out my distance. Anyone have any pictures or advice like this for amount of room from burner to kettle? When I initially tested I was getting a ton of flame rolling up the sides... not what I want and I don't want to waste fuel. Pictures, videos or advice anyone?
 
Looks cut and re-welded to me.
You got it. I took it to a welding shop that I drive by every day on the way to work and described what I wanted done. He did it for a $20 bill. I paid $64 for the burner so I now have a total of $84 invested in it. The burner seriously rocks.
 
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