Gas Burners with Love TS and Pilot Light Demo

There are a lot of stands being built with the Love TS controllers with gas burners and pilot lights.

I just finished assembly this weekend on my stand with this setup and thought I would share a video of the Love switches in action so you can see them working.

If anyone in the planning stages has any questions, feel free.

[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=4G61m9-I8Us"]Love TS Controllers[/ame]

Sweet! Great Job! I'll have to come by and check it out when come up to Arnesen's Rocky Point this winter for ice fishing.

Very cool! Thanks for posting that.

Great looking job, nice to see that you have all the right components for a safe burner control system for your new system, hope this sets the standard for burner control.

Well done! Make me want to tinker with my non-automated system.

where'd you find the pilot light assembly?

Shockerengr said:

where'd you find the pilot light assembly?

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eBay. BASO is the brand name. Here are the ones i bought.

kladue said:

Great looking job, nice to see that you have all the right components for a safe burner control system for your new system, hope this sets the standard for burner control.

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A follow up on this...

Was doing some testing last night. Put 5 gallons in the HLT, wanted to boil it, transfer it via pumps to get things cleaned up and make sure all my connections were tight. I also wanted to see what sort of wind I could brew in and maintain pilot lights and burners. Cold windy temps notwithstanding, I wanted to see what the pilots could hold up to.

I watched it for a while and temp was approaching 200. I went inside to refill my glass, when I came out I sat back in my chair and noticed the temp was still at 198. My control box indicated that the solenoid valve was still open (power indicator light was on), so I looked and the burner wasnt lit and the pilot was out. The pilot safety valve had closed off the gas and my burner went out.

It was a windy night and the safety valve did exactly what I wanted it to. I did have to open the pilot valve a little more to get a little stronger pilot, but after I did that, it lasted throughout my testing.

Lesson learned - If, no WHEN, you add a pilot safety valve get one with an adjustable pilot so you can increase the strength of the pilot if needed. Especially if you brew outside.

Have you changed out the orifices in the pilot burners?, looks like they are the Nat. gas ones as the flame is yellow tipped.

Can you explain how those pilots work? Will they work with an asco valve?

Yup, they will work with Asco valves. You just want a Normally Closed valve.

Here is the assembly for the controlled burners with a brief description.




The silver valve is the pilot safety valve. It has two connections other than the main gas feed. It has a thermocouple that when heated by the pilot light opens the valve allowing gas to flow, and conversely if the pilot light goes out and it cools, then it will close the valve. The other connection, the silver colored pipe is the gas feed to the pilot. This is the safety feature that really should be used in this environment, but I'm not here to get on a soap box.

The second brass valve is an STC Normally Closed solenoid valve, you could use ASCO, the STC were considerably cheaper. This valve is controlled by the LOVE temperature switch. You set the LOVE to heating mode and if the temp falls below your set temp, it closes the circuit, providing power to the valve which then opens and allows gas to flow to the burner. The pilot light ignites the gas and you have a hot burner.

Does the pilot need power to turn on and off?

tbulger said:

Does the pilot need power to turn on and off?

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No, the pilot gets lit manually at the start of your brew session. Its much like your furnace. Once its lit, it stays lit. Of course until you shut everything down for the day. There is a relief valve that will force gas to the pilot burner that you light manually. You need to hold that relief in for 30-40 seconds to get the thermocouple hot, the the valve will open.

If I can find those pilot valves in 1/2" I am so there!

HarvInSTL said:

If I can find those pilot valves in 1/2" I am so there!

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If you goto the H15 series in stead of the H19 series in BASO, they make 1/2" valves. I used the H19 and 3/8" only cause they were $15 on eBay.

http://www.baso.com/gasvalves.asp#h15

MNBugeater said:

If you goto the H15 series in stead of the H19 series in BASO, they make 1/2" valves. I used the H19 and 3/8" only cause they were $15 on eBay.

http://www.baso.com/gasvalves.asp#h15

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Thank you for the link. But after looking those over I don't think any of them will work for me. I am using a 30psi regulator and the BASO valves only go up to 25psi.

Yeah, but you won't really be running your burners at 30 psi, will you?

Lil' Sparky said:

Yeah, but you won't really be running your burners at 30 psi, will you?

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If I understand it correctly I don't have a choice. The regulator is pushing 30psi out to the manifold. From what I can tell it doesn't matter if the valve to the burner is open half way or if it is open fully the psi (psig) is still the same. Just the amount of gas going thru the valve is affected.

If I'm way off my rocker here let me know and I'll purchase the 25psi pilot valves.

But I understood it as PSI and flow rate were two different beasts.

If your regulator is not adjustable, then you're right. Mine is 0-30 psi, but I don't ever turn it up all the way.

That is freakin' sweet. I was just thinking about doing this for the rig and BAM you show the way.

My one question is how would it be different if you used an electric pilot? I know you would probably lose the protection offered by the gas pilot light.

ClutchDude said:

That is freakin' sweet. I was just thinking about doing this for the rig and BAM you show the way.

My one question is how would it be different if you used an electric pilot? I know you would probably lose the protection offered by the gas pilot light.

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Actually, I think board member kladue did this exact thing. Instead of the gas pilot light he put in an electric spark ignition module similar to a gas grill.

I looked into but figured it was considerably more expensive, but I didn't fully research final costs. I feel i have a safe setup this way with the gas pilot. I don't know if the electric ignition is "more" safe, but it certainly isn't any less.

I think kladue watches this thread and might chime in, or you could PM him.

MNBugeater

You could take two ways to light burners with electric ignition modules. first method would be to use a pilot burner and flame sensor assembly, 24VAC solenoid valve, and 24VAC ignition module. Ignition module controls solenoid valve and lights pilot burner which lights main burner.
Second method is direct ignition of main burner with 24 VAC ignition module and ignition and flame sensor rods, more difficult to mount rods and make them work.

What model love controller are you using.

So whens the brew party? :cross:

KEKO482 said:

What model love controller are you using.

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This one from Cole Parmer
http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?sku=9352000

mr_stimey said:

So whens the brew party? :cross:

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Im game... You still want to shlepp your stuff all the way up here? Its a beautiful setting to brew in...overlooking river into Canada.

Let me know some dates and I'll put something together

We will have to see, sent PM

MNBugeater,
I'm using the same BASO valves that you did and will probably purchase the 3/8" STC valves to make plumbing easier. I've been searching for the thermocouple and pilot, seems to be a lot of different ones and I wanted to make sure they work with the BASO. Can you tell me which ones you used? A link would be great.

I used Honeywell pilot assemblies. Any should work. Any Type K thermocouple. Ill find a part number for you. I got everything on eBay, but if you have a local gas supply or Home Depot, they will carry everything.

Here is a link to Honeywell pilot burners, typical model is the Q314A with a BCR - 18 orifice for NG gas use. http://site.famousparts.com/HONEYWELL/60-2075.pdf
Thermocouples are fairly universal within the gas valve product lines , connection size is similar, length varies. One exception is the ones marked as 750 MV power pile for use with self powered gas valve actuators, which is not meant for use with the Baso valve. Pilot burners can be found on Ebay and other sites and will be in the $10-$20 range without the thermocouple which could be found at hardware stores. Since most of the ones displayed are set up for NG you would need the replacement orifice for LP (BCR-13 for the Q314 models) to get a clean flame, they run about $10.

Must.....Resist.........Automation..... ugh, this is hard.


that's what she said.

Thanks for the quick replies, that helps a lot.

Bobby_M said:

Must.....Resist.........Automation..... ugh, this is hard.


that's what she said.

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*Anxiously awaiting the Bobby_M, "Building an temperature controlled brew stand series" on YouTube".

I have the video up of the final product, but not the build. I'll leave that to Bobby.

No. Seriously.. I can't do it. If anything, I might be going partial electric in the fall after my service is upgraded.

I have two of the pilot valves shown in this thread in case anyone needs them.

Bobby_M said:

Must.....Resist.........Automation..... ugh, this is hard.


that's what she said.

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Dude, give in!

it's about 200 bucks more for automation. Is it worth it? Well can you really put a price on brewing gadgets for your home?

here is a demo of my burners firing off the Love switch with spark ignition.

korndog said:

I have two of the pilot valves shown in this thread in case anyone needs them.

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Do you still have those valves, and what is the model number? I watched the video from MNbugeater on YouTube and have used that as a basis for my automation.

Thanks...