Propane burner help

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Boodlemania

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I've made a mistake that I need help getting out of.

I bought this fryer setup recently, thinking I could finally move up to 10 gallon batches. Burner is listed as 150k BTU. Burner looks like this:

bcbg10_cast_iron_propane_cast_burner.jpg


I have a bulk LP tank for my house and a Tee in the basement. I ran black iron pipe (1/2") out of the basement, terminating with a "NG quick disconnect" I found at Lowe's. My thought was to remove the high pressure reg from the burner, attach the 10' hose that come with the QD, and use the bulk propane from my house to power my boils.

However, I didn't realize how low-pressure my output regulator on my 500G tank was. All I could get out of this burner was a pukey yellow flame. Obviously, I was ticked after spending $100 on pipe, valves, disconnects, etc.

Question is this: Can I drill out the orifice in the burner in order to use this on a low pressure supply? Or am I hosed?
 
I don't know too much on the subject, but I would start with the orifice like you mentioned. One specific to natural gas seems necessary to me.

 
I have and use one of those from by cajun cooker with a standard portable propane tank. I had your problem with one of my 3 burners.

The screw in the center of the burner is used to adjust some of the air/fuel mix. There is also an adjustment at the end where the propane line plugs in.

It sounds like you are running too rich. Open the gap between the center teeth and the "bowl" it sets in using that center screw until you get closer to what you are looking for - blue flame.

Use the adjustment at the fuel input to adjust the mix when in operation.
 
I have two of those burners, and they're designed for high pressure (20-30 psi). I'd bet your output pressure is too low, but maybe you could adjust it. What other appliances is your tank currently serving?

I doubt grinding the notches out would help much, but since those burners are so cheap it might be worth a shot. You could also look at a low pressure jet burner. They're designed to run on 0.5 psi and will have more than enough heat. Asian markets are a good place to source them locally, and there are plenty of online sources also.
 
Question is this: Can I drill out the orifice in the burner in order to use this on a low pressure supply? Or am I hosed?

Here are a few places that are of interest:
http://mikegigi.com/burner.htm#ORIFIC
http://www.joppaglass.com/burner/lowp_chrt.html

You can't hurt anything by drilling the orifice out bigger to see if that will get you there, but I doubt you will ever get great results.

To get the rated BTU you are going to have a hole so large that the gas velocity is very low. That will cause the venturi to not work correctly and you'll end up with fire in the burner throat.

The two 'best' options are:
Get a low pressure burner.

Change over to a two stage regulation system. Depending on what other stuff you have running in the house and how it is all plumbed, you could swap to a high pressure regulator at the tank and then a 2nd stage (low pressure) at the other device(s) in the house. If you've just got 1 or two things, that may be doable, if everything is gas, you would spend so much on regulators that it would be worthless. The other possibility is that if you are teeing off the 'main line' before all the other stuff, you run high pressure to just past your tee, then step it down for low pressure in the rest of the system.
 
I am building an all grain system and needing three burners. I will be setting my system to grill tanks with high pressure regulators. Could I use the high pressure burners for my system if I would only run 2 burners at 1 time? I already own a couple high pressure burners and regulators and I just need to know if I have to invest in low pressure burners.
 
How long is your 1/2" black pipe? Maybe reduce it to 3/8". Are you sure that the LP isn't for 'liquid petroleum' and not 'low pressure'?
 
I am building an all grain system and needing three burners. I will be setting my system to grill tanks with high pressure regulators. Could I use the high pressure burners for my system if I would only run 2 burners at 1 time? I already own a couple high pressure burners and regulators and I just need to know if I have to invest in low pressure burners.

I gotta have more details before I can give you an opinion. How many BTU's are the burners? Will each burner have it's own tank? If not, is the manifold system big enough to support the burners? You have any way of warming the tank(s)? etc....
 
I am having the same issue, I have a tankless heater on my stand that runs at low pressure and the only burners that I have are high pressure, I am going to try to drill out the orifice and see if I can get it to operate at 0.5PSI.

I will let you guys know how it goes.
 
I am having the same issue, I have a tankless heater on my stand that runs at low pressure and the only burners that I have are high pressure, I am going to try to drill out the orifice and see if I can get it to operate at 0.5PSI.

I will let you guys know how it goes.

I would be very interested in your results. Let me know if it works and, if so, what your final OD was.
 
I gotta have more details before I can give you an opinion. How many BTU's are the burners? Will each burner have it's own tank? If not, is the manifold system big enough to support the burners? You have any way of warming the tank(s)? etc....

I would prefer to use only 1 tank, but I could do a single burner to my HLT and another tank for my Mash Tun and Boild Kettle. I was wondering if anyone else has tried the 6" low pressure burners or will they not produce enough heat? Here is a link for the burners.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009JXYT6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Let me know what you think.
 
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I'm pretty sure that's a typo on Amazon, especially since their reccomended add-on purchase is for a high pressure reg.

I think this is closer to what you need.
 
Hmmm - Bayou Classic says high.

http://www.bayouclassicfryers.com/parts-burners-regulators.shtml

Hell, hook it up and give it a try!

It's a high pressure burner and will operate well at 10 or 15 psi. High and low are rather vague terms when is comes to propane or LP gas. Low pressure typically means very low pressure and anything above 1 or 2 psi is considered high pressure. One of the confusing things is that the high pressure term can range from just a few psi up to more than 100. We mostly deal with the 0-30 psi range. I think my low pressure Camp Chef runs on about 1/2 psi or something really low like that. It's supposedly only rated at 30,000 btu's. I suspect it's a lot more than that, but it is not a high output burner by any stretch. My SQ-14 OTOH, runs a 0-10 psi variable pressure regulator and I have a third burner that runs with a fixed pressure 10 psi regulator. Now then, low pressure does not necessarily equate to low power. I think the big Hurricane burner is a low pressure unit and it puts out a lot of heat.
 
I'm a propane service tech. The regulator on your tank (1st stage) takes tank pressure ( as high as 150 psi on a hot summer day) and reduces it to a steady output of 10 psi. The 2nd stage regulator (the one on the side of your house) reduces line pressure down to 12" of water column or approximately .5 psi. You do not want to run 10 psi inside of your house. If you were to burst a line or develop a leak it can pump a lot of vapor into your house in a hurry.

If you are brewing indoors make do with a low pressure system. If you are brewing outdoors or in a garage this is what I would do to run hi pressure system.

Splice into the line somewhere between the 2 regulators. Put a T in the line. Put a shutoff valve on the T going to your brewstand. Make sure this valve is off anytime you are not brewing. I would also have a shutoff at the brewstand for safety sake. I don't advise drilling out orifices and trying to redneck convert from Low pressure to Hi pressure.
 
I'm a propane service tech. The regulator on your tank (1st stage) takes tank pressure ( as high as 150 psi on a hot summer day) and reduces it to a steady output of 10 psi. The 2nd stage regulator (the one on the side of your house) reduces line pressure down to 12" of water column or approximately .5 psi. You do not want to run 10 psi inside of your house. If you were to burst a line or develop a leak it can pump a lot of vapor into your house in a hurry.

If you are brewing indoors make do with a low pressure system. If you are brewing outdoors or in a garage this is what I would do to run hi pressure system.

Splice into the line somewhere between the 2 regulators. Put a T in the line. Put a shutoff valve on the T going to your brewstand. Make sure this valve is off anytime you are not brewing. I would also have a shutoff at the brewstand for safety sake. I don't advise drilling out orifices and trying to redneck convert from Low pressure to Hi pressure.


I agree with him, as I am also a propane service tech. Bad things happen to those who "rig" something up. Also just a note on safety, remember to keep your propane tanks outdoors. I have some pictures of what used to be houses because someone took a bottle inside.:mug:
 
I'm a propane service tech. The regulator on your tank (1st stage) takes tank pressure ( as high as 150 psi on a hot summer day) and reduces it to a steady output of 10 psi. The 2nd stage regulator (the one on the side of your house) reduces line pressure down to 12" of water column or approximately .5 psi. You do not want to run 10 psi inside of your house. If you were to burst a line or develop a leak it can pump a lot of vapor into your house in a hurry.

If you are brewing indoors make do with a low pressure system. If you are brewing outdoors or in a garage this is what I would do to run hi pressure system.

Splice into the line somewhere between the 2 regulators. Put a T in the line. Put a shutoff valve on the T going to your brewstand. Make sure this valve is off anytime you are not brewing. I would also have a shutoff at the brewstand for safety sake. I don't advise drilling out orifices and trying to redneck convert from Low pressure to Hi pressure.

I'm no tech, but are there not a lot of installs that are single stage regulation only? I guess it depends kinda on where in the country you are. Around here, there are a whole lot of places with just a water heater and a set of logs. Seems like most all of them use a low pressure (12" w.c.) regulator at the tank. No need to do two stage if the yard line can handle the total BTU load.

It may be such that your advice above is confusing. (not suggesting that my advice is always great, or hell, good for that matter!!) Just wanted to bring that up in case someone tries to find the second stage at their house and can't.

I agree that it is probably a bad idea to 'rig' something unless you understand what you are doing.
 
I'm no tech, but are there not a lot of installs that are single stage regulation only? I guess it depends kinda on where in the country you are. Around here, there are a whole lot of places with just a water heater and a set of logs. Seems like most all of them use a low pressure (12" w.c.) regulator at the tank. No need to do two stage if the yard line can handle the total BTU load.

It may be such that your advice above is confusing. (not suggesting that my advice is always great, or hell, good for that matter!!) Just wanted to bring that up in case someone tries to find the second stage at their house and can't.

I agree that it is probably a bad idea to 'rig' something unless you understand what you are doing.

Yes, most installations do only have 1 regulator, but that is an integrated 2 stage regulator. It is a high and a low pressure regulator all in one.
 
Yes, most installations do only have 1 regulator, but that is an integrated 2 stage regulator. It is a high and a low pressure regulator all in one.

All installations are regulated twice, some use a dual stage regulator as okgasdude said and others use 2 separate regulators. In northern climates most installations run 2 seaparate regulators because you can't get enough volumn through the line after it passes through the 2nd stage regulator and it is 0 degrees and the wind is howling. If you are in a moderate climate and are just running a water heater and a gas log, it's not an issue.

99.9% of all household appliances are set up for low pressure sytem of approxiamtely 1/2 psi
 
From Tejas' website: "Distance from brass burner tip to bottom of pot is the optimum 14" , which is the ideal spacing distance for jet nozzles to be placed from the heated surface."

I really have a hard time believing that though...
 
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