Burner won't boil.

I have a 54,000 BTU burner (regulator says 5PSIG on top) that I'm using with a Keggle. I tested my setup yesterday, and it took about an hour to boil 7 gallons. It was a pretty weak boil at that. The ambient temperature yesterday was around 45 degrees. I used a windscreen to keep the wind off the burner. The burner is about 4 inches away from the bottom of the lowest point on the keggle. WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING WRONG? I have to get this figured out. I have my first all grain batch planned in two weeks.

Are you burning clean?

flyangler18 said:

Are you burning clean?

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Yep. Blue flame all the way.

Did you happen to pay attention to how you opened each valve on the propane tank?

I had it happen one time and learned that you have to close both the propane tank valve and the regulator valve off completely.

Then open the propane tank valve fully, followed by the regulator valve. Apparently, the OPD portion of the tank limits the outflow if it thinks it has a leak.

You probably ought to go ahead and pick up a 20 psi regulator - it uses the same amount of propane, just faster.

Cheers,
KY Dan
LAGERS/FOSSILS

Does the flame behave like it's a candle flame (i.e. flickering) or does it put out a solid blast? It's supposed to put out a blast of flame and a slight orange color at the tips. It probably is the OPD valve getting stuck. What I'd do is turn off the gas so it's nice and tight, and undo the tank from the regulator. Pick up the tank an inch or two and bang it on the floor. Hook up the regulator again, turn the gas on all the way, then the regulator all the way and light the gas.

Wait, I just read you have a FIVE PSI regulator. Oh yea, you need a stronger one than that. I have a 10 PSI one and while it works OK I'd like a 20 or even 30 PSI.

kydan47 said:

Did you happen to pay attention to how you opened each valve on the propane tank?

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+1 to this. (happened to me)
You'll know if you have this issue, because you'll be able to stand beside the burner and hear yourself think. They should sound like a jet engine when at full blast, and louder than normal conversation level. Even the cheapest turkey fryer can boil 7 gallons in about 25 - 30 min.

+1 or I guess 2
I didn't realize the importance to the order of openeing valves until I did it right last boil. Changed my pot from taking an hour and 15 minutes to reach a boil in 80° outside weather to 40 minutes to boil in outside 50° weather

Anyone have their OPD trip when the regulator is turned up too high? At least, I think that's what's happening. I open my propane tank first as BigKahuna noted, and can get a good flame. If I try to open the regulator valve all the way, though, the gas cuts down to just barely enough to keep the flames lit. Once that happens, the only way to get it back is to close both valves and re-open in the correct order. It's happened with multiple tanks, so don't think the problem lies there.

It's not a big deal, since I can turn the burner up high enough to boil 10 gallons fairly quickly, just something that's always struck me as odd.

Yep, I'm clear on the OPD trip. I've had that happen before. I'm sure that is not the issue. The tank I had was really low, so I exchanged it for a full tank and tried again. I was able to get 7 gallons to boil, but it took about 50 minutes, and it still wasn't the greatest boil in the world. And it was 60 degrees today. I'm not even sure where to look for a new regulator... The burner says it can only be used with the regulator provided. I'm starting to think that I should use this burner to heat my sparge water, and by one of the $50.00 Bayou Classics from Home Depot. This is the last hurdle before my first allgrain batch...

Bayou Classic is what I use.

BigKahuna said:

+1 to this. (happened to me)
You'll know if you have this issue, because you'll be able to stand beside the burner and hear yourself think. They should sound like a jet engine when at full blast, and louder than normal conversation level. Even the cheapest turkey fryer can boil 7 gallons in about 25 - 30 min.

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I thought this until I got my banjo burner. My HLT burner is a jet engine, but the banjo is quiet.

I had a similar problem with my first burner. Mine was the same as what most people get with a turkey fryer but mine came with my smoker. In my case, it worked great the first few batches, then after a few boilovers it seemed to be having trouble bringing the wort to a boil. I disassembled the burner, soaked it scrubbed it but it still didn't seem to have the output it used to. I have since bought the all stainless bayou classic and it works awesome.

Linc

TBLbrewer said:

Yep, I'm clear on the OPD trip. I've had that happen before. I'm sure that is not the issue. The tank I had was really low, so I exchanged it for a full tank and tried again. I was able to get 7 gallons to boil, but it took about 50 minutes, and it still wasn't the greatest boil in the world. And it was 60 degrees today. I'm not even sure where to look for a new regulator... The burner says it can only be used with the regulator provided. I'm starting to think that I should use this burner to heat my sparge water, and by one of the $50.00 Bayou Classics from Home Depot. This is the last hurdle before my first allgrain batch...

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You can get 10 psi regulators at Home Depot . I picked up a couple last year on clearance for 5 bucks each. They are bayou Classic brand with a stainless braided hose just like this one

BBQ stores are a good place to buy regulators as well.

I've found a 15 PSI regulator at Home Depot for $20.00. Now I'm debating on wether I spend the $20.00 on the regulator or spend $50.00 for a new burner. I like the idea of keeping the one as is to heat my sparge water, and then I could just leave my Keggle on the knew burner, and not bother with haveing to lift it. What do you think?

This probably isn't your problem but I will mention it just in case. Over the weekend my burner was working terrible and I had a hard time getting a boil too. I did a second batch and decied to pull apart the burner and I found a little piece of crap stuck in the burner orifice. As soon as I blew it out it worked like new.

nyer said:

This probably isn't your problem but I will mention it just in case. Over the weekend my burner was working terrible and I had a hard time getting a boil too. I did a second batch and decied to pull apart the burner and I found a little piece of crap stuck in the burner orifice. As soon as I blew it out it worked like new.

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I thought I might have the same, but I took mine apart, and it was perfectly clear.

Good News! I went back to Home Depot, and they had a 10 PSI regulator on sale for $14.99. I just tested it. I was able to bring 65 degree water to a rolling boil in 30 minutes. The outside temperature was 50 Degrees.