blichmann burner problem

Yesterday when I was brewing I had flame coming out of the air in take on my blichmann burner. The flame was on the propane regulator nipple end as well as the air in take. I checked the regulator for leaks but couldn't find any.

When I lite the burner back up it seemed to work fine. But when I shut it down and tried to light it again I could hear a popping noise in the air in take.

I am nervous to use the burner again. Any one else had this issue?

You may have a blockage in the airway like a cobweb or something which is causing the gas to backflow out the air intake.

Mine has 'popped' like that since new...scares the heck outta me sometimes. I was on the trail to preventing last brew day; I moved the lighter back a little further and up a little higher on the burner.

Edit:

Ah...may have found the reason, which also relates to my above success. This is from the Coleman website:

"...you can experience "flashback" at the burner. This means that the flame ignites the fuel mixture before it exits the burner. The flame burns inside the burner and does not appear inside the burner bowl. This can damage the stove's manifold. If your stove "pops" while running and the flame disappears from the burner, turn the stove off, allow it to cool then check the position and tightness of the burner bowl."

Did you use any teflon tape on any of the fittings? I did when I first set my burners up and the burner didn't work right. I removed the tape and since then no issues at all.

Can't speak for Mojoe4, but there's none on mine. Mojoe4, next time try moving your lighter (assuming you're using a grill lighter with a long extension) further back away from the gas manifold and maybe an inch off the surface of the burner. That method seemed to have worked last time. It did pop\flashback once more after the HLT got to temp and I cut off the flame and then relit. When it happens, I just cut the gas off and wait for a couple of minutes...and fan some air through the manifold.

I took apart the burner and looked down the burner with a flash light. There was some carbon build up. I got it out with a coat hanger. Maybe this was my issue.

Yeah that popping sound is not a great sound. I am pretty new to the whole propane thing, I am a die hard charcoal fan on my BBQ and smoker.

I will also try that trick with the lighter as well. I am using a long neck lighter, but I have never had the issue before.

I have been trying to get more out of my propane bottle so I had the flame down pretty low, I am wondering if that had anything to do with it too.

Captain_Bigelow said:

Did you use any teflon tape on any of the fittings? I did when I first set my burners up and the burner didn't work right. I removed the tape and since then no issues at all.

Click to expand...

no, no tape

The popping sound while in operation is what is known as flashback, usually the air shutter is opened too wide and the air/fuel mix is too lean. This will also happen when the burner is shut down and is a normal thing as the flame travels through the burner openings back to the gas jet as the flow stops. for optimum burner output adjust the air shutter until just the tips of the flames start to turn yellow, this is the point where the flow out of the burner is lowest and the maximum amount of heat stays under the kettle, not up the sides.