New burner or upgrade regulator?

Did my first AG last night, also first 10gal batch. Went ok, didn't get the SG I was aiming for but I suspect the crush, hit my temps fine. But the wort would not boil well. Only with the lid on would it boil at all.
So I have this bayou classic burner:
http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/sq14_propane_burner.htm

Which has a 10PSI regulator and apparently 55k BTU. Should I look at a new burner, or try upgrading to a 20PSI regulator?

From what I've heard, that burner on that model doesn't respond to a 20 PSI regulator. The 15 PSI one might work, though, apparently Lowes or someone is selling them that way.

Edit: it was Home Depot, thanks to the_bird for the link http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100121665

I got it at home depot and I'm not fairly sure its 10PSI. What is the issue with the 20PSI?

From the site you linked to earlier: http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/bg12_cast_iron_burner.htm

Thanks Scimmia. I wonder if I could mount a different burner on the stand, as it is pretty nice IMO...

Not a problem at all. How does it mount, from the bottom? If so, it could be difficult to fab up something else to work.

Yeah it mounts from the bottom.

Does the hurricane / Banjo burner mount from the bottom? Kinda hard to tell from the pics online..

The Banjo mounts through the sides of the windscreen with 4 bolts.

You would have to build a 11 1/4" diameter windscreen to mount the banjo on that particular stand.

Nope, it has 4 threaded holes on the outer "rim", and this makes it a PITA to mount. I'm still not in love with how mine are mounted, but it works for now. Check my gallery for pics.

That does sound difficult to mount on my current stand...
Anyone have the newer banjo burner with the 20PSI regulator? Is this sufficient for 10g batches or is 30 PSI really necessary?

Thanks for all the help guys.

I would just get a variable regulator, just like the type you might use for a C02 bottle. I put together a regulator with random fittings I had which allows me anything from 1-100 PSI. You won't need a high side pressure gauge (you can plug this hole on most regulators), just a low side gauge and a line to your burner. This way you know exactly what PSI you are running and have great repeatability.

+1 on the variable regulator. FWIW, I went with a 20 PSI. I was gonna get a 30 PSI, but I wanted some balance between power and efficiency. My 20 PSI is MORE than enough. It's like the flames of hell when you crank it. Also, search for "scuba's herms build" on this form. I have some video of it.

I believe Steve and Gauss are offering you a better suggestion as far as your 55K BTU burner goes. According to what I've heard most of those smaller burners had the 10 PSI regs put on them because of Law suit concerns over people starting fires because of the oil in the turkey fryers, Fish fryers and other oil related grease fires.

I put a 30 PSI variable regulator on one of my 55k units that came with a 10 PSI reg. The other older turkey fryer I have came with a 20 PSI fixed reg.

But for 10 Gal. you might consider setting up a tiered system with the 55k heating the strike water in a HLT and getting a banjo burner for the boil.

Boosting the PSI on the 55k would help but having 180k or 210k gets your wort up to the boiling point so much faster. Too me the time saving are worth the extra money and having a tiered system saves a lot of lifting.

abracadabra said:

Boosting the PSI on the 55k would help but having 180k or 210k gets your wort up to the boiling point so much faster. Too me the time saving are worth the extra money and having a tiered system saves a lot of lifting.

Click to expand...

This statement is confusing me. The BTU output is more determined by the regulator, not the burner. The BG10 burner with a 10 PSI regulator is rated at 55K, a 15 PSI regulator puts it somewhere around 110K, and a 20 PSI regulator rates it at 185K.

I'm now thinking i should just order the banjo burner stand/KAB5 with the 20PSI regulator, as it would cost almost as much to get the burner and a variable reg with no stand. I dont see an easy way to mount a BG14 on the SQ14 stand I have. I assume the manufacturer isnt just making up the issues on upgrading the SQ14/BG12 regulator.

I agree that less time waiting on water to boil is worth some investment.

I would love a tier setup sometime in the future, currently in an apartment so it might be difficult. Maybe I can think up something though.

Thanks again.

Scimmia said:

This statement is confusing me. The BTU output is more determined by the regulator, not the burner. The BG10 burner with a 10 PSI regulator is rated at 55K, a 15 PSI regulator puts it somewhere around 110K, and a 20 PSI regulator rates it at 185K.

Click to expand...

Probably didn't do a good job explaining myself. I'm not that great a technical writer and not an expert on propane burners either.

But:

If I understand what I've been told, I think it's a combination of both the burner and the regulator. Look at a banjo burner vs a regular turkey fryer. But all things being equal I think a 10 PSI reg acts as basically a governer.

ScubaSteve said:

+1 on the variable regulator. FWIW, I went with a 20 PSI. I was gonna get a 30 PSI, but I wanted some balance between power and efficiency. My 20 PSI is MORE than enough. It's like the flames of hell when you crank it. Also, search for "scuba's herms build" on this form. I have some video of it.

Click to expand...

How long does it take you to get a boil going? You're doing 10g batches?

According to this site the 20PSI is not enough for 'large pots':
http://www.lalagniappe.com/mall/bc-propane-burners.htm

I just did a 8 gallon batch running at 9 PSIG, although my normal is 13 gallon batches (at higher pressure). You only need a lot of power (energy per unit time) for raising the temperature of the water, once you are boiling the water will get no hotter and you need minimal heat input to keep a boil going. For this reason, a variable regulator is nice -- you can crank up the pressure, and therefore power, for a quick boil, and then you can dial it down afterwards for best efficiency. At 20 or 30 PSI, any decent burner is going to really put out some high BTU/hour, albeit inefficiently.

An easy way out of this is to get an inexpensive high BTU burner, like this one and then get any generic variable regulator. It looks as though the burner linked to above will bolt into your stand.

That may be easier/cheaper, thanks man.

Update:
Got the 0-30 PSI regulator from bayou classic depot, along with hose and orifice. Hooked it up to my SQ14 and it was able to (easily) boil 12 gallons. Didnt have any trouble with the burner going out but it does seem like it isnt ideal for that much pressure, the flame doesnt look perfect. But really only needed a little extra heat from the 10PSI.

Also got one of the regular jet burners and I'm going to try that next brewday and see if it works even better. Will post another update then.

I agree a 30 PSI reg is probably overkill in most applications. That's way a variable reg is the way to go. The reason I got one was that's what the LHBS had in stock and the price was right.

The good thing about a variable 30 PSI reg is you can hook multiple burners up to 1 tank and regulator by adding a tee and an extra hose.

I'm gonna be attempting double batches with the 55k burner. I've already prepared myself for wasting time waiting for the boil. It sounds like I'll need to change the regulator, in the future, unless I wanna spend 8 hours doing AG...

I use these heads:
http://morebeer.com/view_product/17245/
with 20PSI regulators from Bayou Classic and have no issues. Despite the statement on Morebeer that these are 55KBTU, they accept 20PSI and output 170KBTU. No soot at any throttle setting, and can do a mild simmer to a boilover in my converted kegs.