Big Pots, Big Burners 2: The Burninating

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daksin

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Hey Guys-

Putting together a 3bbl, direct fired LP system this week (like you do) and am still undecided on burners. I'm a big fan of the MONSTER burner over at Tejass Smokers (http://www.tejassmokers.com/castironburners.htm, about 2/3 of the way down), mostly because I know it works, but I'm still wondering about other burners.

I have more volume to heat than Mike did (original thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/big-pots-big-burners-whats-recommended-154886/) and found the (somewhat cheaper) 44 and 88 (!) jet burners, which I didn't know existed. I don't know about their BTU ratings, which are often wildly over stated, but Glacier Tanks cautions you to mount them 12-14 inches below the pots to avoid MELTING THE POTS (wtf?). I don't want the system to be any taller than it needs to be, and I'm also concerned about burning through propane unnecessarily.

A few other concerns: heat deflected downward onto the floor (doesn't seem to be a problem with the Tejass burner- Hess's is mounted VERY low to the ground) and plumbing them. Can I plumb different burners (For MLT And HLT) into the same manifold as long as everything's high-pressure? Can I even provide enough gas to have multiple burners going at once?

Thanks in advance, BTU badasses!
 
Call Cheyenne at Tejas smokers. He was very helpful setting up my 2bbl system.
 
1x 32 jet (boil) and 2x 20 jets(mt and hlt). All with pilots. (Yay for lighting once and walking away!)
 
Thanks- how did you set them up? Just a manifold with a ball valve? How long does it take you to heat your strike water and how long does it take to hit a boil? Theoretically (and it is just a theory) the big 225kbtu cast iron burner should be able to bring a 3bbl batch up to a boil in about half an hour, and then could be dialed back after that. Not sure it's got the juice though, but I guess I could always just add a second one under the BK.
 
Thanks- how did you set them up? Just a manifold with a ball valve? How long does it take you to heat your strike water and how long does it take to hit a boil? Theoretically (and it is just a theory) the big 225kbtu cast iron burner should be able to bring a 3bbl batch up to a boil in about half an hour, and then could be dialed back after that. Not sure it's got the juice though, but I guess I could always just add a second one under the BK.

Truth be told I'm still getting things "dialed in" and finalized. If I had to do it again I'd just have bought 3x of the single burner stands from Tejas and then spaced them 6" apart and welded in tubing to make a single stand. ;)

I'm running off of 2x 100# tanks hooked to a 0-60 psi regulator going to a single 1/2" manifold with each burner controlled by a ball valve (which never gets more than 1/4 open it seems). With all burners going, I'm icing the tanks.

When I automate, I plan on installing a low pressure regulator on each of the branches prior to the pilot/valve T. I can tell you that with the 20 jet burners properly set up I can get a 30degree temp rise in 10 minutes. Still working on getting the 32 jet spaced correctly.

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Hey guys, I have found that when I put my bottles in a a water bath the icing issue goes away. For the twin 100's since they're a little unruly you might put them in a garbage can full of water and then rig up some kind of external tank support to keep them from tipping over.

hope this helps.

Cheers
6
 
Great suggestion. How heavy are the 100 pounders empty? Just wondering about how to get these things filled. I actually think we're going to run separate tanks for both burners, that way we don't need to run any plumbing, which is good for me time wise and safety wise, I feel.
 
Actually, since I've installed the solenoid valves, the icing issue has gone away.
 
Well, it probably had more to do with all 3 burners going for an hour or two on a stress/boil test. ;)

With the solenoids installed I only have one burner running full time and one other for 2-5 minutes at a time.

Or one full time, and two going for 2-5 min at a time when double batching.
 
They make a regulator that you can attach 2 big tanks into. It runs off one tank at a time and when the pressure drops in that tank it switches to the other tank. That way the chances of freezing tanks is minimal. The guy I worked for got it to run a monster grill off 2 100# tanks. He got it from a local gas dealer.
 
Yep. Familiar with it. Decided to go with a double input non switched. Works well as an expansion tank.
 
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