keggle + burner questions

I'm in the middle of the first wet test with my keggle. First, I'm running one of those 23 tip jet burners on natural gas. I have the keggle about 3 inches above the tips and notice that I can't even open the ball valve half way before flames come flying out from the bottom of the keg. Is this right?

Next. I notice the bottom of the keg and the bottom end of the sides also are getting really black. Normal?

Is the flame supposed to be blue or orange. Mine is really orange, what gives?

Have you tried fussing with the air valve? Soot means a rich flame, needs more air. That could also be why the big flames, the gas don't burn til it gets out and can get more air??? Also, is the burner jetted for NG or propane? I think NG need s to be 60% bigger, cause it has less pressure???. Or maybe I'm I've got it bass-ackwards....

Hmm. Well, I certainly ordered the nat gas one. This isn't the type of burner that has an air valve or a single orifice. I got this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000E2VTO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It has 23 tips, and each has an orific and air hole at the base of the tip.

Now, prior to putting the keggle over it, I noticed that the flame gets more blue at certain increments of gas volume. Maybe I have the keg too close to the point where the skirt is depriving the burner from getting oxygen.

Bobby, did you get this sorted out where you could use it?

Yup, got the keg up higher allowing more air to get to the combustion area. On a related note, the DIY hop screen worked really nicely, leaving only 1/2 cup of wort in the keg. Unfortunately, the test was only on 1oz of leaf and 1oz of pellets. It would be nice to blow out a 6oz IPA to really test it.

Good to hear. I reengineered mine and made it a little smaller. It's now a 9" octagon. It fits in the keggle nicely. The far side of it (away from the coupling) now rests at the bottom, though. I hope it won't be a problem.

I left mine alone and the whole thing rests on the keg. I was a LITTLE worried about your scorching nightmare but it was no problem at all. I only stirred during the boil maybe 3 times. I think you had a problem because false bottoms so deliberately seal off the bottom space. I plan to leave it full size unless it proves to be a problem because I like maximizing the surface area. Either way, we saved some cash by not buying the hopstopper.