my propane burner isn't what it used to be

So I have been using the Bayou Classic for about a year now, and it seems that alot of you use the same one. Here it is:

Bayou Classic Single Burner Outdoor Patio Stove - SQ14 at The Home Depot

Lately the burner has been easily blown out by very little wind. I try to block the wind with chairs, grill, and anything else I can find but it still gets blown out. There is a good amount of rust on top and I'm guessing on the inside blocking the holes. It's so frustrating going inside for a few minutes only to come out and find that the flame hasn't been going for who knows how long. How should I get this stuff off? Oven cleaner? Grill brush? I'd rather not spend another 50 bucks on this if I don't have to. Thanks for you input.

Charlie

You can replace the burner for pretty cheap....it'd probably be worth saving you the trouble of drilliing out the holes. The burner is just a cast iron molding. Sometimes they even come with lots of slag that hasn't been trimmed off, so much so that the holes aren't passing propane. Maybe you could boil it to try and get some of the dried wort out of there....sometimes spiderwebs in there will cause problems too.

Have you checked the air intake on your burner? I have an SQ14, and when the air intake is either open too much or not open enough, the flames are weak and I can see how they might go out. You want to adjust the air intake so that the very tip of the flame is blue. It also should not sound like a jet engine, if it does, close the air intake some. My SQ14 is practically silent when operating and the only time the flame gets blown out is when the propane tank is empty.

I'd a good soak in WD-40 or Liquid Wrench in the case of rust, then hose it out with water or compressed air. If you've had a few boilovers, then I'd boil it for a few minutes first.

I have to do this about every 6 months for the burners at work. Remove from stand, soak in hot soapy water for ~30min. Remove from water and set on solid surface. With a metal spoon or other solid metal implement, tap the burner top fairly hard a few times. Spray the insides out and soak again for a few minutes. Thoroughly rinse and dry, use moving air if you can, dries quicker. Use a toothpick or similar object and poke each of the burner holes. If anything is still there, repeat process until no blocked holes. After the first time, they stay clean if you do this regularly. Good luck.

A paperclip might be just the thing to push through the holes...who knows....maybe you'll open more up than you originally had! I've heard about people having to stick a file inside the burner to open up the neck, as it was so clogged with junk.

I had the same problem with mine after I left it out in the rain, it somehow got a good amount of water inside the burner and the water couldn't burn off and evaoporate because of the propane and the propane couldn't get sufficent pressure because of all the expanding water vapor inside the thing. Let it burn for a while blow it out and start it up again.

Also you might want to look at your regulator as opposed to the actual burner as the source.

drunkatuw said:

Have you checked the air intake on your burner? I have an SQ14, and when the air intake is either open too much or not open enough, the flames are weak and I can see how they might go out. You want to adjust the air intake so that the very tip of the flame is blue. It also should not sound like a jet engine, if it does, close the air intake some. My SQ14 is practically silent when operating and the only time the flame gets blown out is when the propane tank is empty.

Click to expand...

I tried this and it fixed my problem. I found that the air intake was wide open and when I closed it, well it worked fine. Thanks.

Charlie

Find a welding supply store and buy a gas tip cleaner (or order on-line). These are often like the folding allen wrench jobbies. It will have a bunch of different sized round "files". Just find the right size and go to town.

Like this

Use a 1 to 60 drill index set then find the correct drill, install in a pin vice then clean all the burner holes. Don't forget the air inlet track or channels and the main gas jet orfice.
Boilovers make for a sticky burner mess, maybe boil the burner in a pot first before cleaning all the gas jets.

Wow!, perfect timing on this post.

I noticed that my flame was very tall and orange and not the shorter, tighter blue flame it use to be. Upon inspection of the air intake, i noticed it was loaded with spider webs (forgive me folks.... i left it outside all last summer) I took the whole burner unit apart, cleaned out the spider web and it now works great. I do need to clean up the rust for overall proformance but i think i'm back in business

FWIW, I just got my new SQ14 in the mail today.....it's amazing, they look so much smaller than in real life....while the burner is pretty small, the stand is actually quite large.