Blichmann floor burners w/ natural gas - "Top Tier" vs "Hellfire"

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fosaisu

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For the past five years I've been happily brewing 5-11 gallon batches on a propane Bayou Classic SP10 (w/ 10 PSI regulator, apparently ~40k BTU in real life). I now have a 1" natural gas pipe running to the back yard and am looking for a natural gas burner that will suit my needs.

Will the first-generation Blichmann floor burner (rated at 72k BTU with propane) be sufficient after conversion to natural gas (60k BTU with natural gas), assuming that I make mostly 11 gallon batches but want the flexibility to do 16 gallons in the future? I'm currently doing 11 gallons with the SP10, and am not unhappy with it, though it's noticeably slower than when I used it for 5 gallon batches! I ask because I've found a pretty good deal on an original Blichmann floor burner with the leg extensions, and if that will suit my needs I could save a stack of cash going used.

Or should I suck it up and buy the new Blichmann "Hellfire" floor burner (rated at 140k BTU with propane, not sure about natural gas but assuming the standard 20% reduction, ~112k BTU) at full price? Another question that occurred to me is whether the burner itself is any different, or if they've just swapped in a higher-rated propane regulator, in which case the change in BTU rating wouldn't translate if I convert to nature gas.

Or is there another option you'd recommend for a natural gas burner for 5-16 gallon brews, with the limitation that I want a moveable stand-alone burner (not building a brewstand here) and have no welding experience or equipment?

Thanks!
 
Did I see this posted elsewhere?

The burner element is completely new and I'm sure exclusive to Blichmann.
I've yet to read of anyone on HBT getting one running on natural gas.
The original Floor Burner dominates the automated gas-fired rigs, so there's some group-think comfort there.

Cheers!
 
The HellFire natural gas conversion kit comes with an orifice drilled to 5/32” instead of the TopTeir’s orifice drilled at 1/8”, and you receive a damper with about 50% more area to allow extra airflow into the burner. The casting is proprietary, and the burner was completely redesigned for greater efficiency and power over the TopTeir burner. The burner also comes with an integrated heatshield. From empirical testing, we saw about a 20% increase in heating time when using natural gas. For a 12 gallon volume, the time to heat to boil increased from 40 minutes to about 49 minutes.

Feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions you may have with all our products, and thank you for choosing Blichmann Engineering!

Cheers!
 
Thanks for the response!

For the Hellfire natural gas conversion kit, can you provide the specs on the fitting I will need to attach the natural gas hose to? My conversion kit for the Hellfire is backordered and I'd love to have a natural gas hose ready and waiting when it arrives.

Also, do you know what size and length of hose was used in your natural gas testing with the Hellfire? I've got a 1" supply line running to the back yard and am trying to decide if I should buy 1" ID hose for the 6'-10' run from the line to where I'll be using the Hellfire, or if that would be (expensive) overkill and 3/4" ID or 1/2" ID hose will supply more natural gas than the Hellfire can use anyway and I'd just have to throttle it way down using the needle valve.

Thanks again!
 
Interesting thread. I am tired of the propane tank thing, running out at the worst time, having to take it to get it filled. I am thinking of going NG if I can get it plumbed to the garage. $14 conversion kit for the floor burner may be worth the effort.
I gotta say the HFBurner is way more burner than what I need! I can get up to a boil with a full 10g pot in no time. LOVE IT!!!
 
I converted my Edlemetel burner to run on natural gas (72K BTU on propane). My son who is a licensed plumber did the gas pipe work. For my garage he extended the 1" main header to a shut off ball valve. For my basement he extended the 1" main header down to a 1/2" pipe that feeds my gas range & burner (I can only run one or the other). I use a 10 foot 3/8" flexible gas line with quick disconnects to connect up to my burner. My suggestion is not to trust the quick disconnect to shut off the gas supply, put in a shut off ball valve. I do need to re-adjust the air damper when running on NG, I put a marks on the air damper so I know where to adjust if I convert back to propane (for brewing remotely).
I can bring 12 gallons of water up to 170 Deg. F in 45 minutes on my Edlemetel for your reference. I also installed CO detectors up at the ceiling since NG is lighter then air (opposite of propane) for safety measures.

Either of the Blichmann floor burners would be a good choice. The real advantage is not to worry about runnout out of propane.
 
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