ssgross
Well-Known Member
The question has been asked in other threads, but not fully answered.
The orifice: and orifice drilled at #51 seems to produce the cleanest flame. It tried #49 and wasn't pleased. Both of these were tried without any type of valve, other than a shutoff valve mounted by the tank just after the regulator. My hoses are standard 3/8" hoses I bought at Lowes, along with an 11" WC regulator, also at Lowes. I bought orifices for about $7 from tejas smokers, custom drilled to any hole size you want. Lots of different types of fittings are available.
I should also note that I have also had success with the .081 orifice valve at brewers hardware. http://www.brewershardware.com/Valve-and-LPG-Orifice-for-BURN10.html
It works only with the damper all the way open, and the valve only 1/4 open. I didn't like this setup because. I didn't like this because the flames turn yellow with even the slightest air movement under the pot. The effect of moving air is less with the #51.
I am thinking of trying a needle valve with the #51 orifice, which brings me to my second point. Using the .081 orifice valve, it took 1.75 hours to heat 15 gallons from 51F-166F. Then UPS stopped by with the #51. It took almost 2 hours to bring 12 gallons to boil and, even then, it wasn't able to achieve the nice roaring boil I was used to. I think this is very, very poor performance.
Take a look at the data on Blichmanns website for heating times of their burner.
http://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/toptier-brew-stand-and-burners
They report a "15% derate" with natural gas at 6" WC.
In any event, my performance with low pressure propane is over 4 times longer than when using the orifice and regulator it came with.
I would appreciate if anyone out there using low pressure burners can chime in with their performance data.
My rig is automated with honeywell valves and intermittant spark ignitors. If I want better performance, I can either buy different burners, or somehow wire a solenoid valve to the honeywell control (not the 2 stage valve, the little black box that makes the spark).
I am leaning towards retiring my blichmann burners to ebay and going a different route. Any ideas are welcomed. a picture is attached.
before anyone freaks out about the wood brewstand and propane burners - they sit on felt pad + mdf + ceramic tile. it was 40 degrees in my garage halfway in to a full boil with the burners on high pressure. temp on top of the tile directly under the burner was 406F. the temp on top of the tile at the perimeter was 116F. The temp on the wood surface (covered in latex based clear wood finish, cabot I think) closest to the burner is 92F. Temp on the underside of the tile (top of mdf) is 80F. The temp under the MDF, directly under the burner, is a cool 60F.
The orifice: and orifice drilled at #51 seems to produce the cleanest flame. It tried #49 and wasn't pleased. Both of these were tried without any type of valve, other than a shutoff valve mounted by the tank just after the regulator. My hoses are standard 3/8" hoses I bought at Lowes, along with an 11" WC regulator, also at Lowes. I bought orifices for about $7 from tejas smokers, custom drilled to any hole size you want. Lots of different types of fittings are available.
I should also note that I have also had success with the .081 orifice valve at brewers hardware. http://www.brewershardware.com/Valve-and-LPG-Orifice-for-BURN10.html
It works only with the damper all the way open, and the valve only 1/4 open. I didn't like this setup because. I didn't like this because the flames turn yellow with even the slightest air movement under the pot. The effect of moving air is less with the #51.
I am thinking of trying a needle valve with the #51 orifice, which brings me to my second point. Using the .081 orifice valve, it took 1.75 hours to heat 15 gallons from 51F-166F. Then UPS stopped by with the #51. It took almost 2 hours to bring 12 gallons to boil and, even then, it wasn't able to achieve the nice roaring boil I was used to. I think this is very, very poor performance.
Take a look at the data on Blichmanns website for heating times of their burner.
http://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/toptier-brew-stand-and-burners
They report a "15% derate" with natural gas at 6" WC.
In any event, my performance with low pressure propane is over 4 times longer than when using the orifice and regulator it came with.
I would appreciate if anyone out there using low pressure burners can chime in with their performance data.
My rig is automated with honeywell valves and intermittant spark ignitors. If I want better performance, I can either buy different burners, or somehow wire a solenoid valve to the honeywell control (not the 2 stage valve, the little black box that makes the spark).
I am leaning towards retiring my blichmann burners to ebay and going a different route. Any ideas are welcomed. a picture is attached.
before anyone freaks out about the wood brewstand and propane burners - they sit on felt pad + mdf + ceramic tile. it was 40 degrees in my garage halfway in to a full boil with the burners on high pressure. temp on top of the tile directly under the burner was 406F. the temp on top of the tile at the perimeter was 116F. The temp on the wood surface (covered in latex based clear wood finish, cabot I think) closest to the burner is 92F. Temp on the underside of the tile (top of mdf) is 80F. The temp under the MDF, directly under the burner, is a cool 60F.