Adjusting a propane burner?

Alright, well this may not exactly be a brewing-specific question, but I know many of you use propane burners, so I figure someone should be able to help me out a bit very easily.

My propane burner is just a cheap unit from walmart, it has a cheap looking cast burner, and a 10psi propane regulator.

How should I adjust the flame on the burner? both the propane regulator and the little rotating air inlet adjustment affect the flame, but I'm not quite sure what the flame should look like when it's at its most efficient. So far I've only boiled some water on it to test it out, and I just haphazardly adjusted it to just below the point where it was noticeably "roaring".

Of course, it managed to boil the water, but it seemed relatively slow - though it did seem to go a bit faster after I did some further adjusting, but again, I was just fumbling with it, I don't exactly know what I was doing.

I'm just thinking about this sort of like a propane torch, where you adjust the flame to a certain appearance, rather than just cranking it all the way up, for optimum performance.

So, am I overthinking this, and is it just as simple as a "more is better" approach, where the more gas and air I give it, the louder it gets and the more heat it gives? or is there a certain point (other than "full-on") where it's at its most efficient, thus requiring some intelligent adjustment?

If I read my burner's manual correctly, you should have the air intake nearly closed when lighting, then open it fully once the flame is going. The flame you are using should be blue, or invisible if you are outside in the sun. So I usually leave the air intake just open, turn on the tank, then turn up the regulator until i can just hear the propane hissing. Then I light it as quickly as I can, open the intake, and open the regulator until the flame goes blue. The hard part there, at least with my burner, is that you can open the regulator too far and it will blow the flame out. It's kind of a trial and error to figure out exactly how far you can open it.

I have a cheapo burner like that too and I have never been able to get it fine tuned. I can never get a nice blue flame. I always end up with a ton of soot on the bottom of my kettle when I'm done boiling. I've tried numerous suggestions. I guess the question I have is if you have a red flame instead of a blue flame does that mean there is too much oxygen or not enough oxygen to the flame?

From Wikipedia:

Different flame types of a Bunsen burner depend on oxygen supply. On the left a rich fuel mixture with no premixed oxygen produces a yellow sooty diffusion flame, and on the right a lean fully oxygen premixed flame produces no soot and the flame color is produced by molecular radical band emission.

the cast burners are quite often really rough or even clogged with casting slag inside. Take it apart and clean out the burner a best you can, even use a file inside if need be. Pretty much guarantee it'll fix the soot problem

Hi,

I have been trying to contact several propane places around town here, and everyone is closed up for the weekend. I have a technical question you may be able to help me with. I am planning on using my burner next weekend, so I went and picked up my dad's old propane burner and kettle. I went over to the Home Depot and picked up some parts to hook it up to the tank. I got a new hose and regulator combo, and the fittings to get from the flare fitting on the hose down to a 1/8" for the burner. I got it connected, but I have a really bad flame. It's not blue at all, and it is really tall and sooty. It is almost silent, it does not make the "hissing" noise I expect from a burner like this. The tank is brand new, and works perfectly on my backyard grill. I took the piece out of the burner and scrubbed all the rust out that I could with a wire-bristle brush, and cleaned everything up. I have attached some pictures to show you my setup. Do you have a suggestion on what my problem could be?

Thanks,

Ryan Holland

Ttown, mine is almost as rusty but the flame is light blue. My first guess would be you are using a low pressure regulator. If its the regulator for your backyard grill then I'm sure its a low pressure. These burners need a high pressure regulator. Also open the air vent all the way.

That sounds like a fair assessment. All the regulators at HDepot were made for grills so I guess I need to look elsewhere. Maybe the local gas company?

See if HD, Lowes or walmart has a turkey fryer regulator. That should be a high pressure reg.

I got a new hose and regulator combo, and the fittings to get from the flare fitting on the hose down to a 1/8" for the burner. I got it connected, but I have a really bad flame. It's not blue at all, an

Click to expand...

Since you replaced the burner fitting , what orifice size did you install inside the fitting?
Looks like you are running the burner just with the 1/8" fitting.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

Looks like the small diameter opening orifice is missing, you might be able to buy one from a hardware store and tap inside of 1/8" fitting to install. Size you are looking for is #54 - #56 drill size orifice, if all else fails you can tap inside of pipe fitting 1/4-28 tap and screw in same type brass bolt, cut off bolt flush with fitting face, and drill out bolt with #56 drill bit.

Yes, it has the 1/8" fitting. That's how big the hole is in the middle of the air intakes. The only thing I found out in the garage was the burner and the air regulator plate zip-tied to it. I had to find everything outside the cast iron burner itself.

So I went from the 1/8" NPT nipple in the burner, to a 1/8" NPT to 3/8" FIP, then a 3/8" FIP to 3/8" Flare, to the tank hose.

The kid who walked over to help me as I stood there scratching my head took a look at what I had, and told me they didn't have anything like that and walked away. So I stood there for a few more minutes and cobbled this thing together.

So I am missing another piece? Shoot.

So I am missing another piece? Shoot.

Click to expand...

Here is the missing bullet
I made one out of brass to fit inside my 1/8" fitting.


Most homebrew stores sell them for around $5.00

My edit:
http://morebeer.com/view_product/9620//Burner_Jet_-_1_8_in._x_1_in.


Cheers,
ClaudiusB

I got it fixed. Biked on down to the local Academy sporting goods, and they have a whole aisle of turkey fryers and such. They had the high-pressure hose and regulator, and a whole new burner with the correct fitting (with the itty-bitty hole) for 11 bucks each.

Works like a charm. Thanks everyone.

I have to admit, I'm not using it to brew beer just yet, but I saw it on Good Eats a couple weeks ago and the process intrigues me.