Burner idea

My dad gave me these two space heaters:



They say they are adjustable from 100,000 to 200,000 BTUs. The picture shown is the burners without the "chimneys", and the "chimneys" are pictured underneath the burners.

My plan is to slightly modify the base of one of the burners, so it will fit inside an modified car rim, or something similar to support a keggle. Do you think this will work? Would one burner be enough for a keggle?

 

I would certainly think if they are 100k to 200k btu's, one would definitely be big enough for a keggle and a 13 gallon boil. Grats on the great find.

 

Is it just one flame? If so you will just burn a hole or at least cause a weak spot in the bottom of your keg.

 

Hmm ok... I believe its just one flame. I haven't seen them in action yet. The burner element basically looks like a propane line with screw on, hex-shaped cap, with 6 or so small pin-holes in it.

Could a heat deflector possibly be set up above the flame to help spread the heat out evenly? Or even easier, could I just raise the keg higher than the flame to help diffuse the heat evenly?

I think if this were set up according to the plans in my head, the flame wouldn't be in direct contact with the keg anyway.

 

Well I am guessing that the chimney is only about 6" in diameter so that would give you a 100k+ 6" wide torch... You could try like a 1/4" steel plate as a heat diffuser. I work apt maintenance and I have tried a lot of things with HW heater burners and Furnace burners and all to no avail so I would guess this is the same kind of situation. You could always try though...

 

I measured the chimney. Its hexagonal, and its 12 inches across the center from point to point, the ring above the actual burner element is about 6 inches in diameter, so its probably around a 6 inch wide flame.

Here's a picture of the burner ring. The at the very bottom of the picture next to the inside of the ring is the piezo ignition, slightly above that and slightly to the right is a temperature probe that supposedly shuts off the gas in the event of a flame-out, and the center is the burner element.


Here's a picture of the burner element.

 

You know it may just work. Many of us use the propane Bayou classic burners and those are much less btu but are about a 6-8" flame. I would say go for it!!

 

I'll fire it up as soon as i can and report back with pictures of how the flame looks. I read a spec about it using 5 psi at 1/4 inch tubing I think.
The low setting is supposedly 100k BTUs, and it has a variable setting up to 200k BTUs.

 

I have used a "room heater" propane burner for a few years now. It looks similar to what the pictures show. It has the electronic igniter and the nut where the flames come out. It is a monster! Mine started out completely in tact. I cut the heat shield down to just above the inner guard. Sticker says 250,000 btu. It absolutely roars when I bring my keggle to a boil. Dont think it is as efficient as what a lot of people are using but it boils real fast. I cant turn it up all the way or it is to hot within a couple feet of the kettle. No damage to the kettle at all. I would be real excited to have another burner like one of these.