Bayou Classic SQ14 not delivering a rolling boil

[JayMac]

Hey guys,

So I completed my second batch on Friday, it was BM's centennial blonde. I found that it took FOREVER to heat my water. For example, it took over an hour to bring my 160F 5.9gal pre boil volume to boil... this is outrageous.

The night was calm, and wind couldn't be detected by looking at the leaves on the trees. What I found was that once the propane valve was open enough, the flames would start... 'jumping'. That's the only way I can explain it. The flames would start sounding like wind was blowing really hard against them (almost like that jet engine noise), and slowly each flame would hop up and stop delivering heat.

I found that when I reduce the propane output after some of the flames have hopped off, the hop back down, and the ring is completed again. I can barely get the burner to output half of its potential... which is really frustrating and delays my brew day by at least an hour, possibly more. Does anyone know what the problem is? the wind might still be a slight factor... but it seemed to be way too calm out to be the entire problem.

Thanks!

 

[Dan]

Jay did you adjust the air valve? It takes a bit of monkeying with it and the gas regulator output, but 5.9 gallons should not be an issue to get a furious boil going on. What I do is open the valve all the way on the propane tank. Turn the gas adjustment valve enough to get the thing lit and then slowly turn it up, not all the way up but most of the way and then make adjustments to the air input until I have a solid blue flame.

Unless your regulator is defective you should be able to get the thing working pretty well. It just takes some playing around the first few times to get a feel for it.

 

[mr_cad]

I have an SQ14 on my HLT and I found it to be very slow heating also. Some things you can do to improve it is to build a windscreen around it as it loses heat to the sides. Also try cutting a piece of metal or tin and secure it underneath using the screw that holds the burner in place. I built a make shift screen around mine and it improved greatly. The burner just sitting out in mid air is not very efficient.

 

[chumpsteak]

I thought mine was slow at first too, but now that I know how to adjust it I can get 17 gallons in my HLT heated up pretty fast. I've heard that you should have blue flames with yellow tips. If you get all of the flames blue with just yellow tips it will take forever to heat your water. What I do is crank that sucker up until it sounds like a jet engine an get it to the point where it completely starts to flame out and then back it down to where about 75% of the flames are blue with yellow tips and the rest have about 1 inch of yellow flame showing. If you find the sweet spot between blue flames and full on yellow flames you can get it to heat really fast. Wind really affects it though, so the more wind the more it will flame out and cause you problems. Like was mentioned before you can put something in front of the burner to block the flames or build a heat sheild if you think you need to.

 

[pannell77]

Definitely play with the air intake adjustment. I am able to turn my propane valve almost off and still have intense rolling boil of 6.5-7 gallons in 15-20 minutes. there is a good thread on here about building a cheap windscreen as well, do a search.

 

[Dan]

Definitely play with the air intake adjustment. I am able to turn my propane valve almost off and still have intense rolling boil of 6.5-7 gallons in 15-20 minutes. there is a good thread on here about building a cheap windscreen as well, do a search.

Here's a quick search for one. Looks simple and effective.

I too used the duct work and cut notches so the crossbars of my burner stand hold it in place. For the first few brews I was brewing in my basement with a fan blowing on the burner and all the windows open, so never noticed any fumes. The wind shield seems to direct more heat and my boils started just a bit faster, definitely faster when I was able to brew outside. You can see a pic of how I did it.

 

[JayMac]

Dan,

I have not adjusted the air valve... in fact I just found out that the rotating disk WAS the air input. Do you start with the air input valve nearly closed, then slowly open it to get the desired flame? I have a feeling the air input was opened too much, or too little, which didn't allow the flame to become a full flame.

Thanks chumpsteak.. I'm going to try and get more yellow in my flame, as there was none there last time I brewed.. definitely something to look for next time! I'll try and make a windscreen so the wind will affect it less. Would it be ideal to find a sheet of stainless steel, and make one out of that? Is that the ideal material?

 

[Dan]

That will work. I think mine is about 1/2 way open. Start playing around with it and it will become pretty obvious. Sorry for such a crappy answer but really once you start adjusting you'll get a feel for it. And I did mispeak about the solid blue flame. Chumpsteak's discription of the flame is much more accurate.

BTW, if it is windy it's not the end of the world. I just use tinfoil as a temporary windscreen when necessary. I need to get off my a$$ and build a permanent one like the one above.

 

[JayMac]

That will work. I think mine is about 1/2 way open. Start playing around with it and it will become pretty obvious. Sorry for such a crappy answer but really once you start adjusting you'll get a feel for it. And I did mispeak about the solid blue flame. Chumpsteak's discription of the flame is much more accurate.

BTW, if it is windy it's not the end of the world. I just use tinfoil as a temporary windscreen when necessary. I need to get off my a$$ and build a permanent one like the one above.

How do you use the tin foil? like how do you place it around the burner? does it ever catch fire?

Thanks!

 

[Dan]

I put it around the edges of the top on whichever ever side the wind comes from. Works fine. Kind of ghetto I suppose. No worry about catching on fire.

 

[Chriso]

For what it's worth, I have the same problem with my SQ14. If I turn it up to any reasonable level, the flames start 'jumping' off the burner like you described, and usually the burner loses the flame and extinguishes.

I wound up putting my standard jet burner onto the SQ14's frame, because it heats 10 gallons faster than my SQ14 does. But I'm annoyed, because I originally bought the SQ14 to be an UPgrade, not a DOWNgrade.

I've cleaned each nozzle out using pipe cleaners & canned compressed air. I've also given it a heavy brush-down with a metal wire brush. I've jabbed things into the air intake to try to get any cobwebs out. I can't figure out how to wake this burner up and get it to do it's job.

The *best* I can get this burner to do is, when I'm ready to start sparging, put my hot sparge water onto the SQ14 to hold it at its' current temperature, so I don't lose my heat while I'm draining the mash tun into the big kettle. It's infuriating, it's like a Keep Warm burner that is ineffectual at best.

I've always wondered about the regulator itself causing the problem - but mine does the same thing on both of my 10psi regulators, one of which came with the SQ14 in the box... maybe it needs a different pressure?

I will be trying that metal ductwork mod. I use aluminum foil right now, but it blows away whenever it gets windy outside.