BG14, slowing down, propane freeze up?

[Gadjobrinus]

Final shakedown (I hope) before a first brew and more of a confirmation (I think, guys). Today was in the middle of the run, which was mainly to test evaporation rates and confirm thermo calibrations at boiling, and about midway through what was a powerhouse of a boil slowed to a trickle, and opening up the ball valve and/or the 30psi regulator wide open did nothing. Hence, I thought it was a fill issue and went to the tank filled. Came back, great, same thing, eventually. I've no experience with the banjos (I had the other hi-pressure one, what, BG10?), so thought maybe just wildly inefficient on my setup, until I thought maybe the tank was just freezing up.

Thing is, it would do that when running 3 x BG10's, too, but never had this slowdown issue. Is this what I'm looking at, just a tank freezing up? If so, what about a water bath, or some other recommendation (brewing tomorrow)?

Thanks.

 

[Kyle]

Do you have the regulator cranked all the way up? When I was using propane I had the same issue at first. Once you get the boil going bring it down some you don't really need a heavy boil just enough to maintain a steady boil.

My issue was the slightest bit of wind kept throwing off my boil so I kept the flame on almost the highest setting and the bottom of the tank would be iced over. I had a spare at the time but once I modded my burner and made a makeshift windscreen I was able to keep my regulator pretty low and never had the issue again.

 

[day_trippr]

Tank freeze happens. Since I started the LoDO pre-boil thing I've been splitting my total brewing water 50/50 between BK and HLT to put both BG14 burners to quicken the task, and on occasion I have had to give the tank a good thrashing which seems to warm it up enough to carry on.

Folks have resorted to stuffing the tank in a big plastic tub and adding water. I've yet to get to that point...

Cheers!

 

[Transamguy77]

It will happen on colder days, on the east coast it was common during wimter brewing, i actually had a tank freeze right to the driveway once. I used to put the tank in warm water to un freeze it.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Wanted the thank you guys, brewed yesterday and I was lucky - couldn't have asked for a better day to brew, in the '50's (with IC water that's still near frigid, lol). So no issues. But now I know for next time. Would a larger tank improve things - i.e., if I were to serve all 3 burners at once, am I right in thinking either up the tank size, put a tank on each burner, or be prepared for freezeup?

 

[day_trippr]

tbh, I'd be surprised if you could run three bg14s on a single 20 pound barbecue tank without actively keeping it warm-ish.
And I'm not sure a larger tank would help, at least until you get into the 30 gallon range (an ungainly size - we have one outside the house for our range/oven and clothes dryer) because up to that size the cylinders pretty much just get taller without gaining much girth.

I think having a second 20 pounder is the best option. Not only provides backup, you can cycle between the two on those days that the tanks want to freeze. Or you could get creative and hook both to a common rail. By dividing the evaporation tasks between two cylinders there's a lot more surface area to keep the tanks from freezing up...

Cheers!

 

[Gadjobrinus]

tbh, I'd be surprised if you could run three bg14s on a single 20 pound barbecue tank without actively keeping it warm-ish.
And I'm not sure a larger tank would help, at least until you get into the 30 gallon range (an ungainly size - we have one outside the house for our range/oven and clothes dryer) because up to that size the cylinders pretty much just get taller without gaining much girth.

I think having a second 20 pounder is the best option. Not only provides backup, you can cycle between the two on those days that the tanks want to freeze. Or you could get creative and hook both to a common rail. By dividing the evaporation tasks between two cylinders there's a lot more surface area to keep the tanks from freezing up...

Cheers!

OK, great, thanks trippr. Seems the best option is just to grab another tank, then. I'll keep one warming on the stove.

Your last paragraph is especially intriguing, though I think at this point I'll stick to switching them out. Just to say, though I don't know the mechanics of it, I get a hint of the concept and I think it's cool.

 

[Boise1024]

Brewing in the canadian winter, I usually keep a kettle full of hot water to warm up the tank if needed, it's surprisingly effective. A second tank would also do the trick.