Burner to kettle distance

[Countrybrewin]

What experience can anyone share about burner to kettle distance? The pictures I see are all different and I know there is a right and wrong. I will be using a Banjo burner and keggles. Anything helps.

Thanks

 

[michur]

Trial & error. I am using the KAB6 with a keggle and it was taking forever to heat up. I searched this site and they suggested moving the burner up 2". This makes the distance from the fame to the bottom of the keggle approx 2.5". Since I just got a welder from my uncle, my dad and I had to try it out. We moved it up and it seems to be working much better.

If you don't have access to a welder or don't want to tear it apart you can make a wind/heat shield. Someone just posted a pic of theirs not too long ago.

 

[Countrybrewin]

Welding is not a problem, I was just hoping to measure twice and cut once. The banjo burner has screws on the sides so maybe I can put slots on the sides and adjust the distance to see whats best.

 

[michur]

The banjo burner has screws on the sides so maybe I can put slots on the sides and adjust the distance to see whats best.

Never thought of that. But wouldn't you lose any protection from the wind if the burner is up too high above the skirt?

 

[Catt22]

I'm amazed when I see posts complaining that the KAB6 is slow to bring a kettle to a boil or that the burner is positioned too far from the kettle bottom. I used one this past weekend to boil 32 gallons+ in a SS 55 gallon drum with no problems at all. Had power to spare and it was completely off the shelf stock.

This is the burner I used: http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/kab6-kick-a-banjo-burner-plus.htm

Is this the burner in question? It puts out a huge amount of heat. I cannot imagine needing anything with more power and the burner height was not an issue at all.

 

[Dwain]

Countrybrewin,
Here's some info from another thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/10-banjo-burner-111177/

 

[michur]

I'm amazed when I see posts complaining that the KAB6 is slow to bring a kettle to a boil or that the burner is positioned too far from the kettle bottom. I used one this past weekend to boil 32 gallons+ in a SS 55 gallon drum with no problems at all. Had power to spare and it was completely off the shelf stock.

This is the burner I used: http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/kab6-kick-a-banjo-burner-plus.htm

Is this the burner in question? It puts out a huge amount of heat. I cannot imagine needing anything with more power and the burner height was not an issue at all.

That's the one I have. Are you using the 30 psi regulator? If i turn it up past 1/4 of a turn I just get a flame out. Anything I can do to cut down time on brew day is a plus.

 

[Catt22]

That's the one I have. Are you using the 30 psi regulator? If i turn it up past 1/4 of a turn I just get a flame out. Anything I can do to cut down time on brew day is a plus.

Yes, it's the stock regulator with the green connector knob. We did manage to freeze up a 20 lb propane tank running it at a fairly high flame level. This required us to switch tanks about half way through the boil. The tank that froze up was full at the start. What happens is that the propane remaining in the tank gets so cold that it's vapor pressure drops to a point where it cannot change phase (liquid to gas) fast enough to keep up with the demand of the burner. Switching tanks out got us through to the end of the boil OK. We were running wide open throttle for most of the boil IIRC. Might have backed it off some once we got to a full hard boil. This was a pilsener, so a strong boil for 90 minutes was desirable. The Banjo got the job done with ease. It did, however, suck down quite a bit of fuel in the process.

 

[Hermit]

 

[Catt22]

I've never seen a burner flame that looked like that. Perhaps that's the Disney version or something. A common propane torch flame is what it should generally look like.

 

[michur]

Yes, it's the stock regulator with the green connector knob.

How far open do you turn the needle valve? I open the tank all the way and then can only get the needle valve 1/4 turn open before it flames out. I've done two AG batches with the same tank so I'm clearly not using as much propane as I could. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Catt22]

How far open do you turn the needle valve? I open the tank all the way and then can only get the needle valve 1/4 turn open before it flames out. I've done two AG batches with the same tank so I'm clearly not using as much propane as I could. What am I doing wrong?

How much I open the needle valve depends on what I am using the burner for, but with the big 55 gallon boil kettle, we had it nearly fully opened. You could see the flames coming out from the sides of the kettle and that thing is about 22.5" in diameter.

I think your tank may be icing up on you. The tank will be more susceptible to this when only partially filled or when used outdoors in cold weather. You can mitigate the problem several different ways. You can use a large tank. You can use two tanks and keep one warmed while using the other and switch them out. You can also put the tank in a tub of warm water.

Does your regulator have the green connector? The green ones are designed for a high flow rate and do not have the anti-surge valve that the black ones do. If you trip the surge valve, the gas will slow to a trickle and the burner flame will be very feeble. The other thing you need to do is adjust the air damper for an optimum burn. You can eyeball this fairly easily.

You should be able to do quite a few batches on a single 20 lb tank. The Banjo burner puts out a huge amount of heat even at it's lowest flame level. I would think you could get about six or more five gallon batches out of a tank. That's just a guess though, but while the fuel consumption is somewhat high, you can control that by simply having a little more patience and running at a lower level. High flame levels waste a lot of fuel. Yes, it will heat faster, but at a high cost. It's not an even trade at all.

 

[Hermit]

I've never seen a burner flame that looked like that. Perhaps that's the Disney version or something. A common propane torch flame is what it should generally look like.

If you don't see different 'zones' in your flame your burner may need adjustment.

 

[Catt22]

If you don't see different 'zones' in your flame your burner may need adjustment.

I see different zones in the flame, but not the colors shown in that graphic. Not even close to those colors at all. It's not difficult to eyeball the proper air/fuel ratio when adjusting the air damper. It's very obvious to me when it's burning right and also very obvious when it is not.

 

[Hermit]

I see different zones in the flame, but not the colors shown in that graphic. Not even close to those colors at all. It's not difficult to eyeball the proper air/fuel ratio when adjusting the air damper. It's very obvious to me when it's burning right and also very obvious when it is not.

The point is to understand kettle placement you need to understand the flame, or more directly, the hottest part of the flame. I'm not going to try and give a distance without looking at a burner directly. To far into the flame and your pot can actually be below the hottest part of the flame and push it aside. A properly designed gas cooktop will not let you get too low but usually errs on the too high side for more even heat distribution. If his kettle is a stainless steel with aluminum sandwich bottom then he doesn't have to worry as much about a hot spot and get closer to the 'hot zone'. If it is plain stainless steel, like a keggle, it could be an issue depending on the metal thickness.