Flame coming out from underneath heat shield

[ndinh]

My stand consists of 3 23 tip burners (3 tips plugged) and heat shields. The heat shields pretty much go all the way up so my kettles are actually sitting on them and come down to about 1/2" above my burners. Everytime I brew, alot of the flame comes back down and out from underneath the shield, which strips away most of my paint on my stand around the area. There are a few small holes in the shield but was wondering if I need to drill more holes or is there anything else I can do to resolve this. Thx.

 

[sweetcell]

you need a gap between the heat shield and the pot. the flame and the heat from the burners need to be able to rise, flow upwards. by having the pot sit on the heat shield you're blocking the path, so there is no option other than to go under & around. you're losing heat that way and likely the burn isn't efficient (not enough O2 is circulating to the flame).

 

[rekoob]

Yup, what he said. You need to lower the heat shields or raise the kettles. I'm guessing you will heat better too.

Pics please!