Is There Any Way to Fix my Bayou Classic Burner?

[Evan!]

I've had a couple of cheapie WalMart turkey fryer burners for about 2 years now, and they still work like the day they came home. Not the greatest flame, but gets the jarb done. About 6 months ago, I found the Bayou Classic SQ14 at home depot and picked it up. Worked great for awhile, but now, it's really spotty. Not sure what the problem is...doesn't matter how much I adjust the oxygen mixture, it still screws up. What it's doing is, when I turn it on low and light it, it's fine...but as I increase the gas, many of the jets will blow out, and the ones that don't blow out seem to dance wildly and flicker. They're still blue, but I'm not getting near the amount of heat I was getting from it when it came out of the box, and not even as much as the old WalMart ones. Often, if I turn it up all the way, it completely blows out. Any idea what might be the culprit here, and if it's fixable?

If not, does anyone have a recommendation for a higher-BTU unit? I'm looking at the 30psi, 210K-BTU KAB4 unit. Good?

 

[missing link]

On my bayou classic I have a similar problem if I give it to much air. I just adjust the air mixture until the flame is blue right at the burner outlet. It gets real quiet and puts out tons of heat that way. Anymore air and the flames go out and it gets much noisier.

Linc

 

[McKBrew]

I have to adjust to find that sweet spot as well. The jet engine and flames shooting up the side of my boil kettle were a bit much.

Edit: You might get a thin brush of some sort (like a beer line cleaner) and see if perhaps there are some spider webs or other debris inside the burner.

 

[planenut]

I'm following this thread as well.

Sounds EXACTLY like mine.

I really like the big square base for the keggle to sit on though. Maybe it's time to convert it to Natural Gas!

 

[Evan!]

I have to adjust to find that sweet spot as well. The jet engine and flames shooting up the side of my boil kettle were a bit much.

Edit: You might get a thin brush of some sort (like a beer line cleaner) and see if perhaps there are some spider webs or other debris inside the burner.

Yeah, might try that. Spilled a bit of wort on it awhile ago, wonder if that might be part of the problem. I swear, though, I can't seem to find that sweet spot with the oxygen mix.

 

[BigKahuna]

Yeah, might try that. Spilled a bit of wort on it awhile ago, ....

I have used pipe cleaners with some success to clean the orifices in a branding iron heater. It sounds like you've got a flake of some junk in there that is standing up and diverting the gas from the holes. A good solid cleaning should do the trick.

 

[iamjonsharp]

Yeah, sounds like it needs a cleaning. Might be able to blow out any junk with an air compressor?

 

[Evan!]

Yeah, sounds like it needs a cleaning. Might be able to blow out any junk with an air compressor?

great idea, Jon...between that and a pipe cleaner, it should do the trick, as long as that is actually the problem.

 

[flyangler18]

I've had a similar problem after spilling some wort that cooked on there. A good long soak in some oven cleaner and a stiff wire brush took care of it- back to full operating condition.

 

[smizak]

Post back and let us know if that's the problem, I have an SQ-14 as well.

 

[eschatz]

I spilled wort in my burner once from a boilover. I just took it apart and found flakes of dried wort inside of there. That was the problem. Cleaned it right up. Used pipe cleaners too. Works like a dream now.

 

[wildwest450]

Mine did the same thing, I took the burner off and soaked it in some oxyclean, problem solved.

 

[eriktlupus]

Yeah, sounds like it needs a cleaning. Might be able to blow out any junk with an air compressor?

+1 on the air compressor, i had a spider wea built inside that was preventing any kind of high pressure flame


also on my cheap turkey fryers i used a cheap sandblaster gun to clean the corrosion of the inside of the burner pan. works a lot better now

 

[Chriso]

Same problem here, SQ-14... Past 1/3 way, the flames start to "leap" off of the burner, as soon as you hit 1/2 throttle, it blows out.

I've been meaning to clean mine... someday I will... but in the meantime, I put one of my plain 55k turkey burners onto the SQ 14 frame... after all, the square frame was the only reason I bought that burner.

Hope the cleaning fixes it for you! I'll be trying the same, as I spilled some wort inside of mine, too.

 

[TeufelBrew]

Found out the hard way that burners need to be cleaned. US Range at work that the burners kept taking a crap on us. Finally, one of the repair guys said to clean the burners regularly and "lightly" tap the pilot light housing to get any buildup out. Don't have to call them in for burners craping out any more.

A good soak in soapy water will get most junk out. Fine wire, pipe cleaners, whaterver fits into the orifice can be used to clean them. Tap the whole burner assembly lightly on a table to unseat any particles inside the unit and you should be back in shape.

 

[springer]

Same problem here, SQ-14... Past 1/3 way, the flames start to "leap" off of the burner, as soon as you hit 1/2 throttle, it blows out.

I've been meaning to clean mine... someday I will... but in the meantime, I put one of my plain 55k turkey burners onto the SQ 14 frame... after all, the square frame was the only reason I bought that burner.

Hope the cleaning fixes it for you! I'll be trying the same, as I spilled some wort inside of mine, too.

I changed mine yesterday. I was heating the mash water and it was taking forever. Went to the scrap pile in the shed pulled an old burner out and it works great again. I am just going to leave it as even Bayou Classic states that the cast iron burner will handle more gas and BTU's than the cast iron fry burner used in the SQ14.

this is the one that is going to stay in the SQ 14 frame

 

[Evan!]

I changed mine yesterday. I was heating the mash water and it was taking forever. Went to the scrap pile in the shed pulled an old burner out and it works great again. I am just going to leave it as even Bayou Classic states that the cast iron burner will handle more gas and BTU's than the cast iron fry burner used in the SQ14.

this is the one that is going to stay in the SQ 14 frame

Not a bad idea. I have two of the cheapie walmart burners, but one of them has a pinhole in the gas hose so I don't use it. I could just swap the burner piece out and still use that big frame...

 

[JMD87]

+1 on the air compressor, i had a spider wea built inside that was preventing any kind of high pressure flame


also on my cheap turkey fryers i used a cheap sandblaster gun to clean the corrosion of the inside of the burner pan. works a lot better now

+1 on spider web's. Them spiders are crafty.

PSA: Check your gas grill's too before you shell out money on new burners, I usually need to clean them every year because of spider webs.

 

[springer]

Not a bad idea. I have two of the cheapie walmart burners, but one of them has a pinhole in the gas hose so I don't use it. I could just swap the burner piece out and still use that big frame...

I had never used this type of burner with the keggle because the stand wasn't big enough. I wish i had done this a long time ago. I can turn the gas on all the way and get a nice blue flame and huge amount of heat. Gave me a real strong boil

 

[New2brew2]

Has anybody had any luck with cleaning their burners? I have exactly the same problem. I tried soaking in oxyclean, but the problem persists, I think I will give the air compressor a try and some pipe cleaner too.

 

[springer]

Has anybody had any luck with cleaning their burners? I have exactly the same problem. I tried soaking in oxyclean, but the problem persists, I think I will give the air compressor a try and some pipe cleaner too.

I use white vinegar to remove rust and rust stains around the house I may try soaking it . then use the compressed air to get any foreign items out of it .

 

[mjap52]

Sorry to res this thread, but does anyone think a oven cleaning cycle would do the trick? I want to brew tomorrow morning, but don't want to soak my burner in oxy since it'll probably be wet come brew time.

 

[RmikeVT]

I had a clogged burner and took a hose straight to hit, blasted it out, got it soaking wet. Immediately, I turned on the gas and lit the fire. I wouldn't worry about a wet burner. They will dry when you add heat.

 

[mjap52]

I had a clogged burner and took a hose straight to hit, blasted it out, got it soaking wet. Immediately, I turned on the gas and lit the fire. I wouldn't worry about a wet burner. They will dry when you add heat.

Thanks, I think I'm going to do a deep clean soon -- soak it in PBW overnight, rinse, bake the water out, then cure the pan with oil.

 

[craigkelker]

mjap52-. "cure the pan with oil"?. I'm getting ready to soak my burner and after scrubbing it - are you saying you oiled the iron?

 

[John Murray]

Does anyone season their burner like a cast iron pan? I think I am going to do this to my new one.

Brand new I'll rinse it with boiling water and oxyclean, the dry it, put oil all over it and inside. let it drip for a long time, wipe it up and light it up to burn off all the oil. this way it could clean up easier if wort gets in it. the one I am buying is the Black Concord 10 inch. it will be nice having it seasoned in oil I think.

Thoughts on anyone doing this?

 

[John Murray]

Does anyone season their burner like a cast iron pan? I think I am going to do this to my new one.

Brand new I'll rinse it with boiling water and oxyclean, the dry it, put oil all over it and inside. let it drip for a long time, wipe it up and light it up to burn off all the oil. this way it could clean up easier if wort gets in it. the one I am buying is the Black Concord 10 inch. it will be nice having it seasoned in oil I think.

Thoughts on anyone doing this?

 

[John Murray]

Does anyone season their burner like a cast iron pan? I think I am going to do this to my new one.

Brand new I'll rinse it with boiling water and oxyclean, the dry it, put oil all over it and inside. let it drip for a long time, wipe it up and light it up to burn off all the oil. this way it could clean up easier if wort gets in it. the one I am buying is the Black Concord 10 inch. it will be nice having it seasoned in oil I think.

Thoughts on anyone doing this?​

 

[day_trippr]

I've never read of anyone "seasoning" their burners. Not sure it'd be worth the mess and effort.
My bg14s are coming up on 16 years in service and look pretty good. But, I don't spill wort on 'em, either

Cheers!

 

[grampamark]

Almost 7 years. Not a record, but a good, necropost average.

 

[day_trippr]

Better than thread proliferation?