Natural Gas Feed Line?

[earlyd]

I am building a natural gas brew sculpture and had a few questions on a gas feed line. I need a line to run from the house to the beer stand and was wondering if anyone has ever used pneumatic air hose as a natural gas feed line? I have a natural gas quick connect fitting on the back of my house for a grill and thought that it would be too cool if I could use the same feed for making beer. I need to run the line about 25' to hook to the brewery and would only have it hooked up when in use. The longest flex connector I could find is only 10'. Air hose is rated for well over 100 psi and natural gas feed from the house is only 7" WC. A much, much lower pressure. I don't see why I could not make it work. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Bobby_M]

Since gas is low pressure, it's really picky about long narrow runs. A 1/4" or 3/8" ID hose is going easily limit flow to be unusable for brewing, especially if you want to run two burners or more at a time.

The other issue is that the QD on the house is specific to NG use so you'd need to find the male part for that.

I personally run 20' of 1/2" ID "utility hose" tapped off of 1/2" black pipe.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

You could also check some restaurant supplies for longer flexible line lengths.

Pricey.

 

[chefmike]

Hey Bobby-

I have a smaller NG line in my shop from an old heater (from prior owner)... 3/8's maybe? Any idea if the volume on that will be enough to run at least one of the 32 jet NG burners? I have not gotten to that point yet, but have a good deal on some propane tanks and may go that route.

The shop is 40 foot+ run from the trunk line on the house (3/4 pipe guessing).

Any thoughts on this setup? I have other options... propane, electric, different location. But the shop has tunes and comfort!

 

[nicksteck]

i would look at Gastite or wardlex, most big box stores sell it by the foot. that is basiclly flex gas connecter material.

 

[Bobby_M]

That gastite stuff is real nice but it's more meant for a permanent installation setup. That's not to say I wouldn't use it. Heck, it's got to be more suitable than the rubber hose I'm currently using. It really depends on the code in your area whether you'd find it in the big box stores or not. I've not seen it in NJ.

chefmike, I'd bet a lot of money that 40' of 3/8" isn't going to support a 32 tip burner. That's rated at what, 140,000 btu? I'm not HVAC guy or pipefitter but I would say at that length, 3/4" would be required for the 32 tip. Maybe 1/2" for the 23 tip and the 10 tip might run on your existing 3/8".

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/natural-gas-pipe-sizing-d_826.html

If I'm reading the charts right, 40' of 3/8 is good for only 20kBTU. That's also assuming there's nothing else tapped into the trunk that is causing a pressure drop.

 

[david_42]

I just went over to the local gas supplier & had a flex line made up to size with the necessary fittings. It was much cheaper than buying a shorter pre-fabbed line.

 

[Bobby_M]

How much cheaper? The prefabbed stuff is ridiculous once you get into the 1/2" and larger tubing. I'm not dropping $200+ for something that holds low pressure NG for 8 hours a month.

 

[chefmike]

awesome resource Bobby! Thanks for the link and the opinion. That makes ALOT of sense... 20k btu sounds right on the money for a small wall heater. I think I will go propane (or electric)

 

[Highlandsbrew]

I ran 1/2 inch black pipe to my garage and then converted to a heavy 3/8 air hose, using air fittings to connect hose to black pipe, and burner so I can disconnect hose and store away when I am not brewing. I could not get enough volume through hose coming off house regulator so I brought the run to the garage off before the regulator, our supply is a 2 psi system I use a ball valve at burner to control gas flow, this is working great for me. I also have a shut off valve inside the house and in the garage.

 

[david_42]

I don't remember the break-out, but a 6 foot line with compression fittings was only $16.

 

[conpewter]

I used 3/4" CSST (Corrugated stainless steel tubing) to make a run out to my shop. That might be a good thing to make this run with. On the other hand... for a brew-stand, I'd just use a utility hose like Bobby, but I live dangerously like that (Make sure to check for leaks!)

 

[Bobby_M]

Of course the biggest danger to using any old hose is forgetting to shut off the valve on the hard line when you're done using it. I've done my best to make it part of my brew day and even remove the valve handle and put it in my brew box so that the kids can't mess with it.