new propane burner question bg-14

[jawsfree]

Well I've searched the forum and can't find an answer to the problem I'm having so here goes.

Equipment

I converted my single tier brew stand from

• 2 BG-10 Burners 1 each on HLT and Boil kettle
• 0-10 psi regulator on a 20.lb propane cylinder
• needle valves at each burner to provide adjustment
• 15 gal Boil kettle flat bottom
• HLT converted Keg.

New set-up

• 3 BG-14 Burners 1 each on HLT, Mash Tun, Boil Kettle
• 0-30 psi regulator on a 20 lb propane cylinder
• needle valves at each burner to provide adjustment
• All vessels are now 26 gallon w/ flat bottom

Problem
Burner will not light and stay lit.

Description:
With no kettles on stand I can light the burners fine, no problem. Once I place the kettles on the stand the burners are almost impossible to lite and impossible for them to stay lit. When I place my long handle lighter at the edge of burner and turn on the gas I just get a BIG poof. When I am able to get a few holes lit the flame starts to spread across the burner and then poof. My first thought was a bad regulator so I hooked up the old BG-10 burner directly to the regulator and it worked fine. I was able to get the burner lit by connecting the regulator directly to the burner and using the regulator to control the flame, bypassing the needle valve. At first my burners were 1-1\4 inches from bottom of kettle. I have now lowered them to 2-5\8 inches. I have attached some images and a short crappy video of the burners in action.

 

[Reaver]

What's happening is the combustion gasses are building up underneath the kettle and smoothering your flame. This has been discussed in some threads on brewstand design. You need to make some path for the exhaust to exit up or sideways from the bottom of the kettle instead of hitting the bottom and having to drop down below the frame rails to exit. Think of a chimney. I will look for a picture and thread for you to help with ideas.

 

[Reaver]

Here, check out this brewstand. It has vents out the back to allow the gasses to exhaust out the back. If you look at many of the stands... ususally the corners of the kettles are open becuase of the round kettle and the square stand. This allows exhaust flow too. Your kettles completely cover your stand sections.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f253/show-us-your-sculpture-brew-rig-46578/index298.html#post5824638

 

[purplehaze]

I had this same problem when I built my rig. The quick fix is to just use spacers to lift the kettle allowing the combustion gases to escape. Several pieces of 1/2" steel square stock work perfect for this. Once that's done you can readjust your burner height.

 

[jawsfree]

Thanks for the help. I build my stand for 15 gallon kettles so now that I've upgraded the kettles they cover all my exhaust ports so to speak. I will make some modifications and report back.

 

[day_trippr]

Faced with the same situation many folks attach risers made from solid bar steel or aluminum laid atop the frame.
Something thicker than 1/2" ought to work...

Cheers!

 

[jawsfree]

Well I finally got around to making some adjustments. I didn't want to make any major adjustments so I bought some 3/4'' nuts and placed them on four sides so the kettle could sit atop them. I also used a self tapping screw in the middle of each nut to keep it from sliding away from under the kettle. They worked great until I got to lighting the boil kettle. I did finally get it to work so I'm thinking I may have a problem with the needle valve on that burner. It starts to light and then POOF it blows itself out and scares the S@$! out of me. Here are some pics of the adjustments I made. Thanks for the help on this.

 

[Reaver]

Thanks for following up jawsfree