Propane Burner Cleaning

[bytor2012]

I'm on my second propane burner and I'm having the same problem as I did with the first one...yellow flame throughout the boil resulting in the kettle being covered in soot making a huge mess. This is very annoying!

From what I've read there needs to be a balance between propane and air going into the burner to achieve a blue flame. I have come to the conclusion that there is a clog somewhere preventing airflow.

Can anyone tell me how to clean a propane burner? Or suggest another solution?
(FYI - I'm using the darkstar burner form northern brewer)

 

[user 163849]

I use compressed air from my air compressor to blow the spider webs and such out of the burner before each use. If you do not have an air compressor I know you can get special brushes for cleaning the burner on RV water heaters which might come in handy. There are probably other sources for the brushes as anything from an RV supply is way overpriced in my experience. But it is hard to beat a quick blast of compressed air for keeping the burner's airway unobstructed.

 

[day_trippr]

From the preponderance of reviews, this seems like typical behavior for that "Dark Star" burner.
I'm not sure you can make that burner run any better...

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

I took the screw out of the center of my burner and used a brush to remove ash? debris. (once in 3 years) It made very little difference in my case. SP10.

 

[tracyk]

I was having a problem with my propane burner doing the same thing. Then I lowered it and all is good. Now I have a nice blue flame, with no soot. Just was not getting enough oxygen. I was using a BG10 burner though on my homebuilt stand.

 

[soccerdad]

if it's rusty and clogged, put a wire brush attachment on your power drill and scrub it

 

[Gibberoni]

I have the darkstar burner as well. I also noticed that no matter what I did, there was always a yellow flame. I decided to play with the fuel/air ratio. I found that the darkstar pulls in WAY too much air. I took a piece of electrical tape and covered 1/2 of the air intake. It still allows for play, as I let the metal ring still move around. This has dramatically decreased my soot, and creates a much nicer/hotter blue flame.

 

[grimzella]

I had this problem when converting over to natural gas. I had to get my air\gas balanced just right AFTER I found the correct diameter for the orifice. maybe your orifice is partially clogged?

 

[houndsbreath]

After 2 years of brewing (about 15 batches) on a cheap $40 burner, I noticed the same problem. Rust and debris will clog the orifice beneath the disk that send gas to the fire. I used the brush attachment on my Dremmel to buff all the rust and junk off the disk and my burner was good (or better) than new. When new, burners seem to have a little slag from manufacturing in there that works its way into the orifices.