Banjo Burner Problems

I got a new burner for xmas, and it is awesome. I was boiling 12 gallons in no time. However, it occasionally would drop to low flame and would not go higher. I would mess with it by turning the tank off and on, closing the side valve etc, but it seemed completely random as to when it would start working properly again.

It is a banjo burner with 30 PSI regulator and side valve. I had a new tank and tried another tank with the same behavior.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jim

Reply to
Jim
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Some propane setups have limiters in them and you may be hitting that... I've seen references to removing those (but I personally know nothing about it and can't recommend doing that).

Also, I believe that propane tanks can "freeze up" when used at a high rate.

You may want to do some googling on those two topics and see if you can find some details.

Reply to
Derric

Are you using butane or propane?

If butane it needs to be well above zero celcius to boil off but if you're pulling a lot of gas from it with a big burner and the whole cylinder temp gets too cold it'll stop boiling and you'll stop getting gas. Switch to propane, it boils at a much lower temperature so you don't get the prob. A 'normal' UK propane regulator at 47mbar gives about the same heat output as butane at 30mbar so you should see no difference.

Alternatively buy what is often sold as BBQ gas or patio heater gas, these are mixtures of propane and butane which effectively reduces the overall boiling point for the same reason and are used because, like your boiler, patio heaters use gas quicker than a butane cylinder can gain heat from its surroundings.

Rgds

Andy R

Reply to
Andy R

The propane tanks for exchange in the US are equipped with a safety mechanism that protects from all the gas going out through the valve in a short time. Works like a limiter, as long as the flow is reasonable it will continue to flow. If the flow gets too fast then the safety kicks in and pinches off the flow. I have one of these Banjo cookers and if you just back off the overall output a little, you won't have any problems. You might also have a tank safety that is a little over-sensitive.

Reply to
BierNewbie

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