Burner/Regulator issue

[Txcwboy]

Ron type burner, hooked to a regulator and a cut off valve. Everything was working great last time I used it. Regulator is set to 8 pounds, gas is on, valve is closed...open the valve hear the large hiss, light it . It burns like a jet engine then quits. Regulator shows 0 psi. Turn the valve close and the regulator goes back to 8 pounds. Tried changing the vent on the burner , changing to higher psi and nothing worked. Bad regulator ???

Any Ideas ?

Dave

[sdcb27]

That would be my guess. Sometimes the manifold/gasket goes bad

[Gene Chapman]

I Googled gas forge regulators and all kinds of forge sites came up. Perhaps they can help.

[Gene Chapman]

I have seen the newer 20# tanks with the safety valve tripping if opened too fast, the pressure does go up but only lets a small volume of gas through, Try turning the tank valve on very slow.

[Teknition]

Originally Posted by Gene Chapman

I have seen the newer 20# tanks with the safety valve tripping if opened too fast, the pressure does go up but only lets a small volume of gas through, Try turning the tank valve on very slow.

Thats exactly whats happening. Happened to me when I built my first forge as well.

[Gene Chapman]

Yeah, it happens once iin a while. usually when hooking up a fresh tank and opening the valve too quick.

[Txcwboy]

This is a new tank and the valve looks different than last. I had wondered about that. I ll try that and report back.

thanks !
Dave

[Txcwboy]

it doesnt seem to matter how slow I turn it on or work the valve. It goes out over a certain PSI. Looks like around 4 psi the regulator gauge goes to 0. It does start out blowing good though.

Dave

[Ray Rogers]

I'd bet dollars to dimes it's the OPD safety feature in your propane tank (which is what the others have said in different words). If you are using a 20 lb tank it's very easy to trip the OPD when running a burner, easier still if the tank is not full or near full. OPD tanks require that large plastic fitting to connect your hose. If you open one of these tanks without any hose or regulator attached to it absolutely nothing will happen - they must sense some back pressure from a regulator before gas will flow. At colder (really cold) times of the year the small tanks can have trouble because they can't build up much pressure for very long.

If you can get a 100 lb tank you're problem would go away because they don't have OPD on them. These tanks cost about $95 new around here. If that's not possible, a 30 or 40 pounder should be a little better ....

[Txcwboy]

I sent blu rhino an email they are the people that do the tank exchange. Last tank was from them too but the valve was different. What size the the normal bbq tank ? 30 lbs ? I saw some of those taller cylinder type for sale on craigslist but I wasnt sure of the size I was looking for.

Dave

[Ray Rogers]

A regular tank for BBQ is usually a 20 pounder. Again, your situation should improve at least a little as the tanks get bigger but the problem won't go away reliably until the OPD goes away. That doesn't happen until you get to the 100 ponders.

Look at the connector that you use to attach to the tank - it is a large plastic female socket that screws on over the brass nozzle on your tank. That indicates an OPD is in that tank. The old style tanks didn't require the big plastic socket. On them, your hose had a small brass connector that screwed into a female receptacle on the tank (the outside of the receptacle was not threaded as they are now). You might still find one of those old tanks but no one will fill them for you now except for the 100 pounders and larger tanks which are still legal...

[Txcwboy]

I had the old style a while back. I had to upgrade to get the tank exchanged.But the last tank I had was a plastic big nut type and it worked fine. The has a different valve on it.It maybe just a newer type than I had before.There is not anything that can be adjusted on the valve ? I see it has a plastic cap/insert in the valve.

[Ray Rogers]

There's nothing you can adjust on the tank, the OPD mechanism is inside the tank. Another nice thing about the OPD tanks is that you cannot run them dry, the OPD will shut off the tank when there's still a pretty good amount of gas left in the tank. Don't you just love progress?

[Txcwboy]

Man this sux ! I have a knife to HT and no way to do it now. Hate to send them off. Dont have the cash for a 100 tank yet.

Dave

[Teknition]

Try to crack the tank valve just very slightly, enough to get the gas to start flowing to the regulator but no more. Let the line fill up, once the line is full open the tank valve. Hold a lit propane torch in front of the burner and very very slowly open the regulator to light the burner. I think if you play around a bit you will get it to work. It is the sudden surge of propane that stops the flow.

Good luck