BBQ Grill Bottle fueled Forge problem!

J. Neilson

J. Neilson

Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
3,621
OK, I need some help here guys. I'm doing a demo on Wednesday for a local kids summer program and needed a portable gas forge. I've never used a propane BBQ bottle to power a forge but, I figured, no big deal. I made a duplicate of my other forges just on a smaller scale (same plans/design from Indian George). There's an 1/8" oriface for the gas intake and it's forced air using an old hair dryer. We'll when I went to light it I just kept blowing it out. I figured the air was too much but, it doesn't seem like the bottle is pushing out any pressure at all. The guy who filled it said the gas comes out at 12 PSI (I normally only forge at 3 psi) from the bottle....bull****. I don't have a regulator on the line, just a hose crimped onto my intake pipe. What the heck am I doing wrong here. The flame only seems to be dribbling out and I thought I'd have too much pressure. :confused:
 
You need a regulator on it. I think those propane tanks are self regulated because I had the same problem. Hooked up a regulator and now the think cranks.
 
J. Neilson said:
OK, I need some help here guys. I'm doing a demo on Wednesday for a local kids summer program and needed a portable gas forge. I've never used a propane BBQ bottle to power a forge but, I figured, no big deal. I made a duplicate of my other forges just on a smaller scale (same plans/design from Indian George). There's an 1/8" oriface for the gas intake and it's forced air using an old hair dryer. We'll when I went to light it I just kept blowing it out. I figured the air was too much but, it doesn't seem like the bottle is pushing out any pressure at all. The guy who filled it said the gas comes out at 12 PSI (I normally only forge at 3 psi) from the bottle....bull****. I don't have a regulator on the line, just a hose crimped onto my intake pipe. What the heck am I doing wrong here. The flame only seems to be dribbling out and I thought I'd have too much pressure. :confused:
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Check for a restriction orifice in the line connector or valve, J., if any of it was made for BBQ. About the only thing comes to mind.
 
You do need to attach a regulator to the BBQ grill tank. If the amount of gas output by the tank increases dramatically, the relief valve kicks in and only lets a trickle of propane through. These tanks were designed for grills, so this is a built-in safety measure. With a regulator, you can gradually increase the pressure, so the protection valve doesn't activate.

I was running a couple of small venturi burners off a BBQ grill tank at 25 psi, so you shouldn't have a problem running a forge at less.
 
Did you try running the blowdryer on low speed?
I had a blower on a forge that I would have to light the forge with it on it's lowest setting plus half the air intake blocked off,then let it run to get the forge hot enough to keep the gas burning and then uncover the intake and then try the high setting if you want a stronger blast.
Otherwise I agree about getting a regulator.
Bruce
 
use the hose off of a weed burner it has a mechanism that blocks the presure relief valve
you could also use the weed burner blow torch end directly onto your forge
it generates about 3500 degrees and it runs at about 15-20 psi right out of the burner no hair dryer needed it creats its own venturi and air intake on the burner head

ohhh yeah and almost forgot ist completely adjustable so you could control the flame/temp easily
 
It can't be the blower; you couldn't blow out a cooking stove with one, could you?

Are you using the wrong connector on the tank? Or is the tank valve faulty? Or did they forget to refil the tank?
 
I'll try the regulator out in the morning. The regualtor that normally goes on grill tanks right? Not the welding type? One good thing about living out in the stix, the hardware store is always open. The hair dryer blows lower than my forge blower (on low) so that shouldn't be the problem and I know the tank is full (and brand new so I hole it's not faulty). I'll give that a try and report back tomorrow. I hope I can get this thing working. Aside from the kids program, this forge is just the right size for Danny.
:D
 
I didn't see a needle valve in line. I don't think you can use the valve on the tank for the adjustments. ??
Thinking again (get's me into more trouble),
Lynn
 
09POL05.jpg
fitzo said:
Check for a restriction orifice in the line connector or valve, J., if any of it was made for BBQ. About the only thing comes to mind.
Click to expand...


Fitzo is right that type of fitting on the bottle is for bbq grills the one that you need is for the older stlye. Its a male fitting that screws inside the valve "pol fitting". The hole on the older type fittings is about .25 dia. and the newer type hole is about the size of a needle. The pic at the top is what you need.
Hope this helps :D

Pj
 
J the fitting pictured above is what my weed burner, and my NC Tool forge fittings look like. Big hole in the end. Let me know how it goes.
Ed
 
J, I don't think you want the regulator from a bbq
grille. Doesn't give you enuff pressure. A welding type regulator will work. I use a regulator I got from, I think Farm and Fleet before they became Tractor Supply.
I run it inline with a needle valve and didn't have any problems when I ran 20#ers. bruce
 
Well, I went out to get some stuff for the mini-forge. when I went to get the new hose (with the different valve like Mr. Wrong pictured) the kid at the store took me right to the weed burners and after looking at that, heck I just bought a weed burner too. I figure I'll just yank out that elbow and jam the weed burner tip into it. It shoots out a nice flame cone and has a little valve and all. Even has a pizo lighter on it so no lighting pices of paper towel and throwing them into the forge to light it....I feel high tech. Since the forge only has a working area of about 2 1/2" I think this little venturi set up will work out well for a portable forge. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the long tube for the weed burner but, heck...can't have it all. I'll hook this mess up and try it out this afternoon and then check back. Thanks again guys, I appreciate all the help. You never let me down.
J.
 
You don't want the regulator from the BBQ.The weed burner will work fine, (I think PJH is being a bit optimistic with forecasts of 3500 degrees,2500 is more likely with a venturi burner).A regular gas welding regulator will work fine ,too.
 
So far so good. I took out the elbow and just stuck the weed burner in the 1 1/2" inlet that's welded to the forge body. It seems to work pretty good, of course it looks like I have a walking cane sticking out of my forge.
:rolleyes: The kids should like it though. The only concern I have is that unless I have the brass "bowl" tip right at the internal opening of the forge (just even with the kaowool) I get this put-put-put and the forge doesn't heat nearly as well. Should I be concerned about the brass tip? It's not like I'll be forging damascus in this little guy and the burner never got hot past a few inches of what was sticking out of the pipe. Also, how long does one of these grill tanks last...approx.?
Thanks again guys.
 
Well, here's what we ended up with. It's no beast welding forge but, it will do the job for the kiddies tomorrow. I ran it for an hour this morning (the extent of the demo) without any problems. Now as long as I have another hours worth of gas (ran it about 2 hrs so far) all should be fine. Now let's just hope it doesn't rain. ;)
Thanks again guys.
 
i get about 4-4.5 hrs out of my tank that looks like that size with a medium flame yesssssss you would like to have the whole burner brass tip exposed to open air as this is where it sucks in it air to cause the venturi effect and also generates most of its heat

if you modify the wholes and open them up slightly yes you will get 3500 degrees i have done it and used a laser thermo to get a reading it was about 3460 something i cant remember exact doing so also gives you a slightly wider flame body
 
PJH, who makes that laser thermo? Model number'd be nice, too, please. I'd be interested in reading their lit and seeing how much they cost. Thx.
 
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