Propane Tank management

[lexuschris]

Hey all,

This weekend, I had a small glitch when hooking up my propane tank to my camp stove. I had only used the tank 1 time, for my previous batch, but I wanted to make sure I still had enough fuel for Monday's brewday. I hooked it up, turned it on, lighted it.. no problem. I then turned it off while I gathered the rest of my equipment.

10 mins later, I tried to light it up and nothing. I disconnected the entire setup 3 times, thinking mabye I tripped a safety valve or something. Nope.

I then spent the next 1.5 hours draggin this nearly full propane tank around town, trying to get it filled or otherwise back to my brewing. I ended up buying a used tank, full of propane, from a gas station in Tustin. WAPINA!

Any thoughts as to why my nearly full tank just gave up on me? One guy at a propane filling station said I need to take it to a repair shop. I just keep thinking that I tripped a safety valve in there, and there is a trick to resetting it...

Thanks,
--LexusChris
p.s. how many brew sessions should I expect from one of those BBQ propane tanks... 4? 5? 10?

[carbon]

I don't really have any advice for you, but had a curious propane situation of my own. A couple of months ago, I had a propane tank filled at a gas station by a shifty guy who had clearly been huffing paint before I arrived and who talked about getting "fucked up" on ale. When I got home and hooked up the tank, I couldn't get the flame to be much stronger than a small lighter. I disconnected and reconnected this thing like 4 times and couldn't get any power behind the flame. I let this tank sit until two days ago, and hooked it up again. It worked as it should. Go figure.

[jward]

A grill did that low flame crap to me once. I called the manufacture to inquire about it. The explanation was that regulator has a safety feature to prevent the propane from flowing too freely as in a cut supply hose to the burners/valves. They said if you turn on the gas too quickly it can trip that limiter. I would close the valve to the burner and open the tank valve slowly. If there is a safety feature in the tank you might fully open and close the valve while connected and under pressure.

[backyard brewer]

A grill did that low flame crap to me once. I called the manufacture to inquire about it. The explanation was that regulator has a safety feature to prevent the propane from flowing too freely as in a cut supply hose to the burners/valves. They said if you turn on the gas too quickly it can trip that limiter. I would close the valve to the burner and open the tank valve slowly. If there is a safety feature in the tank you might fully open and close the valve while connected and under pressure.

I've heard the same thing. I've also heard that "rapping the tank sharply on the ground" while the valve is closed will reset the flow valve.

Having said that........ NATURAL GAS BABY!!!!!

I made the choice to get away from propane about 8 years ago after i bought this house and was grilling about $40 worth of halibut and ran out of propane. 4 gas stations later and $40 worth or ruined halibut: I'm a natural gas man (and I cook with it too).

[Oskaar]

Another Natural Gas proponent here. All my burners in the system are natural gas, however, I'm a wood fire guy on the barbeque, no green tree-hugging in this man's palace!

Cheers, Oskaar

[jward]

Lump charcoal, the green (renewable) BBQ fire source. Nay to those evil petroleum based environment destroying propane grills.

[beerGuardin]

Hey Lex, I have had similar experiences with propane. Heres what Ive found though. If the tank is completely full or overfilled even, the regulator begins to freeze and the propane comes out slower. Ive found that if I spray hot water on the regulator, the gas will begin to flow more freely. After the first hour or so, the problem usualy goes away and its smooth sailing until the tank runs out. May not be your exact problem though....

Also, If you need a reliable place to get your propane filled in the future, check out united rentals, 16300 gothard in HB. At the very least know where one is at so you dont have to drive around for hours looking for a gas station.

Cheers,
Pat

[lexuschris]

Thanks for the good advice btw.

I was able to get my original nearly full tank working again after a firm drop on the cement or two, and really going slow when turning on and lighting the flame. I also noticed that my regulator attachment collar can feel firm before it actually gets to a full seal. That might have been it too.

BTW, I just topped off both my tanks. Looks like I used a full 5 gallons of propane for my first 7 batches... so at least now I have a benchmark of 6-7 batches before I should refill, and a spare tank already to go for when I run out.

--LexusChris

p.s. would like to go natural gas eventually ...

[oc eric]

Thanks for the good advice btw.

p.s. would like to go natural gas eventually ...

I did some research on this. It seems you can drill holes into the propane burners to open them up for more natural gas (it does not burn as big or hot as propane). Directions from google search):

So here is how to convert your standard Turkey fryer from propane to natural gas. This assumes you already have a natural gas pipe with quick attach coupler. I have tried it myself and can testify that it works. I can easily switch my gas line from my natural gas grill and back. No more carrying propane tanks! No more running out of gas at the worst time!

1. cut off the gas hose on the turkey fryer next to the propane regulator. Thow it away.

2. Cut the end of a quick connect hose that come in the gas grill conversion kit available at most hardward store.

3. Use double male end splicers from the plumbing department with hose clamps to connect the two cut ends of hose.

4. This will work as is but is under fueled because the nozzle in set for the higher pressures of propane making the burner under powered. To convert the nozzle, use a 1/16 or 5/64 drill bit and drill out the opening in the nozzle. Start small and work up. The 5/64 is quit a flame.

5. Use the quick connect to attach to your gas line and light.


There are some guys selling NG burners, but they are expensive $200-$400.

Morebeer.com recently came out with natural gas burners. They don't have the BIG BTU's like the propane burners, but they aren't crazy expensive either. If my stove can't get a 10 gallon batch to boil, I'll be getting the morebeer.com burners and will post the results.

[lexuschris]

Great tip Eric!

I'll probably switch to NG at some point... I do brew atop my built-in BBQ counter which has natural gas hooked up. Hmm... perhaps a good project in the spring!

--LexusChris

[BrewMasterBrad]

Great tip Eric!

I'll probably switch to NG at some point... I do brew atop my built-in BBQ counter which has natural gas hooked up. Hmm... perhaps a good project in the spring!

--LexusChris

NG is the way to go. I put a tee in NG line on my built-in BBQ to connect my brew stand to.

[backyard brewer]

You can get NG burners for not a lot of money. THe best thing about NG is if you run out of NG, you've got much bigger problems than just a ruined brew day!

[BrewMasterBrad]

I have three of these cast iron NG burners on my system, and they are more than powerful enough to boil 13 gallons of wort.