Beer Forum

I want to run two seperate Bayou Burners off of one propane tank.

I need some ideas and parts on how to achieve this. It will be a single tier set up.

thanks

Kevin

kpt982 wrote:I want to run two seperate Bayou Burners off of one propane tank.

I need some ideas and parts on how to achieve this. It will be a single tier set up.

thanks

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Google up up "propane splitter" and you will find what you are looking for. It looks like a splitter is not much cheaper than just buying and filling another BBQ size tank. Maybe you could get a cheap splitter from Harbor Freight. I would get the extra tank if I were you though. I run two burners at once and I always have three full tanks on hand.

When building my single tier I originally planned on running off of one tank, but ran into issues with finding high pressure burners, orifaces, and associated plumbing to make it work cleanly. I ended up resolving all building issues except for the propane/one tank problem and, anxious to brew, used separate tanks to run the two burners. After about 10 batches on the system, I am still happy with the two tanks and like knowing that I always have an extra tank on hand so I should never run out of propane at critical moments. At some point, I may plumb for one tank, but it is not a priority for me right now.

At the same time, I didn't go the automatic temp control/pump route thinking that I could add that feature later. After several batches, I realized that the extra expense was only going to save me from turning on/off the burners and pumps a couple of times throughout the brew process. It don't see the value in spending the extra money to not have to light a burner 2-3 times during the mash.

I don't think I helped you out at all ... but you really should just brew on the new system, enjoy it, and let me know if you find a good way to plumb a single tank to a high pressure system.

I am currently running 3 off one tank, and it works great (I have never needed to run all 3 at one time, 2 max). Below is an photo of my original set-up, which I have modified greatly since the first igition, but the concept which you are asking about still applies.



The high pressure reg is attached on the left side of the black pipe assembly, and I tee off to each burner (the yellow line on the far right went to my third burner). Since the interface to the burniers at a pipe thread, you just need to find the right adapters to interface with the burners with the pipe manifold. Ask one of the old guys at Home Depot or Orchard Supply to help you.

Make sure you do not place your valves in the general location which I show here, they will get hot. I also replaced these 1/4 turn ball valves with gas fireplace needle valves, and get greater control.

Good luck,
-Greg

I posted a pic in another thread on how I ran mine. Hope it helps.

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18671

Been wanting to do something like this too, but one thing that has me a little concerned is when I'm running one burner (hurricane burner) on full blast, ice will accumulate on the propane tank. My thought that all this evaporative cooling would actually slow down the liquid-to-gas phase change and not allow me to run the burners at full bore. Anybody had any issues with this when running more than one burner? I've kept it to two tanks because of this concern.

telejunkie wrote:Been wanting to do something like this too, but one thing that has me a little concerned is when I'm running one burner (hurricane burner) on full blast, ice will accumulate on the propane tank. My thought that all this evaporative cooling would actually slow down the liquid-to-gas phase change and not allow me to run the burners at full bore. Anybody had any issues with this when running more than one burner? I've kept it to two tanks because of this concern.

I have been known to freeze my tank up just running one high-pressure burner. The solution is to put it in a big bucket of water. (the kind they sell at Lowes or Home depot with the rope handles. Usually red or blue.) It's really only a problem in weather below 75 degrees or so, but you could freeze a tank in warmer weather by running three burners full on.
As far as running two or more burners from one tank, that should be fairly easy to do. any really decent hardware store should have all the parts you need. Just run the hose from the regulator to a manifold that you can build with off-the-shelf parts. You can use gas QDs or just unscrew the hoses if you don't want to use hard pipe. I also highly recommend you use needle valves. Ball valves are virtually impossible to fine tune your burner with.

Sorry I don't have a pic, but I built my own propane splitter for under $10 with parts from the hardware store. Basically I just took apart 2 lp regulators and split them with a brass tee and a few male couplers (1/4"). To do this you need to remove the thtreaded tank connectors from both regulators (I used a tire iron since it was the only tool I had that was deep enough and fit the nut inside the tank connection). Then I took the parts to the local Ace and found all the parts I needed. Use gas tape to seal threads. Here's a basic schematic if I don't make sense.

Code: Select all

Regulator - tee - Regulator
              |
      LP tank connection

the benefit is that you still have the regulators to independently control the flames on both burners. No issues with tank freezes on my system. Hope that helps.

Edit- I use low pressure burners