Can you smell my propane?

[raypa]

OK. so I made a replica gas forge from the plans on the site here. It is completed except for the kaowool (which im waiting for payday to buy). ANYWAYs. i firgured I would fire it up. It burns ok, but there is a very un burned propane smell. I'm running at 10 psi with a reg from a turkey fryer.

I'm thinking I should close up the belled end a tad to allow it to burn more efficiently.


??

ray

[raypa]

here are some additional pics

The setup is 1/4" necked down to 1/8th" with a 1/32" hole drilled in the brass cap.

Why am i smelling propane?
Thanks in advance
ray

[NOS]

First thing is to take some soapy water and check all connections and hoses for leaks! Never take any chances with safety! If all of your connections are free of leaks, then start looking closer at your forge.

What color is the flame? (is it mostly blue, or a yellow/orange color) Sounds like you are running too rich, which is mostly a blue color flame. Also how far out is the "Dragon's breath" from the forge? Try cutting down the pressure a bit say around 5 psi or so, and see if you smell it then. Then you can experiment with more/less pressure as will as more/less air until you get the desired results.
Just my take on it anyway. I've had to do some adjusting to my forge to make it run more efficiently. If I'm wrong then I'm sure someone will correct me. I'm still a bit new, but that is how it was explained to me.

Hope this helps

[Rich Hale]

YOu need an adjustable regulater also did you use an existing design? and if you did did you make any changes to the plans?

[djhammerd]

There is an odor associated with propane gas forges, even well tuned ones, but that distinct propane odor should not be there.

I second checking for leaks first. The only time I have ever distinctly smelled propane is when there was a leak. Extremely dangerous.

[jimmy seale]

by all means... mix up soap and water and check all connections and the reg. too- it could be leaking, stay safe, jimmy

[ThomasPowers]

That reduction does not look smooth and even and you will not be getting a good aspiration with it. You don't want any "ledges" like you have.

I'd strongly suggest you rebuild the burner!

[raypa]

I used the plans from the 200 section of this site to build it. The only difference is that I used reducers from the belled end because I couldn't find the 2" to 1" bell. I wonder it I could use RTV to smooth out the transition. I am getting a blue flame that seams to float out past the end of the burner tube when the pressure is up but doesn't leave the forge. I drilled a 1/32" hole in the brass cap for the nozzle. The other modification is that I did not hozzle the 1" pipe like in the directions because I didn't know how. I checked my connections and did not see any apparent leaks.

Is there any other buner designs I can try if this one is going to give me issues?

As far as lowering the pressure, I was under the impression that I would need to run at least 10psi to opperate the forge.

Thanks for the help.
ray

[raypa]

Originally Posted by Rich Hale

YOu need an adjustable regulater also did you use an existing design? and if you did did you make any changes to the plans?

The regulator is adjustable from 0-10psi. I found the plans on this site with the changes listed in my other post. What do you think

Thanks ray

[ThomasPowers]

Pressure you run the forge at depends on burner, altitude, backpressure, etc there is no One True Pressure to run at---you adjust the pressure until it runs right for what you want to do.

(and don't forget most gauges can be radically off unless you have callibrated them to a known standard and that's only good until the next time you bump them...)

You can make hacks to try to fix the ledge issue but you may be better off just getting a proper sized reducer to start with.