JeremyP Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 I've noticed lately after a few hours of running the dragons breath out of the forge starts burning green. it burns green whether i have steel in it or not, and the flame seems to extend further from the forge than when its warming up. Am I burning out my lining? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 We need a little more info. Some pictures would help even if you do not capture the dragon breath. Why type of forge, lining, coating(s), burner(s)? What work do you normally do? Have you done any unusual work when this started? What were you doing when you first noticed the green? Have you worked with unusual materials? What fluxes and compounds do you use? Have you done much forge brazing? What is the lighting of the area like? My guess is you have a contamination that flares green, such as copper. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecelticforge Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 That happened to me years ago and everyone I asked insisted it was sulphur. However, my education and testing showed that sulphur burns blue. Chromium is the most likely culprit. It can be found in paint, and even some refractory materials. It is also used in many things as a catalyst. You may want to see what kind of stuff is in your coal pile before you burn it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyP Posted May 1, 2010 Author Share Posted May 1, 2010 The forge is 10" dia and 24" long with a single reil style burner. I have whats called 'cerwool' for a liner, 1" blanket wrapped twice. I also put some of the denser type firebrick inside as a floor to protect the wool from scrapes. It takes a good couple hours to get realy hot at which point a greenish flame begins to appear. I just noticed yesterday that when the forge is heat soaked for a good several hours the firebrick inside gets a big gooey, I can scrap a thin layer of the brick off with my metal if I wanted to. Im wondering if those firebricks are the culprit. If I shut the forge off, let it cool for 1/2 hour I can turn it back on and it wont burn green for another hour or so. As far as what kind of metal i've been putting in there, I can't think of anything unusual that I might have been sticking in there. Another hypothesis I have is that the green flame seemed to have appeared right around the same time I hooked up a new tank to feed the forge. The tank is an old truck fuel tank that someone gave me. I forgot to take the pickup tube out of it first before filling it so I have it on its side so I'm drawing vapour but every so often you can hear it take a sip of liquid. although liquid propane burns blue and orange I wonder if there isn't something in the fuel lines or tank thats giving a green flame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyP Posted May 1, 2010 Author Share Posted May 1, 2010 I'll be forgin later today I'll try to capture the green flame with a pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Gomez Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Your flame will also turn pale green (inside the chamber) if your forge is running extremely rich (too much fuel) which would also account for the longer dragons breath. Try ditching the siphon tube propane tank and see if your problem goes away before you go to tearing into your forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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