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Tuning a Frosty T-burner for use in a NARB


JHCC

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I'm in the process of building my first gas forge, which will be a basic helium tank (lined with ceramic wool and hard refractory) and one of Frosty's Naturally Aspirated Ribbon Burners (described HERE). So far, I have completed all the metalwork and am awaiting shipment on the refractory. I have filed the MIG tip so that it projects just under halfway into the run of the T, and it will certainly light and sustain a flame.

My question is this: while Frosty's T Burner Illustrated Directions give very good information on how to tune a T-burner for use on its own and the NARB instructions have good info on the number and size of the holes in the multi-port outlet block, it's not entirely clear to me how and when a T-burner for use in a NARB should be tuned.

Should I tune the T-burner as described in the standard directions before attaching it to the rest of the NARB? Since I've already welded the thread protector to the plenum, can I do this with just the nipple, or should I get something to temporarily increase the length of the mixing tube?

Or should I do the tuning once the multi-port block is cast and cured? If so, what should I be looking for?

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I used the same T, mig tip, and mixing tube that I had used for my "standard"  T burner.   Although I experimented with different lengths of pipe nipples and different sizes of mig tips, I ended up back at my original configuration.  My impression is that the ribbon burner runs slightly richer than the original T burner, but it still hits welding heat, has a wonderful range and a very stable flame.    The number and size of the outlet holes creates a balance so there's not a huge amount of extra back pressure, but there's no doubt there has to be a little bit more.  With all that in mind I'd recommend starting where it was tuned well as a single outlet burner and then you may or may not have to tweak it a bit with the ribbon head in place in the forge.

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