Tips to get furnace hotter?

[AnubisAnkh]

Hey all, I’ve built a gas cylinder foundry furnace and a burner.  It works great for melting Aluminum, but I want to melt copper. I ran it for like an hour and a half. The copper got bright orange and shimmery and very soft, but didn’t quite melt.  I feel like I was very close to melting temp and just need a few (hundred) more degrees.  I’ve adjusted the color in my photo to more accurately show the color (though it was glowing brighter). What can I do to eek some more heat from my burner?  I ran it up to 20 psi. My burner is using a .023 mig tip. The burner is 3/4 pipe. Should I use a mig tip with a bigger hole? A wider diameter pipe? Higher psi?  Should I add a blower to blow air down the pipe? Will any of those things help?  Anything else I should consider?  

[Frosty]

 Have you asked the person who designed the burner? If you didn't follow proven burner plans you should, they've already made the big mistakes so you don't have to. 

The mixing tube looks too long, a 3/4" dia. mixing tube should be 6" long and linear burners benefit from an output nozzle flare.

However, before you start rebuilding anything I recommend you do a little reading in the propane burner section specifically Burners 101. It'll give you a handle on what's what and the terminology we use so you can ask good questions and understand the answers. Saves a LOT of time.

Frosty The Lucky.

[AnubisAnkh]

Thanks Frosty. I’ll see if I can find the Burners 101 thread.  

[Frosty]

You're welcome, my pleasure. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

The Burners 101 thread is a sticky at the top of the gas forges section.