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I Forge Iron

Converting to house propane


Brian V

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Is anyone else running their propane forge on a whole-house propane tank?

I've got a my forge setup from propane bottles, but that's pretty expensive propane and freezing bottles is always a risk.  My house has a 400 gallon tank next to it, and I'd like to convert over to that.  However, the regulator I have goes from bottle pressure (130psi approx) to variable 0-15 psi.  I can't easily get a 130psi connection, since the house regulator is a 2 stage and the first is sitting directly on the tank.  So, the line I plumbed into the garage (from the house propane tank 1st stage) is 15psi. 

Can I use the same regulator I'm using now?  I feel like I would need a different one, since the supply side pressure is so different, but perhaps I'm missing something.  Has anyone done this?  Thanks.

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Might be a little more complicated than you are making it out. A few considerations:

  1. A 2 stage regulator setup usually drops the pressure in two steps. Are you sure the intermediate tap is only 15 psi?
  2. You should be able to use your forge regulator again, but in this case it would be really helpful to know what actual maximum gauge pressure you forge is running at.
  3. A long length of tube from your main out to your forge will have a lot of friction for the gas flow in use. This will drop the line pressure at the forge. You may need to use a larger than typical runout.
  4. I recommend checking your local code for gas train hookup requirements. If the forge is hard piped you may need a safety system. 
  5. If you don't have enough gas pressure to run a NA burner you can likely get by with a blown burner. 
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Welcome aboard Brian... If you put your location in your profile it will help in answering questions. Here in the Ozarks, my propane supplier advised they would put a separate shutoff valve on the house tank that we own, to hook up the forge regulator to. However to do that the tank would have to be empty.:o

I had a separate 115 gallon tank that he put in a new valve and all the seals for no charge and filled that tank for me. Both tanks are behind the forge.

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