Beginner needs help

[Stefan55]

Hello,

my name is Stefan and I have been lurking on here for a while trying to learn as much as I can. Now I need some specific help.

I bought myself a 2 burner forge (Fucina Forge) that came ready to be assembled and fired up. I might have jumped the gun on buying one before doing all the research, but it was a good deal and, well you live and you learn

 After learning that the ceramic fiber blanket is hazardous by itself, I decided to rigidize it and then cover it with about 1/2" Kast-O-Lite 30. Now I am wondering if that is causing some back pressure because it seems like the forge is not running as it should. Especially on one side, the flame sputters a lot and does not get the forge to very even heat.

Now I don't have a lot of reference points, so here are some pictures and then a couple of questions to get me going in the right direction.

 

In the next picture you can see the difference in the 2 flames, the close one is the one that sputters a lot in certain psi settings. Because it is "longer" I suspect the back pressure to be a problem.

 

Now to the questions;

At what PSI setting should you run the forge for normal forging and how long should it take for the forge to get up to temperature? (The forge is 18" long and the inside is 4.5" to 5" wide and high, used to be 6").

What else can cause the flame to sputter?

After running for about 15 minutes the burner itself gets too hot to touch, even at the top where the airchoke is. Is that normal?

 

I am sure I will have more questions later but this is a good place to start. Please let me know if you need anymore information or pictures.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

[ThomasPowers]

What did the manufacturer say when you contacted them?

[Stefan55]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

What did the manufacturer say when you contacted them?

I am waiting for a reply from them too. I thought I use the vast knowledge people have here as another resource to try and troubleshoot my problem. I'll report back as soon as I heard from them.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

Did you have one end blocked with brick? Did you have the other end partially blocked with brick? You have to allow for an exhaust, at one end, not two. Start with one burner, when it is running, start the second burner. One step at a time, 1-2-3-4.... It will take a bit of slow work to dry the moisture in the mud,

Keep a notebook with all adjustments made and what was the result.

Neil

[Mikey98118]

You do know that until all the chemically locked water content in the refractory is steamed off completely that you're going to be creating high pressure steam, which you can't see, but which will interfere with the burner flames, don't you?

BTW, have you drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the forge to allow heated water and steam to escape through, rather than through a crack in the refractoy?

[Stefan55]

1 hour ago, swedefiddle said:

Good Morning,

Did you have one end blocked with brick? Did you have the other end partially blocked with brick? You have to allow for an exhaust, at one end, not two. Start with one burner, when it is running, start the second burner. One step at a time, 1-2-3-4.... It will take a bit of slow work to dry the moisture in the mud,

Keep a notebook with all adjustments made and what was the result.

Neil

I did try to block it off with brick and it made it worse. I can play around with partially blocking it off one side or the other to see if I get any better results.

 

43 minutes ago, Mikey98118 said:

You do know that until all the chemically locked water content in the refractory is steamed off completely that you're going to be creating high pressure steam, which you can't see, but which will interfere with the burner flames, don't you?

BTW, have you drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the forge to allow heated water and steam to escape through, rather than through a crack in the refractoy?

I did not know that the steam would interfere with the flames themselves. That's good to know, thanks. I did not drill any holes because I thought the moisture would dissipate through the inside of the forge. I spent a day trying to get the temperature up slowly a little hotter every time. So is one small hole at the bottom going to be sufficient? And how do I know it has dried out completely and should not interfere with the flame anymore?

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Steffan, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header forum members may be living within visiting distance. Also a lot of information is location specific.

I'm not familiar with those burners though they look reasonably well made. Do both of them have the plate with the large center hole and ring of smaller holes on the output ends? 

The way the burners are mounted looks to me like they're getting exhaust gasses from the forge mixed with the combustion air. As a quick test to see if this is the problem lay it on it's side and see how it works. Steam escaping from the refractory will also mix with the combustion air and inhibit the blame. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[JHCC]

No specific advice, but definitely welcome aboard!

[ThomasPowers]

Note that re-running exhaust through a burner spikes CO production too!

[Rojo Pedro]

My burner acts a little strange when I first start the forge. A little sputtery and inconsistent but goes away once it heats up a bit.
 

It might not make sense but my forge likes to be closed at start up. 

I leave my back door closed always unless I need to pass through some longer stock. The front door I normally have half to full open once it is up to heat but I have found that it likes both doors closed when I first start it up. It seems to stop the sputter and help heat it up a little faster. after a few minutes, the burner settles down and I open the front door and all is well. 
 

something you might try

[Mikey98118]

It isn't strange at all. About half of my burners need to be severely chocked until they heat up; even more in the open air then when mounted in a forge.

[timgunn1962]

Perspective doesn't help, but are the chokes in both burners set the same? Second pic, it looks like the right-hand burner might have more choke opening?

[Mikey98118]

Actually the shorter flame in the rear burner is likely to be the hotter of the two; it is possible that it is the forward burner that needs a little help; but only a little. Both flames are blue, without any tinge of green, and I see no secondary flames, although they are probably present, and just not noticeable in the photo; that indicates that any secondary flames are minor. Overall, the burners are the last place I would like to for improved performance.