Blichmann Burner and a freezing propane tank

[MidTNJasonF]

Does anyone else have issues with their propane tank freezing up on them with the Blichmann Burner?

My two most recent brew sessions were a pain due to this. Ambient temps were in the low to mid 50's. I had a heck of a time keeping 5 gallons of wort boiling in my keggle and I tried two different tanks. One tank was fairly low and iced up just on the bottom. The other tank was nearly full and iced up most of the way up the side.

I shook the tank a little and the flame intensity instantly increased. I then ran some warm water over the tank and that also increased the flame intensity. I am forced to constantly monitor, adjust, and thaw to keep my boil going.

Could it be something with how I have the burner adjusted?

 

[JeepDiver]

Does anyone else have issues with their propane tank freezing up on them with the Blichmann Burner?

My two most recent brew sessions were a pain due to this. Ambient temps were in the low to mid 50's. I had a heck of a time keeping 5 gallons of wort boiling in my keggle and I tried two different tanks. One tank was fairly low and iced up just on the bottom. The other tank was nearly full and iced up most of the way up the side.

I shook the tank a little and the flame intensity instantly increased. I then ran some warm water over the tank and that also increased the flame intensity. I am forced to constantly monitor, adjust, and thaw to keep my boil going.

Could it be something with how I have the burner adjusted?

Turn the reg/burner down. You shouldn't need to be wide open to get a full boil going, it's freezing because the gas is going out too fast.

 

[donk5]

I have brewed in much colder temperatures and have not had that problem. I have no advice on how to rectify as I do not know what the problem is. I can say that the burner does some scary stuff when a tank becomes empty. In my situation, it sounded crazy and seemed like the flame was going to shoot back from the burner to the tank. I did not like it and now I tend to top the tank off.

I would mess with the regulator and oxygen slide on the burner and see if that helps.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Turn the reg/burner down. You shouldn't need to be wide open to get a full boil going, it's freezing because the gas is going out too fast.

The burner was down pretty low most of the time. Tried it a little more than and a little less than halfway turned out from off through the range of the regulator. I have brewed with this burner before without issue. In fact the only time I have ever had a tank freeze up before was an old hurricane burner on a 18 degree day.

When I am talking about flame intensity I am referring to the burner nearly going out then after shaking or rinsing the tank with warm water the flame comes back up to a fairly normal level. The level will barely roll 5 gallons in what I would call a light boil or heavy simmer.

 

[JeepDiver]

You may have an issue with the regulator, usually freezing up is a sign of gas going out too fast. I have an old semi-homemade dual burner cooker, with a high flow regulator. If I cut both burners all the way up I can freeze a tank on a 100 degree day

 

[MidTNJasonF]

You may have an issue with the regulator, usually freezing up is a sign of gas going out too fast. I have an old semi-homemade dual burner cooker, with a high flow regulator. If I cut both burners all the way up I can freeze a tank on a 100 degree day

Well I will do some experimenting before the next use and see if I can pinpoint it I guess. I think I can probably borrow another regulator from a friend that has the same burner.

I am building an all electric automated system so I can brew indoors which will eliminate this problem. I would like to keep part of my old system however in hopes of creating a portable travel brew rig that I can take to big club brew days and such. Have to at least sort out the issue for that.

 

[jakenbacon]

Have you tried keeping your tanks submerged in whatever temperature water is coming out of the hose? Like for instance, I use a large plastic bin full of water, and drop my tank in there (with the regulator still exposed obviously) before I even fire her up on cold days. Guarantee it won't freeze then...

 

[Monster Mash]

When I was using propane I kept the tank in water, that kept it from freezing.

 

[Huff360]

Nothing wrong with the regulator. You are just using enough gas that the tank is getting cold. Propane is a liquid in the tank. As you remove the gas trapped in the headspace the pressure drops and the liquid begins to absorb heat from the surrounding air to boil the liquid and make more vapor. The faster you remove the vapor the more heat is required to boil the liquid.

As others have said a tub of water to provide the needed thermal mass will work well. Another option is to wrap the tank in a heating pad (like for sore muscles) to provide the heat.

You can also move the tank closer to the burner. Be sure there are no leaks!!

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

place the propane bottle on top the burner

 

[thadius856]

Didn't read every post, admittedly, but one thing that should be noted.

In addition to the more gas being pulled from the tank, as mentioned... the emptier the tank, the more likely the tank is to freeze. It may be a good idea to keep the tank about a set mark, say, 50% to keep it from freezing.

 

[Huff360]

Didn't read every post, admittedly, but one thing that should be noted.

In addition to the more gas being pulled from the tank, as mentioned... the emptier the tank, the more likely the tank is to freeze. It may be a good idea to keep the tank about a set mark, say, 50% to keep it from freezing.

And why is that? (Cause I'm the kind of person that hates a "fact" with no support...)

It is true that as the tank gets closer to empty, the chance of it freezing up is higher. I would venture a guess that this influenced by 2 things.

1. Thermal mass. The more propane liquid there is in the tank, the higher the thermal mass of the propane. There's more heat stored in the tank to help with creating vapor before it needs to start pulling heat from outside the tank.

2. Surface area of the tank that is in contact with the liquid. The lower liquid level in the tank means there is less surface area of the tank that is in contact with both the outside and the liquid. The tank will be warmer above the liquid level as the thermal conductivity of the tank isn't good enough to move the heat from the upper part down to the liquid at the bottom.