# Regulator For 3 Ring Burner



## whippee (4/7/11)

Hello,
I have purchased a 3 ring burner for my BIAB brewing using a 19l pot. The burner is this one: 
\
http://www.auscrown.com/page/shop/flypage/...y/e/ringburners


I am wondering what sort of regulator I need to run this burner properly. I tried to use a normal BBQ non adjustable regulator, but i seemed as though I couldnt get the flame real direct on the bottom of the pot, it seemed to have more orange flame and went up the side of the pot. Do I need to purchase a medium pressure adjustable regulator for this burner? If so where can i purchase one of these, Bunnings, ect?

Any ideas/suggestions welcomed.

Thanks again,
Andy


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## jayse (4/7/11)

BBQ reg should work fine, is the air intakes opened up?
I only ever used a BBQ reg when I used those and it did the job fine.


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## bignath (4/7/11)

As per Jayse.

Many people use this same burner under a 50lt keg as a boiler. Myself included. No problems hitting boil temps (big rolling boil) with this burner and a standard BBQ regulator.

Of course, an adjustable medium pressure reg will do better, but on a 19lt pot, it's massive overkill. I have ummed and aaahhhed over upgrading my regulator for my above mentioned keggle, but at the moment am not worried about it. It's on my to do list, but if it never happens, oh well. I can still make it boil 50lt no worries.


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## adryargument (4/7/11)

My 4 burner will happily boil 50L in pouring rain with wind, however thats the limit - will struggle with a nearly empty gas bottle on a BBQ regulator.

Yours should be fine for 19L, could probably maintain a boil with only the center ring 

Edit: Big Nath, going to the med pressure burner is a great idea IMO. I find i use less gas as i have the two center burners on full blast, instead of the two outer burner which seems to lose more gas to wastage around the kettle (98L).


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## fergi (4/7/11)

i am using that exact same burner, i just use the standard bbq regulator but i have one of the large upright gas bottles used for household cookers/fires connected.

i use a 40 liter pot with about 30 liters of wort, it brings it to a really nice boil then i turn down the second ring and only use the outside ring and small inner ring, sometimes if i want a really vigorous boil i use the outer ring and second ring.you might need to adjust the brass air adjusters on each valve,

i found the best way is not to have a pot on the burner , just light all 3 then adjust each one with the brass air ring on each one.
fergi


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## whippee (4/7/11)

Cool thanks for the fast replies, I will have a play around with it and adjust the air inlet nuts and try and keep the "flames" down.

thanks


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## DJR (4/7/11)

Mine always went orange and sooty in the center - so i just ran with the outer 2 rings or kept the flow down to about 1/4 of a turn on the middle. Maybe i had a bad jet or something. 

Worked fine on a 35L boil in my Al kettle with LP BBQ regulator

Used Matho's one with a medium pressure reg, boiled real fast and burnt the crap out of my shelving


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## amiddler (4/7/11)

whippee said:


> Cool thanks for the fast replies, I will have a play around with it and adjust the air inlet nuts and try and keep the "flames" down.
> 
> thanks



As others have said in a round about fashion, yellow or orange flames are to rich and need more oxygen to burn blue. Either open the air intakes or if they are fully open try sitting the burner up on a couple of bricks so the air can come in from underneath and help the flame out.

Drew


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## bignath (4/7/11)

adryargument said:


> Edit: Big Nath, going to the med pressure burner is a great idea IMO. I find i use less gas as i have the two center burners on full blast, instead of the two outer burner which seems to lose more gas to wastage around the kettle (98L).




Yeah i see where you're heading with this but i've been on a mission with my gas usage of late. I have a set of salter scales (just like they use in the servos where i get my gas filled) and it indicates that after each brewday, my bottle weighs approx. 500-750g less than when i started.

That's a lot of brewing out of a nine kilo bottle....Don't need anything more efficient than that as yet.

As i said, i do know what you're getting at though, and it's for that same reason that i've thought of getting a more powerful regulator and using less rings on the burner.


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## Dave70 (5/7/11)

Ive got exactly the same one and it work's as good as its gonna get off a bbq reg.
Getting more oomph out of your burner is about the design of the burner itself rather than high pressure reg. Cramming more LP into an oldschool design like this is pointless.
Try fiddling with the little discs to get the optimum airflow or adjusting the height of your pot. Mine sits about 10mm of the flame tip and works fine.
For the record, don't count on getting more than 3 x 90 minute x 30l boils (if you use your gas to heat the strike and sparge water anyway). You might squeeze another in, but you'd be cutting it fine. 
One day I gonna drag the bathroom scales down stairs and see how much gas they suck per boil.


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## bignath (5/7/11)

Dave70 said:


> Ive got exactly the same one and it work's as good as its gonna get off a bbq reg.
> Getting more oomph out of your burner is about the design of the burner itself rather than high pressure reg. Cramming more LP into an oldschool design like this is pointless.
> Try fiddling with the little discs to get the optimum airflow or adjusting the height of your pot. Mine sits about 10mm of the flame tip and works fine.
> For the record, don't count on getting more than 3 x 90 minute x 30l boils (if you use your gas to heat the strike and sparge water anyway). You might squeeze another in, but you'd be cutting it fine.
> One day I gonna drag the bathroom scales down stairs and see how much gas they suck per boil.



I'm only doing 60min boils, and i have an electric HLT. Im up to my 4th or 5th brewday on the same bottle, and it's still weighing half full. (i've weighed it empty and written it on the side of the bottle with texta). Reckon i'm gonna easy get 8 sessions out of it. I am expecting the last few sessions as i near the end of the bottle may be a struggle with less gas left to give good pressure before i officially run out...


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## ben_sa (5/7/11)

Whippee: do you mind me asking how much this bad boy cost?


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## Dave70 (5/7/11)

ben_sa said:


> Whippee: do you mind me asking how much this bad boy cost?



Mine was around the $70 mark.

Dunno about Whippee..


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## tones0606 (5/7/11)

BCF has them for $54.90

LINKY


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## whippee (5/7/11)

Actually bought it off eBay bnib for 33bucks. Good buy I thought


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## felten (5/7/11)

I wasn't happy with my 3 ring performance when I first got it as well, so I took the taps apart completely and they were chock full of grease. It might be worth having a look at yours and seeing if a bit of a clean up helps with the flame.

Although the middle ring still sucks so I don't use it anymore. It starts out nice and blue but after a couple of minutes it starts sooting and stays like that.


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## jeffsonia (5/7/11)

G'day,
got a question that is slightly off topic. I have a natural gas outlet on my patio and was wondering if anyone uses or knows if you can use natural gas over LPG on the three or four ring burners. If so are there any advantages/ disadvantages apart from the obvious of not having to re-fill your gas or running out mid boil? Any feedback would be greatful.

Cheers.
Jeff.


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## kelbygreen (5/7/11)

not sure if you have to get a special burner for the cast iron ones but the mongolians and ducks bill burners have different outlets for the NG over LPG plus from what I read LPG is more efficient giving you better heating. Not sure the cost of NG if its heaps cheaper then LPG the little loss in performance may still work out better just mean it might take longer to boil thats all.


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## kelbygreen (5/7/11)

Ok looked on few sites seems there for LPG you prob could get a gas fitter to turn it into natural gas burner but the cost I am not sure prob be cheaper to get a mongolian or a duck bill that is made to run on natural gas shoot auscrown a email they will answer all your questions with quotes and all


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## Gavo (5/7/11)

I have a four ring of the same design. When I first got it, the first thing I wanted to do was to get rid of it or get a higher pressure reg as it used to play up like a two dollar watch - I still use it and still have the standard BBQ reg. Middle ring will burn fine if I don't use the outer ring so I don't use the inner ring much, it most likely has some thing to do with burned air to escape.

What I did to improve it was - 
1. Get a small drill bit that just fits in the outlet holes and drill through each and every one of them to clear the excess casting and the paint that was partially blocking the holes. Made a huge difference to the flames.
2. Wind the brass rings completely out away from the burner.
3. Have the underside of the burner set up so there is plenty of air supply.
4. To improve efficiency I have a wind/heat shield around the burner and has a gap between the kettle and itself to keep the heat directed at the kettle bottom.

I am quite happy with the burner and have no need to change. I get eight to nine ninety minute double batch boils out of a 9kg bottle.

Here is a pic of my burner setup.





Cheers
Gavo


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## Dave70 (6/7/11)

fitarm said:


> G'day,
> got a question that is slightly off topic. I have a natural gas outlet on my patio and was wondering if anyone uses or knows if you can use natural gas over LPG on the three or four ring burners. If so are there any advantages/ disadvantages apart from the obvious of not having to re-fill your gas or running out mid boil? Any feedback would be greatful.
> 
> Cheers.
> Jeff.



I've done plenty of BBQ conversions as well as gas heaters. With those it's just a matter of re jetting the appliance. Piece of piss. I'd assume the procedure is the same here but I don't know where you'd get the bits. Best off to ask the manufacturer.


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## Dave70 (6/7/11)

Gavo said:


> I have a four ring of the same design. When I first got it, the first thing I wanted to do was to get rid of it or get a higher pressure reg as it used to play up like a two dollar watch - I still use it and still have the standard BBQ reg. Middle ring will burn fine if I don't use the outer ring so I don't use the inner ring much, it most likely has some thing to do with burned air to escape.
> 
> What I did to improve it was -
> 1. Get a small drill bit that just fits in the outlet holes and drill through each and every one of them to clear the excess casting and the paint that was partially blocking the holes. Made a huge difference to the flames.
> ...



Hey Gavo
What kind of kettle do you use, something like a giant stock pot?
I think it may be time to retire the old 'keggle'. I think a lot of the energy from the burner must be going into just heating that giant lump of metal..


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## Gavo (6/7/11)

Dave70 said:


> Hey Gavo
> What kind of kettle do you use, something like a giant stock pot?
> I think it may be time to retire the old 'keggle'. I think a lot of the energy from the burner must be going into just heating that giant lump of metal..



I have a 60lt Robinox aluminum stockpot which I have plumbed in a ball valve and pickup tube. I got mine from Craftbrewer. 
With right setup for holding in the heat a lot of energy can be saved, when I first set mine up and experimented I was progressively using less and less gas. Keeping out of the wind alone can make a huge difference. Usually in summer I only use ring 2 and 3 to keep (assuming the inner and outer ring as ring ring 1 and 4) it on a rolling boil. Yesterday was a cold day here so ring 2 and four.

Cheers
Gavo.


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## dago001 (6/7/11)

Gavo said:


> I have a four ring of the same design. When I first got it, the first thing I wanted to do was to get rid of it or get a higher pressure reg as it used to play up like a two dollar watch - I still use it and still have the standard BBQ reg. Middle ring will burn fine if I don't use the outer ring so I don't use the inner ring much, it most likely has some thing to do with burned air to escape.
> 
> What I did to improve it was -
> 1. Get a small drill bit that just fits in the outlet holes and drill through each and every one of them to clear the excess casting and the paint that was partially blocking the holes. Made a huge difference to the flames.
> ...


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