LPG Heater

[TConway]

Hey do any of you know what would happen if you put I think what is a bbq regulator on a the hose to a little giant type heater?
Would is still fire up?
Would it make the flame not as large if it did fire up?
Would it just not work?
Would it explode because it is not working right?

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Try it and see...

Just like you put two 45's is parallel to the tank with a VW engine...

How is that working?

 

[KevinD]

You need a good 2 stage regulator sized to the proper btu.

A small one will not handle the draw and could freeze up and blow the relief valve resulting
in a fire if it vents anywhere near the heater.

 

[dgardner]

Hey do any of you know what would happen if you put I think what is a bbq regulator on a the hose to a little giant type heater?

If you don't even know for sure what type of regulator it is, throw it away and get one you KNOW will work. As Kevin said, it needs to be sized to the btu of the burner. You did not mention which Little Giant you have, they range in output from 65,000 to 180,000 btu.

 

[TConway]

Try it and see...

Just like you put two 45's is parallel to the tank with a VW engine...

How is that working?

It is working freaking awesome. I just ordered a 100 feet of 2.5 hose and cant wait to try it. I have been cleaning with it the last week on jobs I knew I could my enclosed trailer in for access as that is what it is mounted in right now, I was in the areas of some of the jobs and went back to check them as they have lock boxes on all the homes for the PM companies and I have to say the carpet looks unbelievable.
The cool thing is two 45's take a bigger bite of air per rev than a # 5 blower so I don't have to spin them very fast. And lift is hitting 12hgs as soon as the wand hits the carpet. I may bump it to 14 Hg's after I work with it a while. With my 4 2 door set up and 50' of 2.0 I'm still at 310 cfm but with my vacuum gov it is making it want to rev up due to to much restriction in the 2.0 hose.
I set it up the other day with my 50' of 2.5 after my 4 2 door and went to 400 cfm and the gov wasn't getting overloaded and would allow it to work correctly so I just ordered 100 feet of 2.5 from John so I can set it up right.
I cleaned some carpet the other day, poly blend more than likely and it was amazing at how well it was standing the fibers up, compared to my PC legend.
Thanks guys for the answers to my ? about the burner. The reason I asked is the one I have seems to be leaking and it LOOKS larger than one for a BBQ that is why I was asking.
It is not a little Giant, It came off of a Hydra Master of some kind I didn't see the TM it came off of. My friend sold it to me for $200.00. It looks heavier than a little giant the cover that goes around the coil is double walled and it may have insulation inside of it very heavy. I have never really liked propane as it just makes me nervous for some reason maybe cause I've already burned my eyebrows off with this thing so I am a bit hesitant to want to use it, I only want it to pre heat water in the winter.

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Cool...

Just for the record, I have a 4HT, 3HT, 2HT and they all work with a box store regulator.

 

[Royal Man]

I use a regular regulator too with no probs and its easy to replace.

 

[dgardner]

The question isn't whether it will work, it will, but if you have a burner that is larger than what the regulator can supply you won't achieve full output. Why buy a 120,000 btu heater and set it up so it only produces 90,000 btu? Use a regulator sized for the load. Not to say that a BBQ regulator is necessarily sized wrong, they come in various capacities too.

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Most BBQ regulators are rated up to 200,000 Btu's so this is a non issue.

 

[dgardner]

Most BBQ regulators are rated up to 200,000 Btu's so this is a non issue.

Not true. I did a quick search - if you were to visit Lowes, for instance, here's a typical barbeque regulator you might find on the shelf:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_361425-743-330800_0__?productId=3654274

It's rated 70,000 BTU.

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Not true. I did a quick search - if you were to visit Lowes, for instance, here's a typical barbeque regulator you might find on the shelf:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_361425-743-330800_0__?productId=3654274

It's rated 70,000 BTU.

A standard regulator (black knob- not green or red) reduces the pressure from the LP tank down to 1/2psi @11 in. WC to 13 in. WC. This is enough flow to support 200,000 BTU.

All manufactures have different ratings to suit their needs. Just like blowers- lots of people claim MAX CFM ratings at 3600RPM but forget to tell you that is bad for the blower- kind of like revving your car's engine past red line- you can do it but your engine won't last as long.

I would not go with anything above 1/2psi as you will need to restrict flow. Here is some info on that:
http://www.gbrewing.com/2010/02/01/low-pressure-propane-jet-burner-and-regulator/

Here are the regulators that I mentioned:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/mr-heaterreg;-propane-low-pressure-lp-regulator-200000-btu-hr

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/gas.html

http://www.amazon.com/Propane-Regulator-Maintain-Constant-Low-Pressure/dp/B0046V6P08

 

[dgardner]

A standard regulator (black knob- not green or red) reduces the pressure from the LP tank down to 1/2psi @11 in. WC to 13 in. WC. This is enough flow to support 200,000 BTU. Actually 11-13" WC isn't any flow at all, it's a pressure. ALL low pressure regulators use this pressure range, regardless of BTU rating. The higher BTU regulators are able to maintain this pressure even at the higher flows, the lower ones poop out trying to supply enough flow for the higher BTU burner and the pressure drops.

All manufactures have different ratings to suit their needs. Just like blowers- lots of people claim MAX CFM ratings at 3600RPM but forget to tell you that is bad for the blower- kind of like revving your car's engine past red line- you can do it but your engine won't last as long. We agree here - if a regulator claims 200K BTU yet has a 3/8" outlet it's probably bogus. Unless the outlet is at least 1/2" (many mfgrs say 5/8") there will be excessive pressure drop to the burner (for a 200K burner, that is, once you get down to 120K 3/8" is fine).

I would not go with anything above 1/2psi as you will need to restrict flow. Here is some info on that:
http://www.gbrewing.com/2010/02/01/low-pressure-propane-jet-burner-and-regulator/ You should always match the pressure regulator to the design pressure of the burner. For LG heaters, this is always 11-13" WC.

Here are the regulators that I mentioned:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/mr-heaterreg;-propane-low-pressure-lp-regulator-200000-btu-hr

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/gas.html

http://www.amazon.com/Propane-Regulator-Maintain-Constant-Low-Pressure/dp/B0046V6P08

...

 

[Deleted member 51539]

Again, the regulator you cited from Lowe's (rated at 70,000btu) will run a 4ht little giant or 23 tip jet burner(as seen in the video). It will not poop out. It will not freeze up. I've done it with no change to heat output.

If you want to argue specs... then I recommend buying a regulator rated for 200,000btu- as I have listed.

All this is funny- because I asked the original poster how running 2 blowers on one tank was working... I know the truth, (but I let his reply slide) because I've done it.

 

[dgardner]

All this is funny

Yup, sure is!

 

[TConway]

Carpet Guy
All this is funny- because I asked the original poster how running 2 blowers on one tank was working... I know the truth, (but I let his reply slide) because I've done it.[/QUOTE]

What was you results with running two blowers off one tank? How did you have them set up? Were they pulling from opposite sides of tank? Or did you have them pulling from the same source ( Y'ed) into one port? Or as close as possible with two ports?
When I set it up the other day with my 2.5 hose I was really shocked at how low I could run my engine 1900-2000 rpm and still be well above the 300 cfm range,and hit the lift that I have it set at
I am very happy with the results so far.

And now I'm getting worried I might just blow myself up