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Propane forge problems
March 26, 2015
4:40 pm
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Heavyhands
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March 26, 2015
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Hi, I'm having problems with my propane forge keeping a consistent pressure of propane supply. I built the forge myself and it did great in my garage when it was built, I fired it up several times and let it burn for about an hour. Then today I took it up to the hill where I keep my forge at and hooked it up and now I can only burn one burner cause if I turn them both on my pressure drops so bad it cuts off. Here's a little insight on my forge, Its 8x8 square tubing 15'' long, it has two burners made from 1'' black steel pipe with 1/4'' black steel pipe as the gas lines. Its feed off a 20lb gas grill propane bottle with no regulator. Please if anyone has any suggestion please help!!

March 26, 2015
4:49 pm
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Heavyhands
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March 26, 2015
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this is my facebook page where I have posted pictures of yhe forge and have a video of it in action,         https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hensley-forge/761094700664082?ref=bookmarks

March 26, 2015
6:57 pm
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Lee Cordochorea
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First thing I would do is double check the insides of the connections. If it worked in one location & not after re-assembly, there might be foreign object (dirt, bug, leaf) in the line.

No matter where you go... there you are.

March 26, 2015
8:33 pm
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Heavyhands
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March 26, 2015
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No, thats not it but thanks! What I'm saying it the pressure builds up but the moment I turn the valves on the burners it drop to the point where its like nothing is coming out. I know the 20lb propane bottle has a safety valve that is supposed restrict high flow. So I guess my question really is, 1. Is there a way to bypass the check valve or is there a certain tank that will work better? 2. Would a high pressure regulator be the missing link? 

April 30, 2015
7:59 pm
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Jason brooks
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Hello,

I can't see the top of your tank: is there a regulator on it?  

If so, does the output gauge drop to zero when you try to light the forge?

It sounds to me like you might have a propane tank with a sensitive OPD valve: the type that has "additional functionality" whereby if you draw more gas than a gas grill, the valve cuts off the flow.

This by the way is anecdotal, which is to say, I can't find my sources...

The two ways I heard about how to fix it are  to slowly open the valve so sudden flow won't trip the device, or two get a different bottle.

btw: Costco has 100# tanks, and THEY don't have opd valves!

--jason

As a beginning Blacksmith, I make scale.

May 2, 2015
12:24 am
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Gene Bland
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Are you using the regulator from a bbq?  If so, not enough pressure.  Change to an adjustable regulator and start between 10 and 15 lbs.  You need enough pressure/volume for the atmospheric to work.

August 16, 2015
2:55 pm
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Hydrobob
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August 7, 2015
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Could be the tank size is too small and might be restricting flow due to temp (freeze), try several small tandem tanks or larger source.

September 7, 2015
10:48 pm
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Matt Moore
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May 21, 2015
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The larger tanks aren't considered "portable", so aren't required to have that valve in them. Bottles without the internal valve I'd been trained to crack the valve open quickly before hooking up, to blow out any spider webs or whatever that might be in the valve. It doesn't work of course with the smaller bottles with the safety valve.

   This is not part of your problem, but throwing it out there anyway. LP gas is a mix, and the more volatile propane vaporizes first, butane, and god knows what else, will vaporize later, and are not as hot. So you may have reduced performance as your tank gets low....no wise cracks about manhood here please.

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