side-arm burner questions

[Jason brooks]

Hi,

I have just completed my side-arm burner, like that on Larry Zoeller's site. I have a few questions about how the burner is supposed to operate, now that I have lit it off and observed it a bit.

The lowest pressure it burns at is 3-4 psig. (at least without pulsating). the highest I have had it at is about 20 psig. That flare gets hot, fast. The gas inlet is a .035 tweco tip, and is centered axially, and the tip appears to be centered in the air inlet. Movement of the tip about 1/2 inch in or out doesn't seem to make that big of a difference in the flame, so centered seems reasonable.

I noticed the flame appears to start at the end of the 3/4 inch pipe, and burn inside the SS flare, though it certainly extends a few inches beyond the end of the flare. Is that where it's supposed to burn? (I have only had it in the atmosphere, still working on the forge.) By the way, the SS turns a pretty purple color after its been glowing dull red...

[Wayne Coe]

The flare is going to get hot if you are running it outside of the forge. The flare should be tucked up inside the casting about 1//2". Check out Ron Reil's web-site at http://ronreil.abana.org/. There is more information than you ever dreamed of there.

[JimB]

They do get hot, but the stainless can handle it. The flares last me about 18mo and I use the burner in the open air.