My latest mod for the ECB- AKA Charcoal to Propane and back.

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I use a burner for brewing and initially I had issues keeping a good flame with out seeing it I'd advise choking the air inlet to a slither You're trying to achieve a blue flame (chemistry class Bunsen burner) that's your hottest most stable flame.
Yeah, I follow you. The weird thing is that the adjustable air intake goes from full open to half closed, but it really didn't seem to make much difference in the flame. I would have to put some foil or something over it to close it down any further. 

I'm gonna pull it apart when I get a second and take a good look at it and see if something obstructed it during the burn or if there is a manufacturing defect inside and also look at the "choke" for lack of a better term to see what I can do with it. I was looking for a much blue-er flame than I ever got. Much too yellow in my opinion. Yellow flames also burn out easier than a nice blue flame. 

What sort of burner do you use?
 
so here is what the air intake looks like out of the box


The center hole if were the propane feedline attaches. 


Here is the air intake at full close as the intake has a stopper on it. 


If I remove the set screws I can then open it max half way and close it almost completely. When I close it down like it the picture above I get mostly yellow flame. I get better blue flame at the second picture in the post, above.



Here is what the fire in the intake did to my propane feed hose yesterday. The hose should come straight out of the fitting, but it melted some. I spray tested it with soapy water and it is fine, but I'm of the opinion it should be replaced. 

When I hear from the fine folks at Brinkmann, I will update the post. For now I have a couple of bags of lump charcoal to use anyway. 
 
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Bob,  Sorry your having issues with this add on.  I'm surprised to see that the heat in the intake melted that hose.  Praying for all goes well when you contact Brinkman.
 
hey Mike. I don't know why the flame got down inside there like it did and caused it to heat up. But I'm sure to pay a little closer attention to it in the future I think!
sometimes these things are a little hit or miss. But I think in the long run it will work out fine.
 
I'm assuming there a gas control on the lp hose? Where is that adjusted too? Generally the combo of adjusting gas flow and air works. It should start roar like a jet.
 
I have exchanged several pleasant emails with Brinkmann today I have asked for a replacement hose but they have responded to that yet. I decided to sit out in the backyard tonight, just me, my two labs a few cold beers which have since given all for smoking superiority. To keep the propane burner running with a nice blue flame it bring the ecb up to about 340 using a granite cobble stone heat sink and no water in the pan. I am running one damper on the lid full open. My next step is to put water back in the water pan to see what that does to the temps. Flame pic to follow in the edit. If that doesn't work another lid damper will follow...

edit 7:30pm. The replacement hose is on backorder for 4-6 weeks, but they will ship me one when they get it back in stock. "So I've got that going for me" Anyone???


Got a good blue flame going here :sausage:


Bad news is that the Maverick says I am way too hot. :biggrin:
 
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Mike do you own one of these? If so how's yours run?
Rasp, no I do have one YET.
yahoo.gif
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't blue flame = good fuel source?
I have exchanged several pleasant emails with Brinkmann today I have asked for a replacement hose but they have responded to that yet. I decided to sit out in the backyard tonight, just me, my two labs a few cold beers which have since given all for smoking superiority. To keep the propane burner running with a nice blue flame it bring the ecb up to about 340 using a granite cobble stone heat sink and no water in the pan. I am running one damper on the lid full open. My next step is to put water back in the water pan to see what that does to the temps. Flame pic to follow in the edit. If that doesn't work another lid damper will follow...

edit 7:30pm. The replacement hose is on backorder for 4-6 weeks, but they will ship me one when they get it back in stock. "So I've got that going for me" Anyone???


Got a good blue flame going here
sausage.gif



Bad news is that the Maverick says I am way too hot.
biggrin.gif
 
Blue flame = hot flame and correct air to fuel ratio. When I'm home brewing I need hot for bringing 10+ gallons of water to a boil. I think at this point it's gonna be a bit of trial and error. To find the special combo of steady flame at the right temp. The addition of the water pan hopefully help with lower temps. Ill be curious to see.
 
Blue flame = hot flame and correct air to fuel ratio. When I'm home brewing I need hot for bringing 10+ gallons of water to a boil. I think at this point it's gonna be a bit of trial and error. To find the special combo of steady flame at the right temp. The addition of the water pan hopefully help with lower temps. Ill be curious to see.
The other thing too is that the air intake is wide open to get the nice blue flame. If I close it down from full open it goes to yellow.. I think I am having more fun trying this as I would have not trying it! 
 
In the picture I posted it is only on so youcan barely hear the gas sound and then iI tweak it from there. I keep wanting to bring a sharpie out to mark the valve and the regulator so I have a reference point. Got home too late to do anything tonight.
 
Well, today is a new day and I took the heat sink cobble stone out of my water pan and filled it up 3/4 of the way with water and I was able to stay 225-250 with no issues. That is pretty much what I expected. 

Then I added a piece of 10" round duct adapter that is 6 inches long that I ordered from the HD online. I made a cutout for the burner to pass through. The only thing I have to do now is figure out how to get the bottom heat shield back on. It is about 11" across and I will need a threaded rod about 3 and 1/2 " long and three nuts so I can extend the connection to the bottom heat shield. 

    
View showing the burner passing through the draft shield. - View from the outside. 

Once I get this all done, I will add a coat or two of black high heat paint. 

I also marked the gas valve so I know about where it should be when I get the burner warmed up so I don't turn it down too low. 

Progress...baby steps! Anyway, I won't be able to do anymore till this weekend.
 
Well, today is a new day and I took the heat sink cobble stone out of my water pan and filled it up 3/4 of the way with water and I was able to stay 225-250 with no issues. That is pretty much what I expected.  Bob, will the flame not work without the 10" add on?

Then I added a piece of 10" round duct adapter that is 6 inches long that I ordered from the HD online. I made a cutout for the burner to pass through. The only thing I have to do now is figure out how to get the bottom heat shield back on. It is about 11" across and I will need a threaded rod about 3 and 1/2 " long and three nuts so I can extend the connection to the bottom heat shield. 
    
View showing the burner passing through the draft shield. - View from the outside. 

Once I get this all done, I will add a coat or two of black high heat paint. 

I also marked the gas valve so I know about where it should be when I get the burner warmed up so I don't turn it down too low. 

Progress...baby steps! Anyway, I won't be able to do anymore till this weekend.
 
latest edition to my propane mod is a smoke can for the wood chips to go into. The can is then suspended from the supports so it hangs over the burner. I test fitted it today, but no heat. Got to save some stuff to do for the weekend. 

   

       
              

       

Still gotta get some flat black paint on the adapted 10" pipe that keeps the wind off. 
 
Hey Mike65 did you see my cook from yesterday? I used the propane conversion and it ran for 8 hours with very little adjustment. I did have to fool around with it a little bit but I am still getting used to it. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/147543/cooking-this-weekend

I think I will stick with lump and charcoal for shorter cooks. I still need to do some tweaking on smoke. I have to lift off the ECB twice to refill the can and it was hard to get the hanger through the bottom support. I think I need a few more smaller cans. 
 
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