Building a copper BD Burner

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Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:07 pm

G'Day Guy's,
Finally decided to make a copper BD burner for my flash boiler and decided to make a How To Guide

First the components we need

no1.jpg


Firstly with one end of the 3/4" tube we anneal it then put in the nipple and hammer around each flat until a nice fit holds the nipple square. Then we hard solder it in and after cooling and a quick clean suck on the clean end to make sure we have a vacuum while will prove the first hard soldered joint was done properly.

Next anneal the other end and put it into a vice and close up the pipe then do a final tap with a hammer to fully close the joint then hard solder it, once cooled do the same to prove a vacuum as it most important from a safety point of view that no leaks can be present.

Next we place the 1/8" tube in position and hard solder it on then after cooling drill a 1mm hole inside the 1/8" tube, now the ideal size is 0.7mm and going with the larger hole for ease we can trim the riser tube.

no2.jpg


Finally hard solder on the riser tube and the 1/4" tube for the legs

no3.jpg


and there we have it one BD burner made out copper which can be made in less than a hour :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The next step is trimming the sides of the riser to get the correct air/gas ratio which I will go into in the next installment

Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:35 pm

To Continue in order to use this type of burner one does need a high pressure LPG gas regulator as the standard BBQ gas regulators just won't work with this type of burner.

The reason the riser is so high 75mm is so it clears the base of my flash boiler and in the normal course of use a 40-50mm one can be used.

I have made one a few years for my boiler and I have been using it ever since as it is way better than using a 3 ring crab burner. I find running that burner on about 4-5 psi is about right as going a higher pressure will force flame to shoot out as the flames deflect from the base of the boiler and that 4-5 psi range I found was best and it does load 4 plates easily.

Heatup time for a full boiler charge is just over an hour until the foreshots start and one average I get 3 runs per 8.5Kg gas bottle, now on the third run I always have a spare gas bottle as we don't want to run out gas when we are in prime hearts do we.

As far as noise goes it isn't to harsh and without a decibel meter one can't give a figure but for a comparison, as I live on a farm and it is nice and quiet walking 30 metres away from the shed there is no sound of the burner but if the wind is blowing the wrong the sound can travel further. All I do is just turn up the radio and as I listen to JJJ it does help with such good music playing.

Tomorrow rather than a video I'll do pictures as it is a long process to get the air/gas ratio correct as we do need to attain this to stop black soot forming so pure blue flame is what we want and very little to no yellow flame.

I do have say making this is very easy and the tuning part is crucial as if one cuts too much off trying to speed thing up one will putting a new riser tube on as I found this out last time.

For those that use gas for heating I think this is the best option as my first one has proven it's worth many times.

Cheers Bryan
RuddyCrazy
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Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Dec 04, 2021 7:54 am

G'Day Guy's,
Decided to put the burner in citric acid over night to clean it up so it looks the goods but over time it will patina and give that protective layer we are after for a long service. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now one thing i didn't do was show the placement of the 1/8" tube, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out where it goes :laughing-rolling:

no4.jpg



Now the next pic shows why we have to trim the base of the riser to get the air/gas ratio correct

no5.jpg


So let the fun begin

Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
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Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:03 am

G'Day Guy's,
Well with the first trim done this shows the path taken and on looking at the first one I made the trim is inline or a tad above the top of the 1/8" tube.

The first trim

no6.jpg


Testing at 5 psi shows we do need to trim more as the yellow flame is still the dominant flame

no7.jpg


and on we go

Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
Mentor
 
Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:49 am

G'Day Guy's,
I figured the 1/8" tube was a tad long so cut it down and man did that make a difference :handgestures-thumbupleft:

no9.jpg


I put a back board up just to able to see the flame :laughing-rolling: and we still have a hint of yellow flame so I'll trim up where I cut into the riser with the dremmel cut off wheel and we are very close to done.

no8.jpg


Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
Mentor
 
Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:07 am

G'Day Guy's,
I put a dark sheet up just so I could see the flame :laughing-rolling: and it look like i still have a ways to go but finally this BD burner is coming to life :handgestures-thumbupleft:

This is the burner running at 10psi

no10.jpg


and at 5psi

no11.jpg


So we can see the yellow flame at the tail of the flame and it isn't going to take much material removal to get the correct air/gas ratio so getting there.

Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
Mentor
 
Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Building a copper BD Burner

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Dec 04, 2021 12:30 pm

G'Day Guy's,
As this burner is going in my flash boiler I put a length of 4" copper tube over the burner supported and man what a difference it made to the flame :handgestures-thumbupleft: ran it for a good ten minutes to see if I could anneal the 4" and sure enough it didn't take long to get red hot :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So my advise with this type of burner the hole must be around 0.7mm as the 1mm hole is too big to get a 100% correct air/gas ratio but for the intended purpose I have for this burner it's job done.

Cheers Bryan
RuddyCrazy
Mentor
 
Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still


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