Gas Assist For Large Log Burners W/Safety Features

ClydeDale · Posted: Aug 20 2011 Post subject:

I can get my hands hands on the enclosure, wiring and controls so what should I expect to pay for a burner assembly?

BBQMAN · Posted: Aug 20 2011 Post subject:

A bit under $800.00 including shipping from the good folks at OH.
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BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

BBQMAN · Posted: Sep 16 2011 Post subject:

So where are we with this project a year and hundreds of cooks later?

Very happy! Cool

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BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

Logtrucker · BBQ Fan Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Posts: 366 Location: Dallas,Or

I got my burner from furnace parts .com it was a little over 600 inc. shipping and the controller and thermocople from cole palmer so all i have to do is finish the cooker this winter i will get that done i want to have it going by next spring thanks Mike for posting this setup i cannot wait to try it out

BBQMAN · Posted: Sep 20 2011 Post subject:

Logtrucker · BBQ Fan Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Posts: 366 Location: Dallas,Or

I got this burner from furnaceparts.com it is a wayne p250adfi it came setup for lp with the orifice drilled for 70,000 btu it can go to 250 i talked to a sales rep from wayne burners and they hooked me up with these people it has a longer snout at 8 in. than i would have liked but i can make it work since this is going on a new build and the price was right another source that the rep. told me about was allabaster.com the prices at the two were the same to the penny. Very Happy

ClydeDale · Posted: Dec 20 2011 Post subject:

I'm getting ready to purchase an gas assist burner for my uninsulated 250 gallon reverse flow smoker. My question is do you think the Wayne SC80 (20,000 to 65,000 BTU)burner would be large enough for my purpose?

Logtrucker · BBQ Fan Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Posts: 366 Location: Dallas,Or

I think it would when i bought mine i called and talked to a wayne tech support about the smaller burner and he said they only made a handful of them a year so there wasnt really a price differnce in that and the 250 burner so i went with the bigger one just to leave my options open good luck

ClydeDale · Posted: Dec 20 2011 Post subject:

I was hoping that the BTU rating would be fine but my main concern was the physical size. I can inset the nozzle 3.75" and that would clear my fire grate for easy removal, plus limiting the space needed for the remainder of the burner that would set to the right hand side of my fire box.

ClydeDale · Posted: Dec 22 2011 Post subject:

BBQMAN,
What's your thoughts on the smaller burner? Should I go with the larger burner and throttle it down or run the smaller unit at 90% capacity?

ClydeDale · Posted: Jan 07 2012 Post subject:

Well after much thought I went ahead and ordered the following items to start on my gas assist burner.

Watlow 935A Temp Controller
Watlow 146A High Temp Controller
Type K Thermocouple
Crydon SSR
Wayne SC80 gas burner
2-20 lb gas cylinders
Gas regulator with auto switch over
2-12" Flex gas lines

BBQMAN, will it be okay to post pictures to this thread or should I start a new one?

BBQMAN · Posted: Jan 07 2012 Post subject:

Sure, by all means post up what you put together here!
_________________
BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

BBQMAN · Posted: Jan 08 2012 Post subject:

I had the Watlow, so that is what I used.

I just spoke with a friend last night as he was having issues programming his controller. Although I didn't have the exact answer for his model, I do for yours (and they all work about the same, but).

The PDF file is here:

http://www.watlow.com/downloads/en/manuals/935ae_l.pdf

The Watows have some features you may not need, but the high (and/or low) level alarm output is a nice feature.

You will need to set up the system to run for heat, set high and low parameters, and the hysteresis you want (as noted, I use a 20' differential).

You can auto tune that model, and there is an offset to adjust the temp to a quality analog gauge temp-in other words if the digital readout says 250, and the actual temp is 240 you can make the change to the controller to read the more accurate temp.

Good luck with your install, and make sure all of your operating set points actually work before "setting it, and forgetting it".
_________________
BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

lennyk · Newbie Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 97

please do if you can, I am interested in this also.

kozmic · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 116

One question I have. Doesn't the forced air stir up the ash and blow it through the cooker? I tried a blower to get hotter coals and it made the ash fly out the stack.

BBQMAN · Posted: Jan 23 2012 Post subject:

Good question kozmic!

I have not had any issues with that, the blower doesn't really run that much air.

When the burner lights there is a rush of heat blast, but it points at the log pile not at the bottom of the cooker.

Not sure what type of cooker and what type of blower you are using, but this set-up is designed for bigger cookers such as a Lang 84 or bigger.
_________________
BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

kozmic · BBQ Fan Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 116

I have a small 120 gallon RF setup. I don't have any trouble maintaining heat. I only use this for home and BBQs at work. I have a request to make Pernil, and that really shouldn't be smoked it is more like a bake. I figured I'd just use Charcoal in the fire box but a test run yesterday showed me that It's going to take a lot of charcoal to maintain the 350 degrees for 4 hours. I ended up covering the meat and throwing a few logs in to finish up. So, that prompted me to look for a gas assist setup. Though it would have to be a small one.

ClydeDale · Posted: Jan 31 2012 Post subject:

I am going to try my gas assist out this weekend if the weather holds off. Can someone tell me how to adjust my air intake, should they be closed or adjusted as if I were using wood only? I will post some pictures of my install and cook.

ClydeDale · Posted: Feb 07 2012 Post subject:

I�m having trouble regulating my temperature from one end of the smoker to the other. When using wood only I can get it as close as 2 degrees difference by raising or lowering the tongue of the trailer. With the gas burner the far end stays about 20 degrees less no matter what I do to the trailer but with the smoker loaded with meat the far end is close to 35 degrees hotter than the fire box end. Do you guys think that the blower is moving to much air to quickly?

Logtrucker · BBQ Fan Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Posts: 366 Location: Dallas,Or

I have a 250 r.f. and if i fill up the far end of my pit it will plug up the pit and it will run hot at that end it does not have the burner. I did get my burner mounted on my new firebox last weekend so i am looking forward to tryin it out some day Smile