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Gas burners - LPG vs. natural gas

GregSY

Diamond
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Location
Houston
What is the difference between a natural gas burner and a propane burner?

How can I convert a propane burner to nat gas?
 
I have done the opposite, if it helps.
The kit to convert ng to lpg consists of a stud to block the requlator open, you now use the regulator on the lpg gas bottle, and a different sized orifice to replace the existing one.
So in short, there is likely a kit available from an appliance supply house.
All the best.
 
It's the orfice size that's different.

Here when we buy a stove it has nat gas sized orfices and they supply LPG ones in a bag to convert. They are like carb jets.

Right now CRS has taken over and I can't think which has the smaller size, LPG or nat gas.

Has to do with how many BTU's per Cu Ft of gas. and you adjust the size accordingly. to have the same BTU's on the other gas.
 
So if I connect an LPG bruner to nat gas it won't blow up or something?

It seems like the orifice wouldn't matter if I use a regulator anyway?
 
The orifice is still important. The natural gas orifice is the larger one. It used to be many heaters came with both orifices and you remarked the label if you changed it. The last several heaters I bought came one way and I had to buy an extra kit to change them over. I have both natural gas and propane heaters.
 
Propane is hotter and uses a smaller orifice. One gas range I had years ago came prepped for Nat Gas. You screwed the onto the gas jet to make for a smaller opening. (I had propane then.) and I can't remember if you also had to open the regulator and reverse something in it to reduce the pressure.

If you connect an LP burner to Nat Gas, you will lose a lot of the heat you are hoping to get, without conversion.

Cheers,
George
 
Lp has more than twice the btu per cubic foot that natural gas does, so jet sizing will have to reflect this.
Also when switching over you no longer need the propane regulator as you will be using the domestic service regulator at the meter to control pressure.

Another item concerns volume and pressure. Since you will need at least twice the volume of nat. gas vs. propane, and the pressure is much lower, sometimes, but not always, you may need to enlarge the fuel valve offices as well as the jets. Most valves will flow adequately at the lower pressures of natural gas, but not always. You will know that you have to enlarge them if you can only use your burner on the high setting. But most valves will usually work with both gases.

Remember when resizing jets it's the area you want to increase to reflect increased flow, don't just double the diameter, think area. If you go too large just solder the hole shut and re drill. I find welding tip cleaners work well to ream out an existing hole "just a smidge bigger".

PS: Flame temps when mixed with air are essentially the same for both gases.
It's cost per btu and convenience you're after.
 
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Thanks everyone.

I want to run it off nat gas as my house has that already and I don't want to buy a propane tank for what will be a short term useage. I can buy a nice looking nat gas burner but for some reason they only sell them without a stand which means I'd have to make one up myself which I don't want to waste time on.

I don't plan to use this to cook anything....I want to heat up some auto body parts that have undercoating on them. The stuff is really stuck on rock hard until you heat it a bit then it falls off easily.
 
Why not use a tiger torch and switch it over to natural gas?
A long hose will give you some room to maneuver.
Of course you loose potability but you never run out of gas.
 
Lp gas appliances operate at approx 9 to 11 " pressure, Nat gas appliances operate at approx 3.5" pressure.
So to convert from Nat gas to LP you need to change the pressure regulator or the spring that sets the pressure in the reg if that reg is able to operate Nat or LP
You do also need to downsize the orifice to the proper size to maintain the BTU rating.

Best to check with the appliance man. to get a changeover kit.

Jerry
 
what's a tiger torch?

Basically a large handheld torch or weed burner.
They are available in sizes ranging from 200-500,000 btu.
Maybe handier to bring the heat to the parts rather than the parts to the heat.

Here's a link.


You do also need to downsize the orifice to the proper size to maintain the BTU rating.

Don't forget, natural gas has less that half of the btu/cu.ft. of propane, so you need to increase the size of the orifice, not decrease.
 
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Well, after spending too much time trying to find the best burner solution without having to wait all week for it to arrive, I did what any of us would do in a similar situation - I waited until l was the only one home then used the gas BBQ grille on our back porch.
 








 
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