Regner Willi Gas Burner - any advice appreciated

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IRON MAN
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Remedy?

Post by IRON MAN » Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:43 pm

I own a Konrad which occasionally does this.

Once your gas tank is full and venting out the top, press down on the filler to remove the liquid butane (warning you will get a very cold finger) but once the liquid butane has passed out the top it tends to settle down and light properly.

Dan

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St.Michael
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Post by St.Michael » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:31 am

Hi.
I´d like to thank you for many good advices. 4mm sightglass has been ordered and you have come up with tips that I didn´t know about. I shall try them out when Gösta(Vincent) is being put together again.
Regards from Norway

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St.Michael
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Post by St.Michael » Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:24 am

The sightglass has been successfully mounted (but I forgot to heaten up the ends as Cris Cairns suggested) The testdrive was problemfree :D
I finally found the reason for the flooding of gass: It is the Regner gas can adaptor. I changed the o-rings in it, and at last I managed to controll the gasfilling.
Regards to all from Michael

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Chris Cairns
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Post by Chris Cairns » Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:04 pm

Good to hear that your repair was easy enough and that your butane is going where it should be - into the gas tank.

Hopefully I can get a run with my Lumber Jack on our railway group's 45mm indoor layout soon as we only have 3 open days left this year.

Chris Cairns.

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Post by Chris Cairns » Sat Nov 09, 2013 8:04 pm

Had an interesting discussion this afternoon at a Garden Railway regarding modifications to Regners to improve burners & tank capacity.

An owner was having difficulties with the burner in his Lumber Jack. It was sent to Mike Ousby (ACME Engineering) and his solution was to drill a hole through the top part of the ring around the burner that fits into the flue tube. Apparently this lets in enough secondary air and the burner works well. Mike also machines the Regner gas tank filler valve so that a Ronson type is fitted on the top, but retains the main body of the Regner valve. This prevents overfilling the gas tank that can happen with the alternative shorter Ronson filler valve (like the one available from Chuffed2Bits).

And another tip for those Regners where the gas can last longer than the water. Reduce the gas tank capacity by filling it with lead shot.

Chris Cairns.

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mikewakefielduk@btinterne
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Post by mikewakefielduk@btinterne » Sat Nov 09, 2013 8:44 pm

his solution was to drill a hole through the top part of the ring around the burner that fits into the flue tube
Any chance you can clarify that Chris please as to exactly where he reckons the hole should be?
Since I put hinges on my Regner's smoke box door I haven't had any issues lighting it if I open the door and apply a match there rather than over the chimney.
Still a few issues with the gas tank filling which can be rectified by opening the valve after filling until the liquid gas is expelled. I've got a couple of spare Regner gas tank valves so will have a look to see how easy it is to machine one to get a Ronson valve screwed into it. Whether I can find the time is another matter though, as am currently drawing the plans for a small extension on the house so trains have had to take the back burner (ha ha).

Mike

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Chris Cairns
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Post by Chris Cairns » Sat Nov 09, 2013 9:22 pm

Sorry Mike, I appreciate a photo tells the story better but I did not have access to an appropriate one and it was too late & dark to pull my Lumber Jack out of its box. Hopefully this one will make sense.

As I understood the conversation Mike Ousby drilled a hole horizontally in the position marked by the green arrow to allow the secondary air direct to the burner.

Image

This of course would appear to have the opposite effect to my wrapping that ring with PTFE tape to stop air getting in. I intend putting some filter paper/tea bag material behind my jet to see if I can reduce the likelihood of another blocked jet.

Chris Cairns.

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mikewakefielduk@btinterne
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Post by mikewakefielduk@btinterne » Sun Nov 10, 2013 9:59 am

Doing my day job as a clock repairer I frequently have to use a gas powered blow lamp when soldering large items of brass.

I've had a lot of trouble recently with the blow lamp getting a blocked jet using the most common make of butane/propane mix available in all of the local DIY shops. Switched to a different make (that I picked up from the Locobox stall at the last show I'd attended) and the problem with blocked jets has gone away. Can't help but conclude the gas was contaminated.

Mike

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Chris Cairns
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Post by Chris Cairns » Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:01 pm

When I started with gas burners (Cheddar Models) I used whatever butane/propane mix was available from my local DIY store. I found the mixed gas was generally too hot for the various Mamod gas burners, and as I've only been running them indoors switched to butane only. Having read recommendations and a standard adopted by at least one 16mm group I settled on Go Systems Butane which is stocked by a "ye olde type" ironmongers in town , and I picked up another supply at the Peterborough show. That is the brand being sold by Loco Boxes at present.

Since using this Go Systems I've suffered one stuck open EN437 fitting on a cannister (talking to other users in the Garden railway community this is uncommon occurrence but can happen), a partly blocked jet on my Mamod Brunel, and repeated blocked jets on my Lumber Jack. The filter paper tip comes from Tag Gorton and a photo posted on the Facebook 16 mmngm Association Closed Group recently visually shows the advantage as it was heavily stained a brown colour. Although their on-line shops show some supermarkets sell this coffee filter paper I've failed to find some so far - need to ask Customer Services the next time I shop there.

Chris Cairns.

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mikewakefielduk@btinterne
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Post by mikewakefielduk@btinterne » Sun Nov 10, 2013 4:09 pm

The make of cans I'm using successfully is called Parasene. I bought them from the Llanfair Show at the end of August and thought it was from the Locobox stall (I was certainly talking to them and thinking their gas was a reasonable price but maybe I got it from one of the other exhibitors instead - senior moment I'm afraid).

Anyway, the ones I've had jet blocking issues with are also made by Go. I tend to use the butane/propane mix simply because my workshop is often freezing cold so butane by itself won't evaporate. The locos usually get filled with whatever can I'm using on the blow lamp.

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Gavin
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Re: Regner Willi Gas Burner - any advice appreciated

Post by Gavin » Sat Feb 20, 2021 8:42 pm

Thank you all for the information on this thread. It helped me sort out my dread-bay purchase! :D

After doing the thing with the PTFE tape earlier today, I found that the fire was still at the chimney. I then loosened the retaining bolt for the burner and moved the burner back approximately 1mm. Tried it again and the fire is now in the firebox end of the boiler.

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