forge disaster

[Gerry80]

I finally made a knife, but my forge is falling apart! Help me troubleshoot this mess:
first, the flame crawls up one burner, makes a bubbling noise, and shoots huge orange flames out the door. it stops above ~8-10 psi. Is this a bad air/propane mix?
the forge now completely shuts off at super low PSI (down to 1 psi!). what is happening?!
then, all my fire bricks (inside and door) cracked into pieces (WTH?!)
my forge is 150+°F on the outside despite 2 inches of ceramic fiber. Did I mess up the insulation install?

Any advice appreciated!

 

[crucibleking]

Was messing around with my backyard forge, and it was getting way too hot on the outside, even with that ceramic fiber stuff. Turns out, I didn't seal up the seams right, so heat was leaking all over the place. I threw on some of that refractory coating and tightened up the insulation, and bam! Temperatures went down, and things got way more stable.

 

[the5mith]

hi Gerry, the bubbling/orange flame usually means your air to fuel mix is way off
if it only clears up at high PSI, your burner is likely backfiring. Try adjusting your air intake or checking for a spider web in the venturi. it doesn't take much to mess up the flow!

 

[ironDoug]

yeah, sounds like a burner - fuel issues. you need to inspect the burner. use a wire brush or compressed air to clean the burner tube and tiny jet opening
also make sure that jet alignment is correct, adjust the air/fuel ratio, and check if the tank is at a good temperature