How to Make a Propane BBQ Burner
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- Welcome to my channel, Matt's Metalworking. Please don't forget to hit that LIKE button and SUBSCRIBE for future videos. My name is Matt and I produce metalworking relating videos which can include fabrication, machining, milling, turning, welding, tool tutorials, etc.
In this video I will be showing you have to make your very own dual zone BBQ burner. From what I’ve found, some of those off the shelf burners don’t last very long. At $60 new for a BBQ burner locally and not even lasting two years, it’s quite the waste in my opinion. Once these burned get to a certain stage, they basically fall apart.
Ideally it’s best to make this out of stainless steel, but unfortunately my fluxcore welder doesn’t work on stainless steel, so instead I am using mild steel.
Used for the burner is 1 inch by 3 inch tubing, 1/8 inch thick and 15” long. I tried to roughly match the existing dimensions of the old burner.
Cut this tubing in half using a cutting disk on the angle grinder. The pieces are within a 1/16” of an inch and I can easily square them up with a grinding disk or file. I’m also cleaning up any burrs so I don’t risk cutting myself after. Clamp the piece together and square them up using a grinder or file.
Spraying the work pieces in a marking paint, then mark out the holes using a scriber. Next is marking out the holes on the sides of the tubing. There will be two rows of holes, each row is 3/8” away from the top and bottom portion of the tubing, therefore a 1/4” from each other. Then the holes are spaced a 1/2” apart. Each row is also staggered by a 1/4”.
The holes will be 3/32” in size. If possible from what I’ve found a 1/16” hole would probably be better. However I have found it’s a bit tough with this drill press as it doesn’t have an overly high rpm speed.
I picked the correct sized drill bit needed for the feed lines, this was based off the gasket size which you’ll see a further on in the video. With a larger bit, a slower speed is needed and cutting fluid is a must. Being that this is a bigger bit, there is a greater chance of the piece grabbing where you can possibly hurt yourself. So it’s best to clamp the work piece down.
Once those main holes were made, I made a square center line and then marked out the holes where the feed tube screws on, basing it off the gasket. These holes are based off the self taping screws I’ll be using. Some models of self taping screws can drill their own holes, however I prefer to drill a pilot hole. This allows for easier installation and prevents them from wandering.
For the caps, this was made out of 1/8” sheet metal. Using the bench grinder, I sized up the caps, there was 3 caps in total.
Where the burner meets in the center, a chamfer is applied to the end of the tube to help with welding penetration. The metal does need to be cleaned to remove any contaminants which may cause imperfections in the welds.
Using an abrasive pad on the grinder, again I went over the areas I will be welding so the surface is properly prepped. The end caps get installed. They do fit reasonably tight so they won’t move while welding and everything is squared up accordingly.
Tack welding the caps into place on opposite ends. When welding, due to the excessive heat, parts can pull or warp causing distortions in your work piece. Those tack welding will need to be cleaned up using a wire brush. I’m using a fluxcore mig welder, so slag is present and needs to be removed when applying new welds.
Running full beads now. I’m using a small hobby welder which only has a high and low heat setting. This is thicker steel and to ensure I have proper penetration, the highest heat setting is used. The wire is 0.035” in thickness. Clean those welds up using a wire brush. An anti splatter spray can also be used to keep the piece a little clean.
Connecting the two separate burners, I have a scrap piece of tubing kicking around, the one side is missing which makes it a great jig to keep this burner square.
The welds can be cleaned up with an angle grinder and flap wheel or grinding disk. Then the welds are inspected and any low areas are filled. After those legs have been welded in place, due to the irregular shaped bottom on the BBQ, I have rounded off the ends so it sits a little more secure. Install the propane feed tubes with gaskets.
The update as to how it cooks food, I couldn’t be more happier with it. I have found if I keep the lid closed it does maintain a fixed temperature better. Just to give you a view with the infrared meter. As kind of a warp up of what I learned, smaller holes will definitely give you a finer flame. With the thicker steel, it does hold heat extremely well and despite having less holes, the heat output seems to be better. So far we’ve been using it to cook hot dogs, burgers, and steaks which excellent results. 
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I admire your work. Very professional and neat. A true metal fabricator
Thank you :)
You did a good job. This brought back memories from before I had a garage to cobble stuff together. I dont miss it, but I can appreciate when someone can keep motivation while working on the ground in a driveway
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words :) I need a garage something bad, hoping to build one soon but a couple projects need to be finished up before it gets started.
Lots of good fabrication tips.
Thank you :)
What a perfectionist.
Thank you :)
Matt hi i saw your video and made a propane bbq burner as you showed. It came out great. better than i expected.
Awesome to hear!
Super Narration! It's a joy to hear, learn from you. Wishing others will learn from your production quality, after video recording, narration makes everything better. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the kind words and feedback :) Hopefully I'll have more stuff to upload over the winter. Slowly gathering some footage, this is actually my secondary channel. I have a main channel which is much larger for automotive repairs and that has new videos every week.
Its almost like a classroom session. Very informative and exciting.
Great video 👍 good job explaining.
Thank you :)
Thanks for a real good video
Thank you!
Great video ,brought back memories of my welding days and started me thinking about my next project.Thanks
Thank you! I have no idea what I'd do without my welder, it's so nice to have around. Hoping to eventually buy a tig welder once I have a proper spot to work. About to release another welding project video tomorrow ;)
your monotone is awesome !!!!
Lol, thank you!
Good job.
Thank you!
OMG I feel like I've been to school, good video!
Thank you!
Great job, it works betgdr and will last forever 👍
Thank you!
Great Job!
You stated that you had to light each of the 4 burner surfaces. I suggest trying one more hole near where the divider is (angled toward the other side), and a single row of holes on each end with one through the corner (Drilling through weld? UGH - TOUGH!). Just a thought...
Thank you and great tip! Yeah I was worried about going through the welded area and having the bit break.
I’ve learned to use 2.- 22.5 corners on each end so the flame can wrap around with just one igniter it’s not round but the flame can jump that short distance
Thank you for the tip! Unfortunately with this, I would have needed to make the burner narrower, otherwise the flame will touch the body of the bbq.
Early on in the video you said that the burner that I assumed came with the grill lasted only 2 years. I am very interested in knowing how long your home made burner has lasted. It says that your video to date was 4 years ago. My guess is that the 1/8" thick mild steel burner you hand crafted lasted much longer than the thin flimsy stainless steel burner. Please let us know how long yours lasted. Greetings from North Michigan USA. BTW, Great Video and thanks for the valuable information.
Thank you. Well the video is about a year older than when I uploaded it. The BBQ ended up in the scrap about last year as the grill finally gave up and it's far more expensive for a new grill than a new cheap bbq. The burner was still solid and had plenty of life left.
Install a heat dispersing shield over the burner It gives a better spread of heat across the grill
Already has one, can be seen at the end of the video. Also it's needing a replacement now along with the grate. I need to find some stainless steel replacements.
@@MattsMetalworking you can make one that is wider though to cover the flame and it will help with more even heating
would it work with natural gas
What stainless steel would you suggest to to make burners?
304 would probably be the best choice.
why did you cut it in half to begin whit if you wear going to weld them back to gather ?
Dual zone, there's no other way of achieving that. There is a plate inside which divides the two halves.
what is the white water that you use to drill the mild steel?
It's a mixed cutting fluid. Comes as a concentrate, just calls for water.
Hola
Will bigger holes increase the BTU's?
No, bigger holes won't allow for an efficient burn. In order to increase the BTU, you'll need more holes.
@@MattsMetalworking Airflow to gas ratio for efficient burn... increase the pressure of flow for more BTU's
Flux core works on stainless steel. Your welds wont be stainless tho...theyll rust
Wondering why you cut it in the frist place. Did you had to cut it?
So it could remain as a dual zone burner.
Hey bro, where did you get those Pope shoes?
I believe Foot Locker, that was many years ago. They're made by Puma.
How many attempts do you try
Looks like you got alot of over spray on your shoes
Lol, took me a minute! What can I say, it was a windy day ;)
I liked the orange shoes; figured you did that on purpose! To ID them as your shop shoes. You wear them to the parts store? How come you don't drill a few holes on one edge so the flame front will travel to both sides?
Have you made full propane BBQ
Not yet, but I'd like to.
Great video???
Suggestion When welding with flux cored wire Use the push technique Not pull as it gives a better quality weld David in UK TWI Professional member Good Job
Thank you! First time hearing that, I was always taught "when there's slag, you drag", otherwise it'll cause inclusions in the weld.
that is the exact opposite of what i was taught and what ive heard many professional welders say in informational videos and welding classes.
What kinds of BBQs or burners have you bought in the past? I've been BBQing and grilling and smoking, etc etc etc, for 50+ years and never had a burner give out after a couple of years. I've never known of this happening to anyone I know, either. I am very curious what equipment you have used in the past where this kind of breakdown is normal.
New grills suck. I see burners rot out in 5 years easily. It also depends on how often you use it, the environment, etc.
Ruined the video with commercials. Thanks
That's how I'm able to make money, otherwise I wouldn't be able to produce these videos and the majority of tutorials on RUclips would never exist.
horror burner👎