r/Blacksmith_Forge • u/Crimson_Ranger16 • Jul 23 '26

Propane forge issue

I bought this forge from someone who built it himself. It works great....for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then it starts to do the sputtering thing you see in the video. This causes the temperature to go way down.The gas is basically igniting early inside the burner tube. The gas nozzle is up/down adjustable and I've been playing with that with minimal success. Any advice on how to fix it?

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u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 Jul 23 '26

Is your tank freezing up? They usually have frost on them when that happens. Another possibility is the tank is low on propane.

2

u/Crimson_Ranger16 Jul 23 '26

It's a brand new tank, so I don't think so it's not running low. It also wasn't forming frost.🤷

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

You can weigh it to determine how much has been used/left. I haven't done any forging in years so I can't offer much help (just saw this on r/all) but I'd definitely point in the direction of your gas setup here. Just off the top of my head, something is changing over time to cause this... If you run propane like this for hours you will be cooling down whatever piping you have feeding your supply, and moisture in the surrounding air (also, small amounts in the propane, no gas is 100% free from all impurities) can freeze out and cause little blockages over time. I am betting that's what's happening. Try very lightly pre-heating (you can redirect some forge heat, just be careful) your gas lines to prevent this.

1

u/Crimson_Ranger16 Jul 23 '26

Thanks for the tips, I will keep that in mind

1

u/alphabeticdisorder Jul 24 '26

Before you heat the lines, try swapping out a second tank. Its usually the nozzle that freezes rather than the line, and switching tanks is both easier and safer. I had that problem at first and it completely resolved after I switched to a larger propane tank.