PLEASE READ IF YOU USE CO2 BURNERS

A2Michigan

Well-Known Member
I bought an ares 4 co2 natural gas burner a year ago. EVERYTHING worked fine until I started to notice a scorch mark at the top of the inside of the unit. I read the owners manual to make sure I could find any information regarding this issue. I called customer service and asked what could possibly be the problem. The guy says “ we’ll have you done any maintenance on it.” I’m thinking to myself “... I read the manual and NOWHERE does it mention doing any type of maintenance.” He tells me that you have to soak the burners in 409 cleaner because of the carbon build up that can accumulate. First of all, the burners are made of copper which will rust. Secondly, why isn’t this mentioned in the manual? I then ask him what else would work as a cleaner, he says “ you could use brake fluid.” BRAKE FLUID IS FLAMMABLE!

Does anyone who uses natural gas co2 burners clean their burners periodically? Has anyone heard of having to do any maintenance on them? If you haven’t, you could prevent a house fire by letting anyone know.
 

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Renfro

Well-Known Member
Does anyone who uses natural gas co2 burners clean their burners periodically
If the burners are working properly then you will get blue flames only, NO yellow. Yellow indicates an incomplete burn and likely carbon monoxide (CO) gas. A CO alarm is always recommended if running a CO2 generator.

I have notices that my burners get a little buildup and I just hit them with a wire brush once a year or so to keep them clean and flowing well.
 

A2Michigan

Well-Known Member
If the burners are working properly then you will get blue flames only, NO yellow. Yellow indicates an incomplete burn and likely carbon monoxide (CO) gas. A CO alarm is always recommended if running a CO2 generator.

I have notices that my burners get a little buildup and I just hit them with a wire brush once a year or so to keep them clean and flowing well.
Do you have an ares burner? I asked about using a wire brush and he told me not to use it and to use a bristle brush
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Can you show a pic of a brush you use? And do you use like a can of compressed air like dust off or what
It's like this, the brass one:

brush.PNG

I just use the air compressor since it's handy, but I would imagine a can of dust off would work well too. I just pop off the front cover for easy access and it takes all of 10 minutes to do.
 

A2Michigan

Well-Known Member
Can you do me a favor and show me the top of the inside of the ares burner? I want to see if it looks like my other burner that I have. You will be a lot of help if you do. I appreciate!
 

A2Michigan

Well-Known Member
It's like this, the brass one:

View attachment 4797724

I just use the air compressor since it's handy, but I would imagine a can of dust off would work well too. I just pop off the front cover for easy access and it takes all of 10 minutes to do.
Can you do me a favor and show me the top of the inside of your ares burner? I want to know it if looks anything like mine
 

trambles

Well-Known Member
I've been running a burner for 10 years and never cleaned it, don't recall reading about that in the manual either.
The burners are most likely brass, not copper.
 

A2Michigan

Well-Known Member
I've been running a burner for 10 years and never cleaned it, don't recall reading about that in the manual either.
The burners are most likely brass, not copper.
9BD85DB1-F083-44C3-A288-B51C5A7DF69C.jpeg

does your burner look scorched like this? Are you using natural gas or propane burner?
 

trambles

Well-Known Member
If the burners are copper that is the problem, brass burners are used because they create a cleaner burn and dont oxidize
 

trambles

Well-Known Member
U could probably switch to propane, I bet they offer a conversion kit. I got a pretty big grow and change the tank(grill tank) about every 2 weeks. That's 36 7 foot tall plants
 
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