advice on oven propane or electric

[holeshot87]

i have a 6'h x 4'd x 3'w oven. what size torpedo heater do i need 50,000,60'000 btu's ect.

[holeshot87]

i want to use propane.

[bzer1]

If you're set on using propane...I would advise you to search around for a good professionally made heater box. I've seen them range from $150 used, to several thousand for huge industrial applications. A heater box will mount directly to you oven wall but will require some well insulated ducting to keep the temps even. The reason I suggest using a heater box is that you will have a heat exchanger between the open flame and the oven box. You will also need to have a decent ventilation system for both your burner and your oven. In the long run I chose electric because of the complexity and additional cost of using a gas burner.

[azoldbill]

And now for a post from the Propane-powered group....

First, I completely agree about the safety issues in the previous posts, you need to be aware where the dangers are and how to eliminate them. That being said....I'm NOT an expert, just a guy who made a propane oven work in my situation. I take NO responsibility for any misfortune you may suffer by using a propane powered oven of any variety.

My bro-in-law was kind enough to score me a pair of industrial-quality gas restuarant ovens. These are enclosed oven boxes. That is, the flame is under the oven box, and not in the same air mass that the parts are heated in. (The heat from the flames under the box is drawn around the oven box by a fan.) This is the ONLY reason I accepted those two ovens. If they were of the open-flame-inside-the-box variety, I would have turned them down flat.

After that, my only big concern was what would happen if I get a concentration of powder in an enclosed space with that flame under the oven. So I simply do my coating far enough away from the oven (with the oven on the driveway in open air...lots of ventilation) and have had no problems. (other than the occassional strong breeze.... )And now that I'm getting set up in my new place, I'll build a high draw powder booth on the back wall and keep the oven near the open garage door. But the bottom line is that I keep the two far enough away from one another to not pose a danger.

If there is anything dangerous I've missed, I'd love to be educated about it.