Basic Glossary
The world of kilns, burners, and fuel gases has its own language and terms. Please take a moment to look at the examples and definitions below. It helps speed up a conversation and make sure everyone is “on the same page” when discussing these issues.
The greatest source of confusion when talking about burners is the orifice. The orifice is the hole that is drilled in the orifice plug. This is where the gas escapes from all your piping and enters the mixing bell of the burner. The orifice is not where the flame comes out of the burner.... that’s the head. Orifice plugs are the small nuts (with the hole in them) that are replaceable and screwed into the orifice spud. The orifice spud is the threaded piece that is attached to your piping.
Gauges are instruments that simply report what is happening to the pressure at a specific point in your system under specific conditions. Refer to the Gauges Page for more information. You do not “turn up a gauge”. You turn up valves & burners. The same gauge, in a different location could lower its reading when you turn up the burners. Rely on gauges only to give you a “number” that you can use for repeatability.
Regulators do several things, but in reality they only do one thing: they reduce a higher pressure down to a lower pressure and keep it constant (regulated). Some regulators are adjustable (high pressure) over a wide range of output. These usually have a large knob and/or gauge. Other regulators are “set” regulators that may have a very small range of adjustment. It is mandatory that you know a regulator’s output (in pressure) before you try to use it.. regulators are uni-directional (gas can only flow in one direction) if hooked up backwards the regulator can be permanetly damaged.
There are many, many types of valves for all sorts of purposes. Valves in this catalog are used to control gas flow and to turn gas on/off. Please be aware that there are lots of valves and most are not rated for or appropriate to use with fuel gases (natural gas & propane). We carry only three types of valves; ball, plug, and needle. (The gas cocks we carry are true ball valves, but are designated as such to differentiate them from the ball valves with a larger throughput [hole] and larger handle.) Be aware that some valves are uni-directional; meaning gas can only flow in one direction through them (needle valves).