Skotl's diesel heater garage install thread

[Newlands]

My Chinese heater has been on a couple of times a day for the past week, mainly to try and make sure that the water cooled laser and the water cooled spindle on the router don’t freeze up. It’s supposedly a 5kW one, and if I run it for an hour it will raise the temperature in my insulated 18x10’ workshop to around 16°c. Switch off around 8pm, and overnight it will drop to about 5°c.
Its obviously cheaper than an electric heater, but I don’t seem to get the miracle results that some of the YouTubers claim.
Its been no trouble though, apart from a diesel leak when I first ran it - the fitting on the plastic tank wasn’t tightened up properly, easily sorted but tells you a bit about quality control!

 

[DAPPH]

Remember the 8kw is actually 4kw.
I just bought another for bang on £80 with free delivery.

Having seen Fizzy's heater & helping sort the exhaust and seen the heater running , I'm well impressed as there is no naked flame in the heated area .

So tonight, I've called in all my brownie points stored in Alison head , so almost a year to the day later. ( I've already had several thousands of pounds worth of things for myself & the mancupboard this year )

I've ordered the same thing that Fizzy has , but this time the price is now £88.9 plus 20% VAT p& p FOC , it should be here by 19 Dec 2022 via EVRI & it's tracked.

The PSU for it is now £ 33 inc VAT & p&p IIRC. , but as I have a decent 60 amp battery and an intelligent battery charger to run it, so it can wait a while. The mancupboard with me in it needs heat , lots of it & I need my mancupboard .

 

[AVI_8]

My Chinese heater has been on a couple of times a day for the past week, mainly to try and make sure that the water cooled laser and the water cooled spindle on the router don’t freeze up. It’s supposedly a 5kW one, and if I run it for an hour it will raise the temperature in my insulated 18x10’ workshop to around 16°c. Switch off around 8pm, and overnight it will drop to about 5°c.
Its obviously cheaper than an electric heater, but I don’t seem to get the miracle results that some of the YouTubers claim.
Its been no trouble though, apart from a diesel leak when I first ran it - the fitting on the plastic tank wasn’t tightened up properly, easily sorted but tells you a bit about quality control!

Bear in mind it’s been very cold this week, once the outside temps increase from freezing to 5 degrees your heater will run much less to get to temperature.

16 degrees, I can only dream of that when it’s freezing outside, I’ve an 890000 btu heater and after an hour I’m seeing around 12 degrees, though I’ve no insulation…. And lots of fresh air vents in case I‘m stupid enough to poison myself with carbon monoxide thanks to building control.

 

[DAPPH]

My Chinese heater has been on a couple of times a day for the past week, mainly to try and make sure that the water cooled laser and the water cooled spindle on the router don’t freeze up. It’s supposedly a 5kW one, and if I run it for an hour it will raise the temperature in my insulated 18x10’ workshop to around 16°c. Switch off around 8pm, and overnight it will drop to about 5°c.
Its obviously cheaper than an electric heater, but I don’t seem to get the miracle results that some of the YouTubers claim.
Its been no trouble though, apart from a diesel leak when I first ran it - the fitting on the plastic tank wasn’t tightened up properly, easily sorted but tells you a bit about quality control!

As with anything new unused that might leak or come undone it's always good practice to check all fixtures, fittings, and joints
The Grant aided green energy FIREBIRD Chinese boiler installed by a company doing the grant work leaked like a bloody sieve a day after it was installed ..the pig fat in the unions & flanges must have melted out . I tightened all unions, nuts and electrical screws, the vast majority appeared to have been finger tight jobs at the best .

 

[not done it yet]

My Chinese heater has been on a couple of times a day for the past week, mainly to try and make sure that the water cooled laser and the water cooled spindle on the router don’t freeze up. It’s supposedly a 5kW one, and if I run it for an hour it will raise the temperature in my insulated 18x10’ workshop to around 16°c. Switch off around 8pm, and overnight it will drop to about 5°c.
Its obviously cheaper than an electric heater, but I don’t seem to get the miracle results that some of the YouTubers claim.
Its been no trouble though, apart from a diesel leak when I first ran it - the fitting on the plastic tank wasn’t tightened up properly, easily sorted but tells you a bit about quality control!

If it is the larger of the housings (generally with a 75mm warm air duct) it will be the ‘5kW’ version, providing less than 5kW. I’m not sure how much heat the smaller body variant will provide. I expect it is lower than 3kW. No such thing as an 8kW cheap chinese heater, of course, even though many think they have one.

The PSU for it is now £ 33 inc VAT & p&p IIRC. , but as I have a decent 60 amp battery and an intelligent battery charger to run it, so it can wait a while.

DAPPH,

Don't bother with the PSU. The battery and charger is the better option - less leccy and guaranteed safe shut-down. If the grid supply fails, the heater will trip on full heat and won’t do the motherboard any favours. Shortening its life if not killing it!

I just put mine on for 1/2 an hour or 1 hour (not sure which, yet) on its timer.

 

[DAPPH]

Question for the experienced masses...

The exhaust is 25mm diameter and it's going to go through 250mm thick breeze block. I have a 25mm SDS bit so was going to wrap the exhaust with exhaust heatwrap up to the brick, but now I'm starting to wonder whether the brick will be ok with the ~300-400F exhaust going through it.
The alternative is to splurge £36 on a 30mm bit that I'll never use again and poke it through the brick with heatwrap all the way.

Any thoughts on whether the breeze block will cope with that kind of heat?

I know the post is old but this reply may trigger a few thoughts for those who are thinking of buying a heater . I have a LIDL core drill set and an SDS arbor with a six inch extension rod in 35 45 mm , IIRC they cost less than a tenner about 8 yrs ago , Once you've got them you find all manner of uses for them .

Use a long 300 mm or more 8 or 10 mm drill to go through both walls at right angles & horizontally , screw a home made wooden right angle guide to the wall if you're not used to drilling like this and core drill for inside and out to follow the pilot hole instead of trying to core drill through in one go from one side only .
I think the cooling down / heating cycle should prevent any condensation residues staying in the pipework , think of your cars exhaust pipes & silencer boxes

 

[fizzy]

If it is the larger of the housings (generally with a 75mm warm air duct) it will be the ‘5kW’ version, providing less than 5kW. I’m not sure how much heat the smaller body variant will provide. I expect it is lower than 3kW. No such thing as an 8kW cheap chinese heater, of course, even though many think they have one.

The PSU for it is now £ 33 inc VAT & p&p IIRC. , but as I have a decent 60 amp battery and an intelligent battery charger to run it, so it can wait a while.

DAPPH,

Don't bother with the PSU. The battery and charger is the better option - less leccy and guaranteed safe shut-down. If the grid supply fails, the heater will trip on full heat and won’t do the motherboard any favours. Shortening its life if not killing it!

I just put mine on for 1/2 an hour or 1 hour (not sure which, yet) on its timer.

My first one ran for over 5000 hours. A few times people just switched the psu off at the wall whilst it was running full blast. Didn't do it much harm. Our electricity supply in Swansea is incredibly reliable in fairness. Different story at home in the middle of a forest.

 

[skotl]

I know the post is old but this reply may trigger a few thoughts for those who are thinking of buying a heater . I have a LIDL core drill set and an SDS arbor with a six inch extension rod in 35 45 mm , IIRC they cost less than a tenner about 8 yrs ago , Once you've got them you find all manner of uses for them .

Use a long 300 mm or more 8 or 10 mm drill to go through both walls at right angles & horizontally , screw a home made wooden right angle guide to the wall if you're not used to drilling like this and core drill for inside and out to follow the pilot hole instead of trying to core drill through in one go from one side only .
I think the cooling down / heating cycle should prevent any condensation residues staying in the pipework , think of your cars exhaust pipes & silencer boxes

(think I mentioned this later in the thread)

My neighbour (retired builder) warned me not to use a core drill of that diameter without using a clutched drill. He lent me his and, right enough, the bit stalled a few times while I was drilling which would have taken my wrist with it, so I'm glad I got the use of his clutched drill rather than my basic Titan SDS drill.

(he died a couple of months ago - cheers, Davie )

 

[AVI_8]

(think I mentioned this later in the thread)

My neighbour (retired builder) warned me not to use a core drill of that diameter without using a clutched drill. He lent me his and, right enough, the bit stalled a few times while I was drilling which would have taken my wrist with it, so I'm glad I got the use of his clutched drill rather than my basic Titan SDS drill.

(he died a couple of months ago - cheers, Davie )

Reminds me of the time I was drilling a hole through the external wall of my house for a tumble drier, I think it was around 100mm, this was the third hole, first was the shower fan outlet, next was the cooker extractor fan, then the tumble drier, the very expensive core bit was obviously getting blunt by this point. A 100mm core bit attached to an SDS drill when it stalls gives a kick, I thought I’d broken my wrist, luckily I hadn’t but my arm was purple with bruises for a good time after.

 

[DAPPH]

I wonder what the rules will be on running engines on kero? Mix in a bit of cooking oil say 5% and you won't tell the difference.
Not clear on the HMRC website. They suggest the construction industry switch to it for site heating etc.
After all you are allowed to run generators on mains gas and that is untaxed.
I think we might see some Komatsus and Caterpillars running with gas bags on the roof like Jonesy's van

Any one besides me recall the old Fordson Major tractor running on petrol to start till the heat exchanger ball got hot enough for the engine to then run on heated paraffin( TVO? ).

I can.t recall if it was switched over when the temp gauge registered a set temp or it was guess work as I was only four at the time , I'm about to become 72 in a few days time .

 

[DAPPH]

Reminds me of the time I was drilling a hole through the external wall of my house for a tumble drier, I think it was around 100mm, this was the third hole, first was the shower fan outlet, next was the cooker extractor fan, then the tumble drier, the very expensive core bit was obviously getting blunt by this point. A 100mm core bit attached to an SDS drill when it stalls gives a kick, I thought I’d broken my wrist, luckily I hadn’t but my arm was purple with bruises for a good time after.

Did similar putting in the through the wall 8 inch flue for a commercial waste oil burning heater .

I chose the vertical and horizontal joint point in the block work thinking there won't be a wall tie here as it's too close to the perp.
Four inches into the block work with an 8 inch dia core drill & I get thrown over with the cable wrapping my right arm to the drill whilst trying to tear it off before the bloody thing stopped .
I couldn't use my right arm for several days, the cable left a lovely thick black spiral bruise up my arm as well .

 

[Farside]

Was pondering where to put my Chinese Diesel Heater for max effect and was also keen to use the exhaust heat for some good purpose.
Easy-peasy. I have an old oil burner still in situ and can easily route the heater exhaust into its burn chamber, so it will give off its remaining heat to the boiler heat exchanger and then exit through the existing flue.
Won't be much, but it's a couple of kW of otherwise wasted heat than can keep the hot tank up to temp.

 

[not done it yet]

Was pondering where to put my Chinese Diesel Heater for max effect and was also keen to use the exhaust heat for some good purpose.
Easy-peasy. I have an old oil burner still in situ and can easily route the heater exhaust into its burn chamber, so it will give off its remaining heat to the boiler heat exchanger and then exit through the existing flue.
Won't be much, but it's a couple of kW of otherwise wasted heat than can keep the hot tank up to temp.

I would think itis less than a kW (extractable), so unlikely to get much from a secondary heat exchanger. Better to extend the hot exhaust so the heat is lost directly to the warmed area. Look up the heater specifications (not the marketing carp) and compare it to the energy content of the fuel.

Any exhaust (or the other pipes) must be increased in size (cross sectional area) to avoid constricting the fan operation. Failure to do so will likely produce more CO, more sooting-up and wastage of fuel.

 

[not done it yet]

Any one besides me recall the old Fordson Major tractor running on petrol to start till the heat exchanger ball got hot enough for the engine to then run on heated paraffin( TVO? ).

I can.t recall if it was switched over when the temp gauge registered a set temp or it was guess work as I was only four at the time , I'm about to become 72 in a few days time .

You only recall the Fordson Major? I recall the Fordson Standard - a lot earlier than the Major! Vaporised fuel - TVO stands for Tractor Vapourising Oil. But yes, it has to be hot to vapourise it. If working at a reasonable rate, I would use straight kerosene - otherwise 7:1:0.5 of keroetrol:gas oil mix (once up and running) - but not on a Fordson, as that engine was not the best of the era.

Spitting on the manifold (to see if it sizzled) was the common method of checking when to change from petrol to TVO on that old engine. We always started the Fordson first, to make sure it would start, and was hot enough - then started the other (admittedly newer) tractor which was easier to start, a much more reliable starter and used less petrol to warm the engine before changing to TVO.

 

[not done it yet]

I know the post is old but this reply may trigger a few thoughts for those who are thinking of buying a heater . I have a LIDL core drill set and an SDS arbor with a six inch extension rod in 35 45 mm , IIRC they cost less than a tenner about 8 yrs ago , Once you've got them you find all manner of uses for them .

Use a long 300 mm or more 8 or 10 mm drill to go through both walls at right angles & horizontally , screw a home made wooden right angle guide to the wall if you're not used to drilling like this and core drill for inside and out to follow the pilot hole instead of trying to core drill through in one go from one side only .
I think the cooling down / heating cycle should prevent any condensation residues staying in the pipework , think of your cars exhaust pipes & silencer boxes

Don’t drill straight through at right angles - angle it slightly down towards the exterior. That way it will avoid water penetration into the wall. About 7 1/2 degrees, minimum, to get water droplets to run off a window cill, so much the same for this, I expect.

 

[Robotstar5]

Any one besides me recall the old Fordson Major tractor running on petrol to start till the heat exchanger ball got hot enough for the engine to then run on heated paraffin( TVO? ).

I can.t recall if it was switched over when the temp gauge registered a set temp or it was guess work as I was only four at the time , I'm about to become 72 in a few days time .

My Fergie is Petrol/TVO and you switch to TVO once the temp gauge (on the right) gets into the green, you just have to remember to switch back to petrol a couple of minutes before shutting down as it won't start on TVO.

Although they do provide a handy drain tap on the float bowl if you forget

 

[Morris]

Did similar putting in the through the wall 8 inch flue for a commercial waste oil burning heater .

I chose the vertical and horizontal joint point in the block work thinking there won't be a wall tie here as it's too close to the perp.
Four inches into the block work with an 8 inch dia core drill & I get thrown over with the cable wrapping my right arm to the drill whilst trying to tear it off before the bloody thing stopped .
I couldn't use my right arm for several days, the cable left a lovely thick black spiral bruise up my arm as well .

Still got a hole (scar) in my face from an incident a year ago. Only an inch off my eye (photo in the "daft things you've done" thread) and left the house looking like a scene from Silent Witness. I was in a somewhat confined space putting a Chinese heater in the conservatory for wifey (it's her craft room).

 

[not done it yet]

My Fergie is Petrol/TVO and you switch to TVO once the temp gauge (on the right) gets into the green, you just have to remember to switch back to petrol a couple of minutes before shutting down as it won't start on TVO.

Maybe you have not noticed the drain on the carburettor float chamber? We never changed back to petrol before stopping the engine at the end of the working day - it was more economical to drain the dregs from the carburettor, before refilling with petrol, before attempting to start, the following morning. Generally, Dad knew how long the tractor would run at tick-over and minimal load, so turned off the fuel before putting the tractor in the shed.

 

[Robotstar5]

Maybe you have not noticed the drain on the carburettor float chamber?

Does the second pic in my post not show on the screen you are using?

 

[not done it yet]

Does the second pic in my post not show on the screen you are using?

Of course it dhows. Just thinking, from your post, that you clearly did not know what it was or what it was for.