Skotl's diesel heater garage install thread

[Robotstar5]

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

Quote from my post: Although they do provide a handy drain tap on the float bowl if you forget I didn't think I could make it much clearer?

 

[Farside]

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.

The boiler flue is plenty large enough and has a decent draught.
But hey, thanks for the unwanted lecture. I'm beginning to suspect you read a lot of manufacturers' brochures, like some other ones we've had on here.

 

[DAPPH]

The boiler flue is plenty large enough and has a decent draught.
But hey, thanks for the unwanted lecture. I'm beginning to suspect you read a lot of manufacturers' brochures, like some other ones we've had on here.

It might just be he's got a good engineering mind . I haven't read up on such instructions. But to me engineering commonsense says increase the bore of the exhaust the longer it is , to stop a back pressure build up causing the fan to work harder than the system is designed for & to prevent burn out & or over heating in the heater .

 

[not done it yet]

I'm beginning to suspect you read a lot of manufacturers' brochures, like some other ones we've had on here.

I most certainly know what I am looking for. I read (with mirth) the lies and marketing hype, before hunting suitable alternatives. These heaters are simple devices, so not that much to them.

Heat movement/transfer, by radiation conduction and convection. was well covered in the physics degree modules, so come fairly naturally to a scientist or engineer.

It’s the others, that don’t know, that need it spelling out in words of one syllable.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

It’s the others, that don’t know, that need it spelling out in words of one syllable.

Isn't that just a tad condescending?

 

[not done it yet]

Isn't that just a tad condescending?

No different from the post I quoted?

 

[Newlands]

A bit of thread drift is needed I think..
Currently the RH in my workshop is about 40%. Next week it will be around 75-80%.
I’m about to go and buy a couple of cans of WD40 to spray everything in sight in my workshop. When this current miserable cold weather eases off over the coming weekend and we return to more normal damp winter conditions everything Is going to get covered in condensation and then go rusty. Just thought it might be worth mentioning as it’s really disheartening to realise too late.

 

[Scalarocco]

On the subject of diesel heaters and exhaust pipes, I have modified one of the air bricks in my garage to allow the combustion gas to the outside. This is letting quite a draught in. Is there any type of insulation that is safe in direct contact with the exhaust pipe that I can just stuff into the gap?

 

[fizzy]

On the subject of diesel heaters and exhaust pipes, I have modified one of the air bricks in my garage to allow the combustion gas to the outside. This is letting quite a draught in. Is there any type off insulation that is safe in direct contact with the exhaust pipe that I can just stuff into the gap?

Rockwool

 

[Newlands]

On the subject of diesel heaters and exhaust pipes, I have modified one of the air bricks in my garage to allow the combustion gas to the outside. This is letting quite a draught in. Is there any type off insulation that is safe in direct contact with the exhaust pipe that I can just stuff into the gap?

Vermiculite, glass rope or rock wool. Although vermiculite is in the form of granules so need some way of confining it, but Rockwool can definitely be stuffed into the gaps. For my exhaust I ran it through a bit of scaffold tube through the wall and filled the gaps with glass rope as used on wood burners.

 

[Scalarocco]

Cheers lads. I have some rock wool in a bag in the loft. I'll give it a wad of that.

 

[Am333rcr]

hi

well got the heater is working still no idea how to work the controller.

it runs for maybe 20 seconds then cuts out. fuel problem. i presume.

the guy who i bought it from has no other instructution. the pipe to the pump is almost folded over.

 

[Scalarocco]

That pipe is kinked. Not good. Can you take the picture again but from a little further out so we can get a better overview?

 

[Am333rcr]

i did notice its not the best.

i will take more tomorrow was late back tonight. i have ran it at least 6 time there is still a massive amount of air. so not priming prperly

The seller wants me to film it and send it to him

 

[not done it yet]

Most of these ‘suitcase‘ models use the alternative plastic fuel tubing. Some claim it goes hard, but mine is as supple as when installed - nearly a year ago. However it only needs a tiny amount of fuel to pass the kink (0.022ml per stroke and around 3Hz), so it must be fairly well folded to be totally fuel-tight!

What error code is it showing on the controller? That might help you get some useful directions, not just guesses (it is what those error codes are for, after all).

 

[Am333rcr]

i managed to get it to run well . stopped it on purpose.

it just came up failure to ignite and exhausted.

i have no idea how to change fan speed. i does vary though but by itself

 

[DAPPH]

Setting up things to get ready to fit my heater ,
I noticed the flexi exhaust pipe would not fit on the cast outlet of the heater careful examination shows it's cut at a slight angle with an angle grinder and has microscopic burrs on the inside of the tube . popped a 1/2 in socket on a six inch extension & gently rived the burr out so th flexi ends are ever so slightly bell ended ..they now go on like a dream both on the burner & the silencer , I have some left over stainless steel 1 " od tube that matches the od of the flexi stainless , I hope to turn up a pair of metal joiner sleeves so I can have a free heater before it goes out the mancupboard wall 42 inches later .

Second problem , the fuel intake spigot is too close to the air intake for the mounting plate to slid over it and it's not safe to try and bend it so there is clearance .

Solution
I used a cone drill to drill the fuel spigot hole out to a10mm , kiss drilling using the set depth gauge .....from both sides in to a block of soft pine to remove any burs , then used a file end from both sides to scrape the holes clean.
Spent the rest of the afternoon chasing down wheat free dog food, the company selling it is changing over to a different production company , found some 14 miles away so got 2x 15 kg bags of it.

The badly cut flexi tube ..it looked OK initially till I got a tiny metal splinter in my finger tip , magnifying things showed different

Opened the fuel spigot tube hole up from 5 mm to 10 mm just so easy to do at the factory .

 

[m_c]

i managed to get it to run well . stopped it on purpose.

it just came up failure to ignite and exhausted.

i have no idea how to change fan speed. i does vary though but by itself

When you first turn the heater on, the fan will start slow until it detects ignition, at which point it will fully speed up for a period until the heater reaches a certain temperature (can't remember the exact figure).
What it does after that depends on what mode it's in. They'll either operate in fixed speed (often referred to as fixed hertz), or temperature mode.

How you change between the two modes depends on what controller it has fitted, but they usually default to fixed speed.
One thing to note, is in temperature mode, they won't switch of once it's reached the required temperature. The most they'll do is drop to minimum output.

 

[Am333rcr]

thanks everyone

i think thats it sorted . i am still going to message the seller about the massive air bubble but it seems to run with it fine

 

[m_c]

The air bubble isn't likely to be a problem.

I went to the hassle of fully bleeding mine, but the air bubble gradually reappeared.
The fuel delivery on these doesn't need to be that precise, so all the air bubble does is damp the fuel pulses a bit more before they hit the vaporising gauze.