In regards to burning (or not lol) waste motor oil, this I think is what is happening. Basically the quick build up of carbon/coke is because of relative slow burning of the oil. When diesel is pulsed into the vortex chamber it burns off from the gauze you can't easily get to. This gauze is to provide a large surface area which when hot, helps evaporate the fuel and the ignition of that comes from the flame propergating from the gauze by the glow plug. When waste oil is used, the burn time is much slower, and when it reaches the large gauze, only the surface of the oil is burnt, leaving a tar on the gauze. With diesel, the rate it burns at is fast enough so that the gauze is not "wet" with fuel (or saturated) but with the much slower rate of the waste oil, the gauze quickly becomes saturated and the oil starts pooling, eventually enough to seep out of the front of the vortex holes and down the intake. Mine did this. What's burning from the waste oil is the very small amount of volatile substances within it. Lube oil is designed not to burn, so as not to gum up piston rings with carbon deposits but over it's life time, will absorb an amount of unburnt fuel from cold starting as well as particulates that make it through the air filter and microscopic metal from normal wear. This is one reason for regular oil changes. I thought about filtering down to 5 microns, and trying to get the viscosity to match diesel, but it's the way the gauze works that is the stumbling block. I'm turning my attention to possible propane injection, but that's not a particularly cheap addition. Hope this helps someone....
I bought a new heater a month ago, and used some old diesel and some used gearbox oil in it, it didn't want to run, even putting fresh diesel in would not keep it running, when it did get going there was lots of soot. The ratio of used oil to diesel was very low, less than 2l of oil to 15l of diesel, so I was a bit stumped as to why it was struggling to run. I ordered a new glow plug as they come with a new mesh. On one of the start up attempts I noticed a puff of smoke come out of the hot air vent, and it was flaming out constantly. So I went to strip it down, this was when I found the glow plug was loose, really loose, I'm guessing it just wasn't sealing on the threads, as well as this the fuel pipe had too much of a bend in it and was putting pressure on the burn chamber case and possibly preventing the air chamber gasket sealing too. So that was gently bent into a better shape, the burn chamber cleaned out (clogged with soot after just a few days running on and off) and a fuel filter from a diesel Land Rover I had spare fitted in the fuel line, and so far it seems to be running well.
1 to 1.5 ohms should be good to go. If you have a 6v (NOT 12V) motorcycle battery to hand then you can connect the glow plug to it and see if it gets very hot. Don`t forget to keep the small hole clean next to the glow plug and atomizer or it will not fire. Hope this helps.
I just changed my glow plug new was 0.5 ohm old one was 0.3 ohm. Probably depends on the meter as that’s pretty low for a general purpose meter to measure....
hello, I had a problem of exaggerated smoke before starting, then I discovered that by removing a layer of grid from the glow plug grid atomizer, it went into place, it seems strange to me, I've never heard anyone do this, what could it be the real problem?
Apparently, glow plug resistance varies from 1 to 6 ohms, so very low and any high readings are clearly duds, as you already figured. Be interesting to see where they fail, though. Thanks for the video.
Did you run this unit at 200C+? Some people have commented that you can keep the combustion chamber hot (>200C) even when running at low Hz by partially restricting airflow to the heat circulation fan. A small circular piece of paper will do the trick, and will stay in place (held over the inlet by vacuum) while the unit is running.
@@Storman77 I think your problem is about a foot prior to the core temperature reading, so the suggestion of restricting the warm air flow is misleading. I would think that the combustion air is being steadily reduced by the build-up at the flame. I expect the CO in the exhaust gases is high, prior to the heater getting to the point of not starting. Indeed I think it needs checking whenever you change to burning any mixture as the heater should have been adjusted for burning gas oil, at the point of manufacture. Without any (easy) means of adjusting the fuel:air ratio, with that controller and motherboard, any over-rich combustion condition is likely to eventually lead to sooting in the heat exchanger. It looks like it is further struggling with waste oil mixtures and is unable to prevent, or disperse, any build-up at the point of combustion, meaning that any temporary burner ‘malfunction’ will never be cleared and will be cumulatively added to - leading to even faster deposition in that area.
@@oliver90owner it's not so much adjustment for different fuels, but rather the burn chamber gauze is (and by definition the heater) is designed to only run on diesel/kerosene/ fuel oil. It seems any oil with a slow burn time will foul the vortex chamber gauze, and clog up. As regards restricting the air flow, I've done this when on a low setting and using kerosene and the controller didn't show two red temperature bars. The temperature went up, but obviously the heater didn't produce a lot of heated air.
Ran across a couple other videos testing these glow plugs, seem to recall anything less than 6-7 ohms is a good plug, when they short or fail they test at >200 ohms.
i finally had to take mine apart, your definitely running to cold, that same spot for me was full of ash and a small bit of carbon by the fuel inlet but everything looked way cooked. i was able to scrape it out with a radiator hose pick tool, like a big 90* hook pick and it runs so good now im hesitant to run black back through it, because its so nice to start it from bed. For the glow plug i'd hook it up to a battery and watch it glow, thats also a good way to burn off any crust.
The easiest way to check the glow plug operation is to actually measure the heater current during start-up. A non-invasive check. It should not exceed the glow plug rating (but must approach it, I expect?). Too hot and the glow plug id likely to fail; too low and the fuel may not be ignited completely enough - but that would be temporary as the glow plug is reduced/turned off as the heater senses combustion.
Any updates on a secret menu for the new style controller like you have? Also is it possible to source the old style board and controller to retrofit a heater to have the old style electronics in it?
I haven’t broke the code. Yes you can find old style on EBay . I am doing research on my board if it works with afterburner I will make the investment.
@@SquarebodyTruckCamper I haven’t done much research but the pictures are my only base point . I have Been asking people to post a link that is confirmed. With my luck I would find an old style in pictures and get new style 😏
I run my heater 24 hours a day and gone through 5 glow plugs this winter, I keep heater really clean I wonder if anyone has improvised on making a better glow plug
ive seen a video where the bloke was having a simular problem and it turned out it was the botton of the burn chamber that was clogged,you can remove that big washer at the bottom of the chamber to get to the gunk hidden behind it.if i can find the video ill post you the link
So I got mine set up and running but for some reason I have an exhaust leak where it connects to the bottom of the heater..... anyone have any ideas how to seal it that won't happen anymore?
we ended up putting 2 15mm slits down the end of the pipe like on a car exhaust because it kept popping off while setting it up on a shelf and feeding the exhaust outside through a hole you could use a little exhaust putty for a little more peace of mind
@Storm Norm Leduc ok thanks. Just looked it up, and tube of sealer is only $3. Says it's good for up to 1000°C so that should be good enough for this. Thanks!
Storm, just want to let you know that i just picked up 5 sets of the 2 gaskets for $10 US total including shipping from the AliEx store called "S-PART7 Store". Takes a couple of weeks or a month but i don't need them right away, but am sure i will later. In case you want more.
You are wasting your time trying to run your heater on waste oil. Wire mesh at base of burn chamber will clog up with carbon and other hard combustion deposits. The only way to clean that out is to cut burn chamber tube off and heat wire mesh until red hot.
In regards to burning (or not lol) waste motor oil, this I think is what is happening. Basically the quick build up of carbon/coke is because of relative slow burning of the oil. When diesel is pulsed into the vortex chamber it burns off from the gauze you can't easily get to. This gauze is to provide a large surface area which when hot, helps evaporate the fuel and the ignition of that comes from the flame propergating from the gauze by the glow plug. When waste oil is used, the burn time is much slower, and when it reaches the large gauze, only the surface of the oil is burnt, leaving a tar on the gauze. With diesel, the rate it burns at is fast enough so that the gauze is not "wet" with fuel (or saturated) but with the much slower rate of the waste oil, the gauze quickly becomes saturated and the oil starts pooling, eventually enough to seep out of the front of the vortex holes and down the intake. Mine did this. What's burning from the waste oil is the very small amount of volatile substances within it. Lube oil is designed not to burn, so as not to gum up piston rings with carbon deposits but over it's life time, will absorb an amount of unburnt fuel from cold starting as well as particulates that make it through the air filter and microscopic metal from normal wear. This is one reason for regular oil changes. I thought about filtering down to 5 microns, and trying to get the viscosity to match diesel, but it's the way the gauze works that is the stumbling block. I'm turning my attention to possible propane injection, but that's not a particularly cheap addition.
Hope this helps someone....
Hi, can you link me the material of the hole that you have make on the burner? In curious to see this Better👍
I bought a new heater a month ago, and used some old diesel and some used gearbox oil in it, it didn't want to run, even putting fresh diesel in would not keep it running, when it did get going there was lots of soot. The ratio of used oil to diesel was very low, less than 2l of oil to 15l of diesel, so I was a bit stumped as to why it was struggling to run. I ordered a new glow plug as they come with a new mesh. On one of the start up attempts I noticed a puff of smoke come out of the hot air vent, and it was flaming out constantly. So I went to strip it down, this was when I found the glow plug was loose, really loose, I'm guessing it just wasn't sealing on the threads, as well as this the fuel pipe had too much of a bend in it and was putting pressure on the burn chamber case and possibly preventing the air chamber gasket sealing too. So that was gently bent into a better shape, the burn chamber cleaned out (clogged with soot after just a few days running on and off) and a fuel filter from a diesel Land Rover I had spare fitted in the fuel line, and so far it seems to be running well.
1 to 1.5 ohms should be good to go. If you have a 6v (NOT 12V) motorcycle battery to hand then you can connect the glow plug to it and see if it gets very hot. Don`t forget to keep the small hole clean next to the glow plug and atomizer or it will not fire. Hope this helps.
I just changed my glow plug new was 0.5 ohm old one was 0.3 ohm. Probably depends on the meter as that’s pretty low for a general purpose meter to measure....
I wonder if making the ring that clogs up a bit smaller or drill a few holes in it near where it clogs? Might help? 😀
Ha wrote this before I finished the video great minds think alike 🤣
Why the music ?
hello, I had a problem of exaggerated smoke before starting, then I discovered that by removing a layer of grid from the glow plug grid atomizer, it went into place, it seems strange to me, I've never heard anyone do this, what could it be the real problem?
Apparently, glow plug resistance varies from 1 to 6 ohms, so very low and any high readings are clearly duds, as you already figured. Be interesting to see where they fail, though. Thanks for the video.
Did you run this unit at 200C+? Some people have commented that you can keep the combustion chamber hot (>200C) even when running at low Hz by partially restricting airflow to the heat circulation fan. A small circular piece of paper will do the trick, and will stay in place (held over the inlet by vacuum) while the unit is running.
Oh interesting. I shall try that
@@Storman77 I think your problem is about a foot prior to the core temperature reading, so the suggestion of restricting the warm air flow is misleading.
I would think that the combustion air is being steadily reduced by the build-up at the flame. I expect the CO in the exhaust gases is high, prior to the heater getting to the point of not starting. Indeed I think it needs checking whenever you change to burning any mixture as the heater should have been adjusted for burning gas oil, at the point of manufacture.
Without any (easy) means of adjusting the fuel:air ratio, with that controller and motherboard, any over-rich combustion condition is likely to eventually lead to sooting in the heat exchanger. It looks like it is further struggling with waste oil mixtures and is unable to prevent, or disperse, any build-up at the point of combustion, meaning that any temporary burner ‘malfunction’ will never be cleared and will be cumulatively added to - leading to even faster deposition in that area.
@@oliver90owner it's not so much adjustment for different fuels, but rather the burn chamber gauze is (and by definition the heater) is designed to only run on diesel/kerosene/ fuel oil. It seems any oil with a slow burn time will foul the vortex chamber gauze, and clog up.
As regards restricting the air flow, I've done this when on a low setting and using kerosene and the controller didn't show two red temperature bars. The temperature went up, but obviously the heater didn't produce a lot of heated air.
Ran across a couple other videos testing these glow plugs, seem to recall anything less than 6-7 ohms is a good plug, when they short or fail they test at >200 ohms.
That’s good info thanks
i finally had to take mine apart, your definitely running to cold, that same spot for me was full of ash and a small bit of carbon by the fuel inlet but everything looked way cooked. i was able to scrape it out with a radiator hose pick tool, like a big 90* hook pick and it runs so good now im hesitant to run black back through it, because its so nice to start it from bed. For the glow plug i'd hook it up to a battery and watch it glow, thats also a good way to burn off any crust.
The easiest way to check the glow plug operation is to actually measure the heater current during start-up. A non-invasive check. It should not exceed the glow plug rating (but must approach it, I expect?). Too hot and the glow plug id likely to fail; too low and the fuel may not be ignited completely enough - but that would be temporary as the glow plug is reduced/turned off as the heater senses combustion.
Any updates on a secret menu for the new style controller like you have? Also is it possible to source the old style board and controller to retrofit a heater to have the old style electronics in it?
I haven’t broke the code. Yes you can find old style on EBay . I am doing research on my board if it works with afterburner I will make the investment.
@@Storman77 what do you search to find the old style motherboard and controller?
@@SquarebodyTruckCamper I haven’t done much research but the pictures are my only base point . I have Been asking people to post a link that is confirmed. With my luck I would find an old style in pictures and get new style 😏
I did
www.ebay.ca/itm/403505738250?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z339o5xdssa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=brvgjgb_reu&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I run my heater 24 hours a day and gone through 5 glow plugs this winter, I keep heater really clean I wonder if anyone has improvised on making a better glow plug
I am having same problem mate no start 🙄
ive seen a video where the bloke was having a simular problem and it turned out it was the botton of the burn chamber that was clogged,you can remove that big washer at the bottom of the chamber to get to the gunk hidden behind it.if i can find the video ill post you the link
So I got mine set up and running but for some reason I have an exhaust leak where it connects to the bottom of the heater..... anyone have any ideas how to seal it that won't happen anymore?
we ended up putting 2 15mm slits down the end of the pipe like on a car exhaust because it kept popping off while setting it up on a shelf and feeding the exhaust outside through a hole you could use a little exhaust putty for a little more peace of mind
You can use exhaust putty or sealant
@Storm Norm Leduc ok thanks. Just looked it up, and tube of sealer is only $3. Says it's good for up to 1000°C so that should be good enough for this. Thanks!
Storm, just want to let you know that i just picked up 5 sets of the 2 gaskets for $10 US total including shipping from the AliEx store called "S-PART7 Store". Takes a couple of weeks or a month but i don't need them right away, but am sure i will later. In case you want more.
To test. Plug into the unit and hit go. If it glows, its ok.
Well that’s not really scientific lol. But that would work
Thanks for the update.
Can I ask where you are getting your parts? Thanks a lot.
EBay mostly . Some on Amazon during emergency
heres a link showing how to fine tune the heater so it burns better - ua-cam.com/video/SmCYQu53umk/v-deo.html
Gaskseal works fine save ya self money and thank me later
You are wasting your time trying to run your heater on waste oil. Wire mesh at base of burn chamber will clog up with carbon and other hard combustion deposits. The only way to clean that out is to cut burn chamber tube off and heat wire mesh until red hot.
There’s a guy in the UK who pulled the metal ring in the burn chamber out using a pick so he could get to the mesh to clean it.
@@julias-shed can you link to his videos please?