Torpedo heater

[trooney]

I finally got tired of working on my chainsaws in a cold garage. My little propane heater did little to take out the chill. So I bought a torpedo heater, 135,000 btu, and brought it home. The dude said he bought another one and this one had sat for about a year. Said he has trouble firing it up when its lie, but it does fine with fuel. Brought it home, filled it up and alot of smoke pouring out of the tube. Hmmmm..
Swing the cover off and she fires up. Ok....I know about chainsaws but shat about torpedo heaters. Youtube here I come....found out the vanes in the airpump are usually a culprit...took it apart..sure enough the vanes werent dropping like they should. Took it apart cleaned it up, and got the vanes to drop like they should.
Took the nozzle apart and sprayed with brake cleaner, spark plug regapped and checked the lines. Fired right up. Good..... proud of myself. Got a new air filter kit and installed. Now it wont fire up unless the top cover is removed. WTF!!! Went over that machine again so I could take it apart in the dark. Then I got thinkin....the replacement filter gasket looked thicker than the original. Didnt throw away the original, wife would shudder at that thought, and replaced the new with original. Fired right up. Hmmm..didnt think that would make a difference but it did. For something so simple it is touchy to the least little change...

 

[Larry B]

When you work on the air pump you really should check and adjust the air pressure. Some heaters actually have a pressure guage but most have a port you screw a guage into to check the pressure. There is usually a label on the heater with the pressure setting.

 

[trooney]

Yeah, the guage is 5.5psi which it calls for. Its shutting off now. Got a fuel filter and a new spark plug on order. Aint too much more I can do to it.

 

[GBertolet]

Here is a link that might be helpful. His videos start out a litle goofy, but there is good info.

 

[trooney]

Yeah, I saw that one. It does have some good info in it. I'm going to get a new nozzle for it. I now realize I've had the pump pressure a little too high.

 

[Lightning Performance]

We had one thirty years ago. The vane case wore out so we put it on ten lbs of shop air pressure. Had its own regulator. Burned a lot cleaner after that.

 

[trooney]

I had the model number wrong. Instead of an "e" its an "a". Same basic heater, just different lines and pressure.

 

[smokey7]

Did you ever figure it out? I have the same story here about a heater.

 

[trooney]

No. I replaced about everything that I could replace...spark plug, nozzle, ump backing plate, air filter kit, rotor and sleeves, air line and fuel line, fuel filter, washed out the tank...now all I get is just a sputter, no full ignition. It takes a little to get up to 5 psi which it calls for...ohh, new psi gauge too...so I THINK it is the air pump or control board. But, got another spark plug just to see if its not getting enough spark. At this point, I've got enough money into it that I couldve bought a new one.

 

[trooney]

The funny thing is if I crank up the air pressure to 6 psi that it sputters more. Cant figure out if it needs more air or whether the air gives it more fuel flow....

 

[Larry B]

You are not getting enough fuel. It just blows across an opening to suck fuel up the fuel line to the nozzle. If you have the proper air pressure either something in the fuel line is clogged or an air leak. Common problem on these heaters.

 

[trooney]

But, if you have to open up the cover to get it to fire is that air or fuel related? Not air line, new. I guess I'll check the fuel filter and fuel gauge again. If its not that there must be a crack somewhere.

 

[huskihl]

The air pump blows through the nozzle which makes a vacuum on the fuel line to pull fuel. If you’re making pressure, I believe that 5 or 6 psi should carry all the way through to the nozzle. You could check air pressure at the nozzle to see if it’s the same as it is at the pump. If it is, you’d know it’s either the filter, line, or nozzle.

 

[Xr650jkallen]

The torpedo heater that is in my shop jumps to 6.5psi on the gauge instantly. So if it is taking a minute to get up to pressure your pump vanes may be worn. I have seen people take them out and flip them. You might give that a try, check the pump cover with soapy water also just to be sure it is sealed.

 

[GBertolet]

I repaired one that had a small crack in the fuel line. Just enough the weaken the vacuum, so not much fuel got to the nozzle. The heater after starting, would have a weak flame, sputter and then shutdown after a few seconds. A new fuel line fixed it.

 

[trooney]

The torpedo heater that is in my shop jumps to 6.5psi on the gauge instantly. So if it is taking a minute to get up to pressure your pump vanes may be worn. I have seen people take them out and flip them. You might give that a try, check the pump cover with soapy water also just to be sure it is sealed.

I've got a new rotor and vanes to put in. It takes about 5-8 seconds to get to 5psi

 

[trooney]

It still doesnt fire. Replaced everything you can replace except air pump and control board. It want to fire just doesnt get that constant fire. Fuel gauge, fuel filtet, and fuel fill are all tight. Dont know where to go with this. I never give up, might be the first time!

 

[huskihl]

If you remove the airline going from the pump to the nozzle and blow 5 psi of air into it, does the nozzle blow out a mist of fuel?

 

[trooney]

I looked in the cylinder, for lack of the proper term, when I started it up and I could see a steady stream of fuel mist coming from the nozzle. If you pump up the air it doesnt fire, if you lower the air the same thing. It wants to fire around 5psi, which is correct for this model. Got another fuel filter that I might try, if not that I'm not going to sink $100 more dollars into it.

 

[Larry B]

Leave it out by the curb. I will be by later to pick it up.