A25 Auxiliary heater

[nebulatech]

Condolences to the admiral.

I would guess once that filter is cleaned the fuel flow will need more than a quarter turn closed to account for the reduced restriction in the fuel line. I hope cleaning the filter moves the needle forward for you!

[WillieC]

Snicker, snicker... I thought the same thing when I posted that picture but was confident that nobody at AOG is THAT immature and juvenile. Snicker, snicker. Nobody will even notice.

Here is a better perspective shot:

IMG_2269.JPG

(BTW, if you all can help me out, I may have successfully faked my demise so the Starfleet Commander can collect the insurance. Not. A. Word.)

[WillieC]

Between cleaning the FILTER, and readjusting the fuel dosing I think I am very close. Oh, I forgot to mention how much gunk I cleaned out of the what I thought was already clean glow plug.

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From what I can tell, the dosing pump I have is not the original, and is pretty much non-adjustable, as long as you don't close it all the way down. The tonkinois website describes this very situation. I need to leave a bit of a gap from all the way tight, maybe an o-ring to seal the leakage at that straight cut thread. grrrr... then re- verify dosage and call it close enough. When the unit runs, it burns amazingly clean. Like VW diesels.

The REAL FIX, which I dreamed up all on my own from my actual life experiences, (now there's a sad commentary)is to delay the flow of fuel to the combustion chamber until the glow plug is nice and red. I have noticed, in my Thomas Edison-like testing laboratory, that even after the cooldown cycle, which binge and purges the combustion chamber, the cool glowplug is fuel soaked. Heckuva design, Brownie. What the...?? Remember that this pre-Cambrian era design starts the fan, begins pumping fuel, and tries to light a stone cold, and soaking wet glowplug. Wrong. Every gas range, furnace, oven, water heater, oil furnace that I have had the pleasure of repairing has a hot surface ready BEFORE introducing fuel. There are different ways to get there, thermocouple pilot light, relay or electronic controller ignition coil. (Correction, there are piezo sparkers for gas stoves and fireplaces, but gas (as in gaseous state) is easy to ignite.)

Trial and error (see DAs description above for emphasis on the error part) indicates that about 45 seconds of glowplug preheat will result in almost instant fuel ignition as soon as I start the pump. None of this billowing noxious fog bank spewing from the hole in the side of the boat followed by napalm like blasts in the direction of my kindly marina neighbor. It just lights, start burning cleanly with no drama. Rather boring.

I just need to install a switch to interrupt the fuel pump circuit (low current draw) and count to 30. Flip the switch and strip to my skivvies! Note that all newer models of these types of heaters have a built-in delay of fuel flow (or separate pre-heat of plug) cycle. Modernity. Pffftt!

I think I am ready to move forward in my love/hate relationship with this heater. Full teardown tomorrow for paint prep. (Mum's the word. Insurance investigators are coming tomorrow...)

[Bob Noodat]

... but was confident that nobody at AOG is THAT immature and juvenile.....

Oops.

Brilliant on the fuel delay.

I am getting the picture now

Thomas_Edison _experimenting_in_his_laboratory.png

Or maybe....

edison-getty.jpg

[nebulatech]

Would a timer relay work?
Like this (but it's only 5 amps, parallel maybe?):
https://www.amazon.com/Delay-Timer-Rela ... 07QKDTP34/

This one is 10 amps, but the exposed circuitry is a liability, and I think the timer range is too large to get it accurately to 45 seconds:
https://www.amazon.com/UCTRONICS-Tachog ... 07BT25J52/

Years ago, in another life I used to sell these things. You could get a 12v timer that had an analog dial. I think Ademco made them (now Honeywell), but I searched the net and couldn't find one. I have some friends I could call if you need to go this route....

[WillieC]

Yeah, Bob, you get the picture. Before the explosion, that's exactly what my shop looked like, down to jacket, vest, and tie. And bewildered, frustrated mad scientist.

Nebulatech, those relays are exactly what I am thinking for a more permanent installation. Until I am satisfied that I have a reliable device that involves burning fuel in a confined space, mounted to two tons of flammable (inflammable?) congealed plastic snot, I'll stick with a momentary switch that demands my full attention for 30-45 seconds. Just to be safe, HA!

I notice that the Omron says 250VAC 5A resistive on the contacts. No DC rating. It would prolly work fine since this is the dosing pump circuit that is cycled almost twice/second by the cam driven switch on the fan shaft. The arcing takes place at that switch, (only twice per operating cycle on the relay) which also has a cap parallel to the contacts, according to the drawing. Should work. I'll definitely pursue this later. Thanks for finding it. I agree with the problem of the exposed surfaces of the little electronic relay board, especially in this saltwater environment.

[Bob Noodat]

That sooty crud in your glow plug. Might that not be the whole problem? It insulates the element, so the fuel is exposed to a sub-combustible temperature. It merely smoulders and smokes and fuel pools. Vicious cycle: smouldering fuel deposits more carbon in the glow plug.

Q.E.D.

[WillieC]

I had high hopes for sooty crud myself. And maybe if I can get the combustion chamber cleaner, though it transfers heat very well, maybe it will light even easier.

What I find odd is that after cooldown and a couple refreshing libations, when I remove the glowplug, it is still soaked. This fuel delivery system is medieval in function, I have a similar coffee can drip tube into my woodstove. The fuel drips right into the middle of the glowplug, hits a small plate at the south end of plug and dribbles onto the hot element and the perforated cyclinder that forms the base of said plug. Flame on! There is no aerating nozzle, just gravity and dribbles from the dosing pump. So what is the moistness after cooldown? As soon as the control voltage is removed from the relay, the fuel pump stops which extinguishes "The Burn", the fan continues to run cooling down exchanger and blowing through the combustion chamber. They call this some kind of cleaning cycle, like "cleaning" my shop of sawdust using my leaf blower. Sketchy and full of unintended consequences.

The fan continues to run until the lucite rod/steeltube assembly retracts changing contact state on the "Thermal Control" microswitch. Cycle done. (Dying to hear a full treatise on the operation of the lucite/steeltube/microswitch? Didn't think so, but it is rather clever.)

The line from the dosing pump to the glowplug is supposed to slant upward. With little restriction in the nozzle, it is essentially open to atmosphere. This is why the supply line must slope upward, so it doesn't drain into the combustion chamber. Fuel is intended to be pushed/pulsed into the glowplug. Some fuel must be sucked onto the cooled plug during the cooldown cycle. In my newly refurbished post-explosion Tesla Test Laboratory (buh bye, TAE), I am using a chunk of clear tube supplying the glowplug so I can see that even if it is sucking some fuel, it isn't much. But we all know how far a little diesel will go in the bilge.

I tried extending the cooldown period by adjusting the microswitch, but then it wouldn't shut down/change state. The fan wouldn't stop. I can make it work in the range specked in the manual. My thought was, maybe a longer fan run would dry the plug. Didn't get there.

All this to say, this is why I am going with the glowplug sans fuel preheat regime. The plug, all of it with the buried carbon removed, quickly heats, burns off the residual fuel dribble on the plug (I can hear it trying to ignite) and goes to bright red, 30-45 seconds, then I start the dosing pump. Lights almost immediately. Success!

So far it has nicked me for...hmm, I needed to buy some diesel, scrounge a couple o-rings from the Lab archives, replace a copper washer from my Volvo Penta bleeder plug stash...oh, yes, 5 feet of new tube replacing the 47 YO stuff in the boat. Can-o-spray paint and that's it.

Essentially, FREE. Which as they say is a very good price. (Not counting a week of head scratching, bloody knuckles, chemical poisoning, inhalation of various stages of combusted diesel, exploding shop, faked demise, dodging insurance investigators, neglect of family and friends, and posting all this drivel here!)

Today, full disassembly for checking fan and dosing pump point settings, cleaning and PAINT!

Here's a shot of the crystal clear running Esperanto! Go ahead and drool at the clean room, white glove , EPA compliant conditions we are known for in our state of the art labs.

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[Bob Noodat]

Sounds like pissistance rewadded, as my tablet keypad decided to put it. Well done!

It looks quite beautiful in its new paint.

What's that bright green picture hanging on your wall?

[nebulatech]

IMG_2271.JPG

That's ISO-9001 certified for sure.

If I'm reading correctly, you've got the problem nailed and ready to put it in the WillieC? Just in time for Friday and a multi-day celebratory debache!
(not that a classy gent such as yourself would rejoice to such excess)

[WillieC]

Well...it's not painted yet. Took it all apart this am, rewadding my pissistance, hilarious...had a heckuva job, Brownie, getting the custom exhaust elbow off so I could split the case. It's a slip fit and I knew it could be pretty welded with exhaust juices and other indeterminate excreta. Kroil, heat gun, finally mapp gas torch til glowing red, torquing it in the vice on the verge of tearing the exhaust/combustion chamber weld. Wouldn't that be the fashizzle...so I got my Hugh Jasset pliars out and torqued on the pipe, not the whole thing. I was mildly shocked that it let loose. I almost quit and figgered I'd paint it as is, but I want to try cleaning the combustion chamber and the 90 needed to come off if I was going to have half a shot.. That and my ocd insanity kicked in.

There is some rust on the outer shell, but those old Germans didn't scrimp on the metal so I have plenty to work with. What a nice surprise. Wire wheel scraper, another wire wheel, degreaser and hot water rinse then a swipe of Ospho, drying now, and I'm ready for paint.

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The green wall? Oh, that! What was it, five maybe six years ago, the sun shone for about 45 minutes in late February so I snapped a pic right out the door of the shop and had it blown up to full scale poster size and mounted it on the inside of the door.

As to celebration debauchery, it may have to wait. I actually had to stop putzing yesterday and CUT THE GRASS! IN FEBRUARY! After I got the mower running, another project in itself. I also have other winter/spring stuff to do so my neighbors don't turn me in to code enforcement. Funny thing, neighbors on both sides of me are actually selling this spring. I can't imagine why. The WillieC doesn't smoke THAT much when I run it in the driveway...picky, picky, picky. Maybe it's the cursing gardener who does all the chores around here. I'd fire that SOB in a heartbeat, but the Starfleet Commander doesn't pay me as it is. Sort of a volunteer position.

[PugetAlbin]

We upgraded the original Eberspracher (an 'X2', I believe) to a new model a few years ago. The control panel in the old one was broken, so it didn't seem rescuable. The new fit into the old space and used old ductwork, with slight modifications. It is powerful and heats things up nicely within 15 minutes. It's ducted to v-birth, pilot-house, and i think also to the rear cabin. It's very dependable. And, it burns clean -- I don't notice any diesel exhaust smell, even moored. It uses a very trivial amount of diesel. The hot exhaust ports out the side, so one must be cautious about blowing it towards a dock, or anything that could catch fire or get burned, like pedestrians. Inside the boat, it is pretty quiet, except for the well-documented soft metronome-like 'ticking' sound, which I quickly forget about, though like tinnitus, it might drive you slowly crazy. Outside the boat, from the exhaust it does make a more audible small roaring noise, like a mouse-sized jet engine. Eberspachers are expensive, but I justify that it will probably last 30 years. I always fret about a CO leak, but we have a CO alarm, and I make a point of shutting the heater off anytime there's' a chance of falling asleep.

In the v-birth, we've also got a dickinson propane heater. It also puts out great heat and the little flame is cozy!

[DesertAlbin736]

But will it fly? Something like this would warm your buns, eh?

rockepack.jpg

Funny thing, neighbors on both sides of me are actually selling this spring.

Oh, how I wish we could afford a PNW summer home at Seattle prices! Then I could pester you six months out of the year! That would be the beginning of the end of the neighborhood though. Yes, a house & yard need a little attention once in a while. Just got done draining my pool, hosing off the pebble tech plaster, refilling, & re-balancing the chems. Every few years the chemistry gets out of whack, calcium hardness, total dissolved solids etc, and only way to fix is drain & refill 15,000 gallons. Water temp is 64, & now that we're into March I deployed the solar blanket, so once ambient temps start hitting 80s by early to mid April may be able to start swimming.

[Bob Noodat]

Just got done draining my pool, hosing off the pebble tech plaster, refilling, & re-balancing the chems. Every few years the chemistry gets out of whack, calcium hardness, total dissolved solids etc, and only way to fix is drain & refill 15,000 gallons. Water temp is 64, & now that we're into March I deployed the solar blanket, so once ambient temps start hitting 80s by early to mid April may be able to start swimming.

For some reason you made me think of this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A

Screenshot_20200302-170649.jpg

[DesertAlbin736]

For some reason you made me think of this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bwvlbJ0h35A

Yep, it's a dog's life. That's why we named our little ship of dreams (or fools?) La Dolce Vita, The Sweet Life. Just another day in paradise down here (low 80s the next few days). Love Weird Al. This one my favorites of his bits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcjgJSqSRU