Any kerosene heater experts out there?

[jbarker855]

Hi fellas-
Looking for some help with a kerosene torpedo heater I picked up for free. It is very old, I'd guess from the 70's. It is a Master Heater, model B-99. 75,000 btu. It works, but it blows smoke like crazy. Seems to run dirty. It makes a 3-car garage uninhabitable within 30 seconds. It doesn't get very hot either (the front piece never gets red at all).
The kerosene in it came right out of my other torpedo heater, which works fine, so I doubt the problem has to do with quality of the fuel.
The nozzle is clear. The fan works. There is no obstruction on the fuel pick-up. All the vanes in the pump are intact. I don't know the specs for what the pump pressure should be, but I played with it a little. Below about 3 psi, the flame just goes out. The pump will generate no more than 5-6 psi, no matter how much I adjust it. Adjusting the pressure doesn't seem to affect how smoky it burns, other than the flame going out entirely below 3 psi.
Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance for the help!
-Jay

 

[radioman]

my father got a kerosene heater for cheap too. after a week using it it started blowing smoke too. He changed the jet size and it got hot this time. well-- maybe too hot. He didnt want to mess with it anymore so got rid of it. maybe that why you got it free?

 

[George2615]

Check the nozzle size. My torpedo heater (only a 55,000 BTU) uses the same nozzle as my home oil furnace which is a .60 at 80 degree. It sounds like you have the wrong size nozzle for the amount of air being pushed through. (Fuel to air mixture ratio seems off). I only get a puff of smoke upon start up then it burns clean. My suggestion is replace the nozzle and fuel filter and try it again.
P.S. I also use K1 kerosene.

 

[keegs]

Sounds like something's wrong with the wick or the burn cylinder. The local hardware here does tuneups on kerosene heaters for about $40. May be worth taking it in for a tuneup.

I use k1 fuel and a fuel additive in mine and it has no smell at all.

 

[dodge man]

I've got one that started getting smoky and didn't ignite as easy as it used to. I found a crack in the back on one of the housing. This was letting air leak in. I also bought a pressure gauge and it wouldn't get up to the correct pressure until I fixed the leak. It was a very small crack and easy to miss. Make sure you don't have any leaks, bad gaskets etc.

 

[5030]

I have an old one as well. I've had to disassemble the air pump and clean the carbon vane that spins and makes pressure before. It's under the back housing.

 

[jbarker855]

Dodge Man-
I think you got it. I did a little more reading and realized I should be checking the gasket areas with soapy water. I have a huge air leak right at the air pump. I'm not sure if there is supposed to be a gasket there or not. There are 2 machined metal surfaces that join together, and there is no trace of a gasket or gasket sealer between the 2. Seems to me like 2 flat metal surfaces with no gasket between would leak, and it does. I will try to fix the seal between the two surfaces.
My original thinking was that the mix is too rich, but I didn't know why. Surely no one took the time to put the wrong size jet in. What I read is that with insufficient air pressure, the fuel doesn't atomize properly, leading to a dirty/incomplete burn and subsequent smoking.
Thanks to all for the advice.
-Jay