I just thought I had heat until..........(Even more now)

[RichardnTn]

I vented the propane burner out of the truck. 250,000 btus was hot but I noticed that my inside ring of jets weren't burning clean. I simply went and ran the exhaust out of the truck via an 6" pipe. What was happening was the fumes were hitting the top of the van and coming back down and going thru the burner again...Duhhhhhh, lots of O2 missing... Ridiciously hot now. Accidently bumped it up to 270 getting in and out of the truck and I noticed it quickly while cleaning with shorts on. Can't even get close to opening this thing wide open... Just thought I'd pass this along to you guys running Duane's machines...Richard

Update...I put a small fan in the exhaust and it's even hotter now...

 

[Farenheit251]

I've been using the same machine. The heat was very good but didn't wow me like I expected. I think DuaneO thought I was crazy. Then after two years the tthermocoupler went bad. Went to Ace and got a new one for five dollars. Now it seems to ignite a second faster and stay burning a second or two longer and I've got more heat than I can use even at high flow.

 

[RichardnTn]

Brian, With that many btu's you shouldn't have a problem at all....I am going to check my propane usage against what I was using and see if it is doing any better...Best to you, Richard

 

[Duane Oxley]

Interesting...

Years ago, when I cleaned carpet, one of my vans (the one I personally drove, out of the 4 I had), was vented through the roof. That particular heater design didn't fold over like the Predators, Accelerators and Dominators I made later did. (The burner slid out of the bottom, after loosening 3 screws, so venting didn't interfere with maintenance.)

The pipe used for exhaust was 8 inch diameter and it led straight up to the roof, where a wedge- shaped vent was installed. The vent worked great, except on windy days if I was parked facing a direction in which the vent acted as a "wind scoop" instead and channeled wind down to the pilot, blowing it out.

Later on, when I was making Hammers, I had a Korean customer who installed a vent (a long, snake- like monstrosity, that he would leave connected and point to the door when cleaning) himself and screwed up the airflow, causing the heater to soot up routinely and quickly, so I completely avoided the idea of vents on systems I built after that.

I'm guessing that you could just as well be sure to leave the back and side doors open and help with the CO2 thing. But a lot of people don't like that idea and close as much as possible when the system is in operation and they're some distance from the truck.

At any rate, I'm glad that your modification worked for you, Richard. I don't know how you set it up, but it seems to me that you could go straight up and connect to a vent using a "wrap" of some kind, vs. a solid piece in the shape of a pipe.

One thing for sure... Be sure to use the same size pipe diameter in the plumbing.

Duane

 

[RichardnTn]

Duane, I had a friend make me a aluminum exhaust that is bigger than the 7 5/8" vent on the boiler. The bulkhead in my van slows down some air movement and venting really helps. This thing absolutely "cooks."
Heat is unreal....I run the heat at around 220-240 with much more thermostat to go....Thanks Richard

 

[Farenheit251]

With 10 flow I was maintaining 230-240 at the wand using a lie detector. With 15 flow I haven't tried that hot as the quantitiy of water is heating the fiber plenty.

 

[Duane Oxley]

Hey, Richard...

I'm pretty sure that I can approach that kind of heat capability with a 25 / 45 combination and heat exchange technology. I know that I can generate heat similar to a Little Giant #3 with a "standard" (i.e., not tweaked in any way) 20 / 36 configuration.

The patent application I recently completed lists a couple of tweaks, however, that I'm pretty confident will push performance past a 120,000 BTU Little Giant, with a 20 / 36 configuration. That being the case, I don't see it as overly optimistic that a 25 / 45 will be substantially better.

Your system has a 25 / 45. I hope to show you one by February that is actually simpler than the L.P. system, and has similar heat capability. If I miss the mark, it won't be by much...

Duane

 

[RichardnTn]

Duane, What ya need to do is get the 20/36 where you want it and then build a 27/47. Best to you, Richard

 

[Duane Oxley]

That's the plan, Richard.

 

[XTREME1]

I go 240 degrees at 600 psi everyday it is the best, when I show people the heat I have they ask why. Well I didn't have heat 4 years ago and I am starting to think that a wand and Psi and heat may be the rotovac and heat, still in consideration. It definitely beats it on tight knit carpets