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Anyone repair torpedo heaters?


Buck531

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My mother inlaw has a torpedo heater from my father in-law (passed away last year). It doesn't work. I have no idea what's wrong with it. I do know it's run on kerosene though. Last time I think I tried to start it it started blowing black shit out the side. I really don't know how much or if I should even worry about fixing it.

 

I can probably bring it to you if you wanted to take a look at it.

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back up. :). I picked it up today. Plugged it in and it ran for a few seconds and shut off. It did puff out some smoke (like it wanted to start). I took the cover off and cleaned the spark plug and it's getting a good amount of spark. I'll go look at it again at the intake housing. Other than that, does anyone wanna take a crack at fixing it? :)
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Any idea on how much to fix/replace? Can you do it?

 

Just so I can clarify, the whole heater fires up just fine; blows as it should, but then shuts off after a few seconds w/ a big cloud of smoke? If so, it's definitely the photocell.

 

As for the price of the part, I can't remember exactly. I'm wanting to say $20ish. It's nothing fancy. Just a 2-wire deal. It's purpose is to 'read' the flame to make sure; 1. it's on, and 2. it's the right temperature. If it's dirty or faulty, it thinks the flame is gone or fucked up, and shuts off the heater. The cloud of smoke you see is all the unburnt fuel being forced in as the motor shuts down.

 

You really can fix it yourself. It's like 8 screws, unplug 2 wires, replace sensor, then reassemble. It's about a 5 minute job, if that.

 

Here's a link to the basic guts of a multi-fuel heater. You can see in the parts breakdowns where the photocell is. This probably isn't your exact model, so the part number listed won't work, but they're all basically the same.

 

http://www.desatech.com/manuals/Construction%20Heaters/113282-01.pdf

 

Here's what I'd do if I were you:

1. Take it apart, and clean the photocell. Just wipe off the 'eye' with a soft cloth. See if that will fix it. (You don't even have to spend the time putting the lid back on. Clean it, put it back in place, and see if it fires up.

 

2. If that doesn't work; replace it.

 

P.S. - I don't work for my stepfather's company anymore, but if you get me a make/model, I'll get you a part #/price.

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Well, when I plug it in, I can see the sparks off the plug, then it may or may not shoot some flame, then it craps out. Reset switch pops out. The filter looks pretty new as well.

 

It's Reddy Heater. 50k BTU's. R50 is the model.

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