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I gave the MEN information to a couple of guys at work. We have an endless supply of
used oil so why not make it happen. One of the guys has finished his unit. He did a 5 hour
test run with a chimney sticking out the side door of his garage. It was 20 deg out and about
75 deg in the garage. His unit did not use the conical burner; he used a stamped metal pan.
He also used a 4 inch computer fan to blow in the air tube. Over the five hours it used 2
gallons of oil. His tank is located above his heater off to the side. It is also attached to the
heater. It also uses a simple needle valve for oil control. During the visit he never adjusted
the oil flow.
I have started mine. I will be using a conical burner. I have pressed it from 1/4 steel. If it
does not heat up enough during start up then I will go through the hassle and make one
from aluminum. Tonight I stripped the hot water heater and cut a door in it. Then I noticed
that I only have a 3 inch draft tube. Since Roger Sanders reduces his to 2 inch to slow
velocity I will leave it alone. I will test it this way and if needed will still reduce it or weld
in a 4 inch tube. I will also mount my tank similar to the unit my buddy made. I am
hopping to have it finished by next week.
I hope no one thinks that I am hijacking this thread; I intend to show pics as I progress.
The burner.
The 40 gallon water heater tank with a door cut out.
1/8/09
I have not finished much; I picked up some hinge material (push tubes from a Cat 3406
engine). I am going to use a 30 lbs R134A tank for the tank that will be mounted above the
heater. I have removed the handles and valve from the tank and silver soldered a 1/4 npt
female fitting to the top of the tank. This will be the needle valve will mount. I also need to
install the sight gauge and drill a 1 inch hole in the top for filling. Sorry I do not have any
pics of this, the tank is at work and I am working at it on breaks.
I spent a little time on the heater. I cut the old draft line and mounted the burner. I also
installed 1/4 inch npt plugs in five of the holes that were made by the hot water
manufacture.
I am ready to start cutting and welding. The hole for the new 6 inch draft line still needs to
be cut, the tank needs to be mounted and the door hinges need to be made and installed. I
also need to install the frame on the inside of the heater door opening. I may weld this into
place. Unfortunately I must do some garage cleaning to get to my mig and torches. I have
been working on a few wood projects and need to move a bench and a few sheets of oak
plywood. I will be working on this after work tomorrow.
After the frame was in and tight it was not quite the same shape as the door. To fix this I
used a 3 lbs sledge to beat it into shape.
It started well the door latch was coming together great. The door pulls tight and locks
smoothly.
I bought a metal 5 gallon bucket from Sherman Williams. I have soldered all of the fittings
for the drip system and level indicator. I like this thing better as it lets me remove the top
for cleaning. The only draw back is I have to make a frame for it to sit on. The metal is
even thiner than the R-12 tank.
I had a piece of 1/4 inch plate that I have been sitting on and it fits inside the lower lip of
the new oil tank. So I welded it to the galvanized tube and the tank sits very stable on the
plate.
The oil tank close up. The fitting with the plug in it is for the oil drip line. The plug was
there for leak testing.
The complete setup less the pluming.
Re: Roger Sanders Waste Oil Heater
After its first run. I can put my hand on the top only for a second before the burning is too
strong.
It was difficult to start only because the oil was so cool that I could not get a drip. This is
out side with a strong wind. The wind is so strong that during heat up the flame would go
out until I put a 2 inch reducer on the air intake. It seems burn better with it there so I will
leave it.
I did not bring home the inferred thermometer but, it is hot. More testing is needed to see
how it performs over the long run. I think I need to get it out of the wind so the heater keeps
the bucket with the oil warm.
The stack and bucket. This shows how dark the exhaust is. Difficult to see and does not
stink like burning oil.
The completed unit undergoing its first run. Look closely you can see a bit of exhaust.
After running for about 6 hours, this is what I have learned. It used 1 gallon of oil at high
burn. The conical burner and air make the flame form a cone that hits the walls of the
heater. The draw back of the conical burner is, at top burn it can overflow and make a mess
at the bottom of the heater. My solution is to add a 8 inch cast iron pan under the burner. I
cut a ring from the piece that I cut from the old flue and set it in the pan and then set the
burner on the ring. It worked better than I thought it would. If any oil spills over, the oil in
the pan catches on fire and heats the burner from below. One thing that is a drag, the pan
too will need to be cleaned.
The heater gets dang hot and is fully adjustable from a high heat to a low heat. For some
reason during start up a mess of coak floats on top of the pool of oil, I used a metal rod to
move it off of the burner and then no more problems. Also during start up or when ever the
door is open, the flame vortexes up the air intake tube but, as soon as the door is shut draft
changes from the intake to the flue. Then the fire spreads out to the sides again.
The soot level is pretty high but this was expected. Oh yea, wind plays havoc on the flame.
This will change when I get it inside.
I brought home a barrel and cut it to make the shroud.
Here are the additional burner pieces. The lower pan has not been cleaned.
This is the complete burner.
It is painted and ready for installation. Now I have to find a chimney kit at a reasonable
price. Installing it will cost the most.
I used Caterpillar muffler paint for the project. When it cures it will be a little lighter than
charcoal grey.
The heater.
The shroud.
Well it is not as warm as it was last weekend, 21 degrees. I wanted to show pics of the
flame and the iron burner in operation. It was difficult to get the oil flowing. I am using old
motor oil from our personal vehicles. It is very thick when it is this cool. With less wind it
was easier to light. Here are the pics at medium burn. It is the best I could do with the oil
flow under that temp.
The next pics are looking down the air intake.
The new aluminum burner, I will test this tomorrow. The first 1 inch from the out side
diameter is cut at 10 degrees. The rest to the center is at 12 degrees.
1/25/08
The aluminum disk is a total waste of time. The flame would die as soon as I shut the door.
The cast iron and steel burner is what I will use from now on.
I started when it was 18 degrees outside. I also put the heater in the in the shroud. The
shroud works outstanding. The heater is at 700 degrees and the out side of the shroud is at
50 degrees.
A dampener is a great addition to the system. It makes starting easier. I just shut it to a
small opening and less air is pulled in to cool the oil. As the oil heats I open the dampener a
bit more. To keep the heat at its full potential I have been running it about 1/2 open.
I have been running this thing outside and keeping the oil flowing it tough below 40
degrees. The oil bucket cools pretty quickly. I think in the shop this will not be much of a
problem as there is no wind, and the shop will warm, and warm the oil also.
Yesterday I went out and picked up a 5 inch chimney system, my buddy is using a 4 inch
exhaust, so I think I should be okay. I have a few more parts to pick up; I need to go to a
heating and supply store to get them. They are a 7 inch roof flashing and storm collar.
Re: My Roger Sanders Waste Oil Heater
Hello DNGSPOT,
Great writeup and pictures! Thanks for sharing. Looks like you have it burning pretty
clean by the looks of the smoke stack. I'm sure your writeup will help others. Thanks
again!
Gettin' the fire started!
Posts: 45
next in line!
Re: My Roger Sanders Waste Oil Heater
I'm sorry, but I know that in the picture he had it hardly burning, thats why it "looked"
clean burning, the fact of the matter is that no matter what size Draft tube you have (mine
currently has a 6 1/4" id and no matter how hot the plate is or how much air you give it, it
can only draft x-amount, without a outside force of air and partical atomization, clean it
will never be.
Logged
dngspot
Gettin' the fire started!
Posts: 21
o
Sunday was mine. I gathered up the remaining stuff that I thought I needed for the chimney.
Yet still make half a dozen trips to the local home centers. I could not believe the simple
items I needed are not at one store I had to go to both Home Depot and Lowe’s to complete
the project. But it is done and I am happy it works.
The chimney drafts incredibly well, almost too well. It is 12 feet long and is about 1 foot
taller than my ridge line. I also installed a dampener in the stack. Starting is not as simple as
it was in the back yard. I have to let the oil heat up with the door open for about 10 minutes.
I also have to restrict the air intake longer or the fire will blow out. After every thing is
heated I can control the air intake with the flue dampener. I am going to make a variable
cover for the intake tomorrow.
I ran for about 45 minutes. I got it pretty hot and the paint started to smoke and smell. I
tried to do this out side but could not because the weather was too cold and the oil would
not flow. It heated the shop pretty quickly but the temp outside was pretty warm today, 40
degrees.
I am eager to start tweaking it for my needs now that I have it functional inside.
The new damper is in and is working great. Start up was easy. As far as running it I just
open until it starts to go out then close when the center of the puddle is stabilized.
Here are the modifications.
The fix, remove the 3 inch tube and install a 4 inch tube just as Roger Sanders has in his. I
finished today to just as the temps got to 50 deg, and lit it up. What a difference a perfect
flame no mater how much oil is fed into the heater. It no longer overflows because the oil
burns before it can. Dang should have done this last year.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2010, 06:15:58 pm by dngspot »
Logged
pigpen52
Gettin' the fire started!
Posts: 4
o
The exhaust is not the pipe from just above the flame. It is a 6 inch pipe flush with the top
of the tank to the side of the intake. The intake is located at the center of the tank and is just
8 inches above the burner. Air is pulled in from the 4 inch center pipe and pushes the flame
out to the outer wall.
The vent is the flue and it exits through the ceiling and roof to about 1 foot over the ridge
line.
The cast iron skillet is used to catch and burn any oil that might over flow the conical
burner. I do not have this problem anymore but like the security. I tried to use the
aluminum burner and like the steel one better.
I start the burner with a steady drip and about 2 ounces of BBQ lighter fluid. I have a small
propane torch to actually give flame.
I have made a change to the drip system that makes it easier to see how much oil is feed to
the burner. I will post detail and pics tonight.