Kerosene Mr Heater will NOT light??

[Rugb]

Greeting
And I'll introduce myself first and say " Hi " to all the members here. I am a fixer and people bring me all kinds of things to fix. So what they brought me was Mr Heater model MH50KR kerosene heater ( torpedo type) and it was new last year so it is in good shape. But it will not light to burn! I have cleaned the filter and put a new hose up to the nozzle(a clear one so I can see the fuel come up from the tank) , put in new fuel, has a very good spark across the electrodes, cleaned the nozzle, had that apart several times,cleaned the filters for the air, hooked up a pressure gauge to it and I can adjust the pressure from 0 to 7-1/2 pounds,checked things again and again, but it will not light to burn. Tried it with it all put together with the covers on or with them off and no difference. It only has a little sound at the burner nozzle like it may slightly be trying to light. As I am trying it I can see a mist coming out of the chamber end maybe even 6 or 10 inches and after while of trying, chamber gets wet with fuel on the end. Seems so very strange to me why it won't light. I have taken the nozzle out of its place and it has a spray coming out as I run it. The bottom of the tank is clean and I drained out last years fuel and put in new fuel from town K 1 Kerosene. Any ideas or suggestions as to what to do next? Or I'd like to talk to someone who works on this type of heater to give some ideas? So simple but no heat! Thanks

 

[ishiboo]

Greeting
And I'll introduce myself first and say " Hi " to all the members here. I am a fixer and people bring me all kinds of things to fix. So what they brought me was Mr Heater model MH50KR kerosene heater ( torpedo type) and it was new last year so it is in good shape. But it will not light to burn! I have cleaned the filter and put a new hose up to the nozzle(a clear one so I can see the fuel come up from the tank) , put in new fuel, has a very good spark across the electrodes, cleaned the nozzle, had that apart several times,cleaned the filters for the air, hooked up a pressure gauge to it and I can adjust the pressure from 0 to 7-1/2 pounds,checked things again and again, but it will not light to burn. Tried it with it all put together with the covers on or with them off and no difference. It only has a little sound at the burner nozzle like it may slightly be trying to light. As I am trying it I can see a mist coming out of the chamber end maybe even 6 or 10 inches and after while of trying, chamber gets wet with fuel on the end. Seems so very strange to me why it won't light. I have taken the nozzle out of its place and it has a spray coming out as I run it. The bottom of the tank is clean and I drained out last years fuel and put in new fuel from town K 1 Kerosene. Any ideas or suggestions as to what to do next? Or I'd like to talk to someone who works on this type of heater to give some ideas? So simple but no heat! Thanks

Having the same issue with my thermoheat right now... lights sometimes but not always, and not usually when cold. Interested to see if you get any responses.

 

[Rugb]

Hope you got yours working,ishiboo.I haven' yet. Yours sounds like just the opposite of what they usually do. They don't burn very well with the covers off! On mine I haven't spent a lot of time on it again,just mostly thinking about it and talking to others about it' issues! Did try drawing fuel right out of a container to bypass the tank fuel. Put on anew pressure line and set the pressure to 3-1/2 lbs like is recommended. The best it does is kinda sputters and sizzles like it's wanting to light,but won't!! Pretty soon from trying again and again the fuel is dripping out of the front end. So hope you are having better luck and have yours figured out?

 

[Rugb]

A conclusion to the problem....
Ended up being the nozzle. Ordered a new nozzle and holder, put it in and it fired right up. Reset the pressure so the cone glowed a nice orange after running 5 minutes. So don't know what was wrong with the original nozzle, had it apart many times to clean and look at it. Funny thing is it worked when it was put away in the spring, but wouldn't light this fall. Every day is a learning experience!!!

 

[DonPowers]

Does the unit have a safety/ motion sensing switch that would shut it down if jarred? if so, it could be stuck.

My propane heater has one.

 

[rlitman]

Does the unit have a safety/ motion sensing switch that would shut it down if jarred? if so, it could be stuck.

My propane heater has one.

I've never seen that on a kerosene torpedo heater. They do all have a flame sensing system though.

 

[DonPowers]

I went to the MR Heater to look for a manual, need a serial number to access the info.

 

[Kennewt]

My mr heater kerosene heater is doing the same thing, won't light, hardly ever used, and like yours worked great in the spring, but now when I tried it this fall no longer lighting. I'll try cleaning the nozzle like you did but if it still won't work will buy a new nozzle I guess

 

[Kennewt]

Also just wondering if anyone knows if there is a manual way to light this heater ?

 

[rlitman]

Also just wondering if anyone knows if there is a manual way to light this heater ?

No. These generally require continuous ignition.

 

[ishiboo]

I think these things are junk. I have 3, both diesel/kero heaters light poorly or not at all. The LP one is BRAND NEW and worked ONCE and won't re-light.

 

[ishiboo]

The LP one I put a new plug in and it lights, but I don't think it's right. The flame continuously makes the spark plug ends grow red hot which I think is how the last one failed.

 

[dsimatt]

The LP one I put a new plug in and it lights, but I don't think it's right. The flame continuously makes the spark plug ends grow red hot which I think is how the last one failed.

Mine does that to without issue so far ml

The timing of this thread is interesting because I have a LP heater that works great but after helping my BIL and he has a kerosene one that is quieter and also the thermostat operation is nice so I was on CL looking and theres a lot of heaters out there but none seem like a good deal.

So which do you like better the LP or kerosene.

 

[ishiboo]

LP is cleaner and I have a 120 gallon and 1000 gallon by the barn so it's cheap. It's also not messy when it doesn't light

Mine has a thermostat so it would work pretty good if it did...

 

[dsimatt]

I've got a 40 gallon tank that I run off of but it ***** dealing with that and the hose, also mine is all or nothing which gets annoying fast dealing with that.

Maybe I'm just getting sentimental as my grandpa always had kerosene heaters and the smell brought me back.

 

[Racer_X]

There's lots of information and videos on the internet about tuning salamander/torpedo heaters, but it mostly boils down to 5 things:
1) Adjust the fuel pressure
2) Clean the spark plug
3) Clean the nozzle
4) Clean the fuel filter
5) Replace degraded fuel lines (they will **** air)

Properly tuned, they will run for decades and quite cleanly. If you don't like the smell, there are plenty of flavored additives you can put in the tank.

Ishiboo - it sounds like you either have bad fuel or need to do a tune up.

 

[ishiboo]

There's lots of information and videos on the internet about tuning salamander/torpedo heaters, but it mostly boils down to 5 things:
1) Adjust the fuel pressure
2) Clean the spark plug
3) Clean the nozzle
4) Clean the fuel filter
5) Replace degraded fuel lines (they will **** air)

Properly tuned, they will run for decades and quite cleanly. If you don't like the smell, there are plenty of flavored additives you can put in the tank.

Ishiboo - it sounds like you either have bad fuel or need to do a tune up.

Fuel was drained and replaced with fresh kero, spark plug replaced (sparks fine but doesn't start), nozzle and air filters cleaned, fuel lines look fine. Mine are Thermoheats from Lowes which are actually GHP. The big one at least has an air pressure gauge so I think the air/fuel pressure is fine. Nozzle replacement is next.

 

[Farmall 1066]

If all else seems good, id look at the nozzle.
Used to sell and service Knipco heaters where I worked, so I've seen a few. Generally pretty reliable, but the kerosene, diesel, or Jet A type fuels require very fine atomization to light.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Nozzles erode with use. Usually the problem is not so much it's "dirty", it's the opening is out of tolerance, too big. I don't even bother trying to clean nozzles. They're what, $3.00?

My "torpedo" is over 20 years old. It lights right off. Maybe I've just been lucky so far. Watch, now it won't light if I go to use it...

Tommy

 

[Racer_X]

Fuel was drained and replaced with fresh kero

If both tanks of kerosene came from the same source, you might try a different one. Depending on the source, it could be old or have water in it. It's not common, but it might be worth a few bucks to check.

 

[Worsedog]

If all else seems good, id look at the nozzle.
Used to sell and service Knipco heaters where I worked, so I've seen a few. Generally pretty reliable, but the kerosene, diesel, or Jet A type fuels require very fine atomization to light.

This. If the atomization is not perfect, they piss fuel all over the plug and make a mess of the inside.

 

[metalhvactech]

I have been having a problem where the unit will not maintain pressure, or will not light properly and maintain flame. The biggest problem I had was the vanes in the air pump would not slide in the joints, and would cause a lack of pressure. I cleaned them up to get the residue and such off of the vanes. But now, it seems like the pressure blows out the back of the adjustment screw. I cover the adjustment screw to get the pressure to draw the fuel up and it will light, but the flame is poor at best.

I cleaned the nozzle, the electrodes, the uptake filter, and cleaned out the hoses. The intake air filter (on the right side of the filter box, I assume) is missing. Would this solve the issue I'm seeing, or is there something else missing from the adjustment screw to keep it in line? I just don't know if I want to put a ton in parts into this, but I feel I'm heading into the area where I need to be, I just wonder if I'm missing something.

 

[TractorJeff]

I got a very old 30k and a 100k on a couple of trades.
The 30k hadn't run in 15 years. I cleaned the vanes and put a replacement cover and air filter on the back. Its ran fine ever since.
The 100k, I put a new fuel filter and hoses on, which cured its running problems.
There is a website for one of the manufacturers(redi-heat?) that has excellent troubleshooting tips. It seems that most of these are made by one or two companies, then labeled for whomever is selling them.
I think I ran a thread on here a few years ago when I was working on them?

 

[kkuhn]

Hi Folks: I have a Mr Heater 210 kerosene which will not light after first time,
changed hoses fuel filters nozzle, same problem, I had fuel and spark no fire,
I removed the plastic pickup tube from the tank and replaced with a inline filter
and hose, on the end of the hose I put a steel end from a fuel line off a old
snowmobile, so it would stay at the bottom of tank. problem cleared, been working fine since.