Reddy Heater shuts down

[kdave]

I fellas
My Reddy Heater 60k btu's
It been in my gagrage for 12 years and has had problems for the last 8 and getting worse.
Running fin eit would shut down for no apparent reason. I stumble on putting a piece of cardboard covering 1/2 of the intake area. It would run until ran out of fuel. Flame never looked rich, never smelled any different. This went on for several years gradually getting worse. Worse being it wouldn't burn all the fuel in the tank. It got to where there was 1 1/2" left in the tank and would shut down.
About that time frame I put in a new nozzle, cleaned everything, new fuel lines, filters etc. Made no diff what so ever. I do not have a pressure gauge low enough to check but adjusting the screw makes no change at all.
Present day---it shuts down at 3" of fuel. Very little time before refueling as you can imagine.
Does anyone have any suggestions. I sure cold use some.
cheers

 

[rustyjames]

Try the trouble shooting section here: http://www.reddyparts.com/

 

[Road Wrench]

Have you ever rebuilt the vane pump?

 

[kdave]

I did review the Reddy Heater web site with no success.
I did not rebuild the vane pump. I did take it all a part and nothing looked worn or out a line. It is one of those thing you rebuild without asking questions?
Dave

 

[kdave]

I guess I need to get a low pressure gauge

 

[Road Wrench]

Its been around twenty years since I repaired several of those, they were Desa branded but Desa made them for a lot of others same design. I remember the carbon vane kits, a little air filter element, and a spark plug came in the service kits we had. I don't remember the pressure spec but seems like it was between 3 and 7 psi depending on the btu of the model. I do remember that the old vanes didnt look that bad, but were worn down a bit and the lighter rotational weight of shorter vanes would provide less sealing pressure.

 

[spudley]

You need the pressure gauge. Just a little dirt or rust in the air chamber and no workie. Sometimes just flipping the vanes help along with a little sandpapering of the air chamber, but as stated, if they're worn too far they won't seal right and pressure fluctuates causing issues.

 

[D45]

Take the cover off.......does it run or shut down?

 

[rlitman]

Check if the flame eye is dirty.

 

[ratdoggy]

You need the pressure gauge. Just a little dirt or rust in the air chamber and no workie. Sometimes just flipping the vanes help along with a little sandpapering of the air chamber, but as stated, if they're worn too far they won't seal right and pressure fluctuates causing issues.

I would have to do that every now and then.
Also call around....
Small engine or electric motor places fix them around here

 

[JPinSTL]

1st thought - Have you emptied the tank COMPLETELY and filled with known good fuel? I've seen enough water in the bottom of the tank that there was just a layer of diesel floating on top. This could be causing your reduced run times.

2nd thought -The air pump builds pressure, pushes air through the line to the fuel tank, this forces fuel up to the nozzle where it is squirted out and atomized.

I'd say its a pressure issue causing it to not draw fuel. Whether its the vanes in the air pump giving out, not building enough pressure initially? Or a leaking air line cracked with age bleeding off your PSI? Or the gasket seal on the filler cap is bad also leaking air?

I picked up a low PSI gauge off eBay for $15, filter kit, and a nozzle all for $60 and got my 175K unit tuned up. You really need the gauge to troubleshoot these. BUT at some point the new parts get you REAL close to a new one. A 100K unit is about $200 around here.

 

[kdave]

Cover off makes no difference.
Cleaned the eye, new fuel lines, filter etc
empty tank--I burn 6-9 gallons a week now. I do burn diesel fuel for last 3 years but this problem is much longer than that.
Long Christmas weekend coming up. I'll get my hands on a lower pressure gauge and report back.
thanks guys.

 

[kuhner]

Get a fuel pressure gauge from O Reilly’s, I think they are about 12 bucks. I think max is about 15 psi. Mine is a Mr. Gasket brand.
Get a 3 inch 1/8 inch ****** and coupler from hardware store. Take the screw cap out and check the pressure. The heater has the spec on it some place. The reddy heater site has good info. Correct pressure is important.
Take the air pump apart and clean very well.
Make sure the igniter stays hot while running, you can see it with the top cover removed. They will run with the cover off. The igniter sometimes will go open after the heater runs for a short time, should be glowing all the time while running.
I just fixed 4of these for my neighbor who is a contractor.

 

[cadunkle]

Mine had low pressure, adjusted and helped for a bit but eventually I got a vane kit. Also had to clean or replace the filter in the tank a few times. To test vane pump function without a gauge look up the pressure it runs, dial your regulator down, and you can run it off your compressor so long as the fuel system is good (clean filter and nozzle/jet).

 

[D45]

Mine had a cracked fuel line inside the tank and a dirty photo sensor

 

[Glwack]

Could be the optical sensor.

 

[gearhead1]

Mine would do the same and had water in the fuel. It was also dirty in the tank. I drained the tank, cleaned it and been fine ever since.

 

[Pruittx2]

I was having some issues with mine,,, would at times, trip the breaker, but fire right back up. Or it wouldn't catch unless the hood was slid back half way, it'd fire and run fine with cover back on. I check my air pressure and say's 3.5 I'm a tad closer to 4. Still issues. So I pulled the covers off,, pulled the air pump apart, flipped the vane's in their slots, brake cleaned off the carbon build up from wore vanes out of the small orifices, and re assembled. All seems good, starts with lid on, and runs till empty, as it should.

 

[kdave]

fixed it.
Cracked round cover. So I bought a new one and pump kit and adjuster plug kit while I was spending money. The site never mentioned the gasket kit doesn't come with the cover. That would have been nice. So holidays came and UPS burned me. I bought the gasket kit from Grainer.
Still could not getting the pressure up above 2 lbs. Couldn't get the plastic adjuster to screw in enough. I ended up running a 3/8-24 tap in the hole to recut the threads. Bang-- screw went in much much further and pressure came right up.
Been running 3/4 hour now with no problems.
thanks for all the ideas
Dave