Sears Torpedo Heater Help

[gmhill33]

Greetings,

I have a old 50,000 BTU Heater SEARS, it won't start when I plug it in. I took the cover off to see if I could see anything obvious and there wasn't. When I plug it in the end of the spark plug glows red and the little safety switch button will pop out after a few seconds. Anyone know what could be the problem?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Charles (in GA)]

http://reddyparts.com/

Troubleshooting and parts all in one web site. Little tricky to navigate but lots of info if you take the time to read it.

Charles

 

[gmhill33]

http://reddyparts.com/

Troubleshooting and parts all in one web site. Little tricky to navigate but lots of info if you take the time to read it.

Charles

Thank you sir.


Gary

 

[Charles (in GA)]

There is probably a little port or plug with a hole in it, in the back of the unit, near the air filter, and when the fan motor is running, you should feel a jet of air coming out of the hole. This is an air pressure regulator, for the air coming off the carbon vane air pump on the back of the fan motor. (unit blows air over the fuel pickup tube to siphon fuel out of the tank) This jet of air is the excess air from that) If it isn't blowing and does not appear to be siphoning fuel its possible the air pump is failed. Fuel pickup tube could also be plugged with **** in the fuel. I always run K1 Kerosene or Jet A in mine, never diesel for me.

They have several different ignition systems, spark plugs, glow plugs, etc. Sounds like yours may be working. There is also a "eye" that looks for the fire. If no fire, the eye shuts down the unit by tripping that red button, so it sounds like that is working if it is not firing off.

As I noted, there is a lot of troubleshooting help on the web site, so keep checking things till you find it.

Charles

 

[gmhill33]

Greetings,

Well it has been about a year and a half and I put the heater back on the bench. I spayed some lubricant on the fan shaft and the fan spun freely. I plugged it in and the thing ignited so I unplugged it and put it back together. Then when I plugged it in it wouldn't work, it just blew out spoke. So I took it back apart and plugged it in and it worked again.

It won't even ignite if the fan shroud it on, take it off and it starts right up. It sure does put of some fumes though. I plan on going to get a fuel pressure gauge later and check that. According to the data plate it should have about 3.5 fuel pressure.


Can anyone offer any info as to why it won't start it is put back together or with the fan shroud?


Thanks,
Gary

 

[Richard Cranium]

could be a slight bind from if you over tightened the fasteners?

 

[gmhill33]

could be a slight bind from if you over tightened the fasteners?

The motor turns on and the spark plug works but it blows out smoke.

I took it to a friends and used his fuel pressure gauge and it said 2 psi but the best I could get was 3 psi.

EDIT: I forgot to mention. I did take the nozzle off and checked to make sure it wasn't clogged.

I just took some leak detector and put on the hose connections and there doesn't appear to be a leak.

Thanks,
Gary