Troubleshooting another Beacon Morris BRT-75

[zuren]

There is another thread regarding a BRT-75, but my issue is different...

My neighbor stopped over tonight asking if I wanted his old garage heater that is having issues. He elected to just replace it rather than call someone to service it, so I'm trying to figure out if it is worth repairing.

The heater is a Beacon Morris BRT-75 gas ceiling mount unit. It looks to be in near perfect condition inside and out. My neighbor stated that it will run for a while, then shut down and not restart. The only way he could get it to run again was to power cycle the 120v service to the unit.

Has anyone dealt with a similar problem with one of these heaters? Unfortunately, he already disconnected the unit and it is sitting on my workbench, so I'm only going on his description. I'm not sure if temporarily hooking it up to a 20 lb. propane tank and/or 120v is possible or advisable to enable troubleshooting.

Thanks!

 

[Showkey]

When it stops there should be an error code flashing.

Roll out switch ( over heat) ? Over gas pressure, venting are the cause.....
There are several posts on the roll out switch issue.
General over heat .........fan not blowing at full speed.

 

[D45]

Yes, there should be blinking error codes on the boards

 

[LS6 Tommy]

If you cycle the power, the codes will be lost and obviously, there is no way to troubleshoot the unit if it is not in service. If it is still installed, next time it locks out, open the access cover and record the blinking codes.

Tommy

 

[zuren]

If you cycle the power, the codes will be lost and obviously, there is no way to troubleshoot the unit if it is not in service. If it is still installed, next time it locks out, open the access cover and record the blinking codes.

Tommy

As I mentioned, the heater was removed from service and is sitting on my work bench, so it is not connected to gas or power and the codes have been lost. If I bought the correct orifice for LP gas and the fittings to adapt a 20 lb. LP tank to the heater (making certain of no leaks), would this be a way to getting it working long enough to troubleshoot?

This being said, everything I've read online about rollout switches and what may be an overheating issue has everyone screaming that this is a job for a professional and not a DIYer, so I'm trying to operate under an abundance of caution.

I would like to see if I can get this working but also want to be realistic that it is a 8-10 year old unit, and if this thing is going to take a $150 just for a professional tech to look at it, then a $50 part ($50 is best case scenario - a new control board is $200+), I'm already at or beyond the cost of a new heater, and I am not married to this style of heater for my garage. I was actually considering this type over my work space:

http://www.mrheater.com/25-000-btu-high-intensity-radiant-workshop-heater.html

I would like to see if this can be repaired before I start thinking about mounting it and running services to it, since mounting locations in my garage would differ between the 2 styles.

Thanks!

 

[D45]

Search burner pinch......free and easy fix

Solved my problem when the top rollout switch was tripping

 

[finn]

As I mentioned, the heater was removed from service and is sitting on my work bench, so it is not connected to gas or power and the codes have been lost. If I bought the correct orifice for LP gas and the fittings to adapt a 20 lb. LP tank to the heater (making certain of no leaks), would this be a way to getting it working long enough to troubleshoot?

This being said, everything I've read online about rollout switches and what may be an overheating issue has everyone screaming that this is a job for a professional and not a DIYer, so I'm trying to operate under an abundance of caution.

I would like to see if I can get this working but also want to be realistic that it is a 8-10 year old unit, and if this thing is going to take a $150 just for a professional tech to look at it, then a $50 part ($50 is best case scenario - a new control board is $200+), I'm already at or beyond the cost of a new heater, and I am not married to this style of heater for my garage. I was actually considering this type over my work space:

http://www.mrheater.com/25-000-btu-high-intensity-radiant-workshop-heater.html

I would like to see if this can be repaired before I start thinking about mounting it and running services to it, since mounting locations in my garage would differ between the 2 styles.

Thanks!

If I remember correctly, the ng to propane conversion kit include new orifices and a regulator spring.

You also need a simple water manometer to set the proper spring preload to get the desired propane pressure at the valve.

 

[zuren]

I guess another thing to consider is the size of this heater. It is 75,000 BTU. My garage is uninsulated (at the moment), 25' x 31' (775 sp. ft.), with no ceiling (at the moment) but when I do it will be 8.5 ft. I do not plan to run it all the time, only when I'm out there working and my hope would be an interior temp. of 50-55 degrees (regardless of the exterior temp., but MI can be in the teens to mid-20s). I need to look at some calculators to see what size heater I should have in there.

 

[zuren]

Dredging up this thread again...

I was watching an episode of "Ask This Old House" recently and a guy in the upper Midwest (not terribly far from me) asked about garage heating. This guy's shop was for woodworking, and would be generating a decent amount of dust. Due to the dust, they recommended one of the Mr. Heater radiant heaters:

https://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/garage-workshop/radiant.html

I have lots of dust in my garage in general. Before I spend anymore time researching and tinkering on this BRT-75, am I better off just considering something radiant? Both my garage and barn are uninsulated at the moment and not likely to happen anytime soon. Seems that a radiant heater may be the best path.

Thanks!

 

[Showkey]

Insulate first. Heating an uninsulated building is going cause all sorts of problems well beyond the extra expense of the fuel........ice dams, condensation........there are multiple post with I got a new heater but I now have water leaks.

If your forced to heat the uninsulated building .........just use a spot torpedo heater with the door open.

Hot and cold variations swings then add the humidity swings with wood working equipment is a mess for the wood and the steel.