Thread: Oil burning shed heaters

Originally Posted by Rangier Rover

OK you win on the hordering side of this thread hands down Would have made a nice test plate So when copper prices take off you have a nice well used investment there

Often need copper washers and gaskets here so I do need to keep a bit of it.




OK..... all of it

That's better,... for a minute there I thought that you'd suddenly lost your senses..

I've still got the domed ends too, they look like they must be useful for something but as yet All I've done is start hacking up the one with the pipe fittings in it for odds 'n' ends the other one is sitting upside down over a 200lt drum keeping the mice out of what is left of the horse cubes, (we haven't had horses for 10 years).

Sorry about the delay, busy, busy.

Here's the piece of copper sheet I ended up with, 1.850m x 0.810m x2mm, although somewhat modified in shape. (About 1.48sq m. at approx $150/sqm). You'd be lucky to get $25 - $30 for scrap.

Well its warming up for summer here now so the oil heater will get pushed back till next winter I guess
I have asked a few about waste oil and have found a few sources. We also go through about 400 ltrs a year in our own machinery etc here. The local garbage depot is a good one as people here are to lazy to transfer it into the larger storage container so just dump the 20ltr drums and run. I seem to be able to pick up over 200ltrs a week this way so by the end of summer I will have a collection. I have to come up with a good transfer and storage setup very soon Then work out how to deal with the empty drums I'm going to acquire. May be exchange them with the very full ones

Looks like I'll be building an oil heater for the Homestead during this summer now I know the oil supply is plentiful around here.

I may try a different design as the Mother Earth is not refined or stable enough to be left in a timber house unsupervised in my opinion

Yes, spring is just around the corner and there has been a noticeable rise in daily temperatures here, I have not been lighting the heater until 4:30pm for the last week or so. Fortunately we are still getting a drop of rain every week which is keeping everyone happy as our sub soil moisture levels are rising steadily.

Oil storage is always a worry, I started out using 200lt drums, and like yourself acquired a heap of 20 lt drums which become a nuisance very quickly as they tend to breed in dark corners and you soon find yourself awash with them. I used to tip them into 44s (gallons) and then punch several holes in the tops close to the rim. After leaving them in the sun for a week or so they would be virtually dry, and I would then use the pneumatic chisel to cut the tops and bottoms out, slide them into the drum and flatten it, going along the edges with a hammer they would end up only 3 -4mm thick, and throw them in the bin. (We have a wheelie bin pickup every week).

After a while I realised that it was easier to throw a couple of 44s on the traytop and go and empty the 20lt drums into them where I picked them up, leaving the empties behind for the owners to get rid of. Gradually progressing to the 1cub bulker and pump, this seems to be the best solution, until I can get a semi tanker and underground storage tank.

For using an oil heater inside, I would want to have a large driptray and the ability to close up the burner section of the heater similar to my own. I leave the front door open whenever we are about, but always close it if we go out for a while.

The main considerations for inside use, is to have your oil well filtered so there is no chance of the metering valve blocking up, and to have a fairly precise metering valve.

Mine is an Eastman brand I think. Here's a right angle version on Ebay and from what I remember it's cheap I reckon I paid A$22 about 12 years ago from Shipway's refrigeration supplies.
Imperial Eastman Needle Valve 312-C ,1/4" OD, 1/4" M.P. - eBay Plumbing, Pumps Plumbing, Industrial Supply MRO, Business Industrial. (end time 21-Sep-09 23:16:51 AEST)

Sputnik now has a Rover internal combustion part fitted

Something very similar to the Sanders idea only I have sat it in a fry pan so is like a two stage burner. The nut is used to assist lighting. I heat the nut with the OXY till red,Shut the door, then turn the oil on slowly and away it goes.

You can see here the burn pattern is not bad but the flame is still a bit yellow in places.


I have done away with all the preheating for now and have set up a much more simplified air gap oil feed. Much easier to control the flow when you can see it.

Will run at around 350 to 450 deg after around 40 minutes very nicely and with no smoke. When pushed to the max (Not recommended indoors) it can still get a bit violent but is fairly safe.


Getting hotter!





Now at full capacity. Be over 800 deg at a guess At this point the oil will flash so if there is any spilt in there it will all turn in to a nice white vapor go bang! And it did It's all still in one peice anyway

That is really looking good. Next thing you will need to watch is that you don't melt the piston. I have no doubts whatsoever that the skirt will get plenty hot enough to get very soft.

Have just fitted a needle valve (Thanks Dave)as close to the feed tube and air gap as possible. Much easier to control now. Not affected by the heat at all. The only down side is with out the preheating it does definitely take longer to get it on song Around 40 mins.

The valve is set up with a temporary feed till I fine tune things a little more
.

No pics of proof but have cut the skirt off the piston so now sits lower. It was more effective with the skirt on on full flame but now does idle back nicely.
Just have to get it to run better on full song now. Seems to have an issue with port velocity from the in take and pushes the flame away.. Woof woof woof etc. If it restrict the inlet it gets smokey. May need a flare on the end of the inlet as original M/E but that may make it push the flame away more

That's looking really good Tony , Glad you done away with Pre-heating and simplified the design , although It must take much longer to get it on full noise as you said , , no doubt the oil / water separator we built from Air Compressor tank is doing it's job quite nicely I see clean oil coming off the needle valve into the feeder , I think once you perfect Sputnik it will be safe enought for the Homestead , i'm jealous now

Also I think 350-400 deg*c is plenty hot