Servicing portable heaters (those with integral gas bottle)
Richard Savage
with three ceramic elements, a piezo ignition system and a 25Kg gas
bottle in the back. It's great for taking the chill off my garage and
warming spanners.
I have no idea how to clean it nor has it ever been serviced as far as
I know.
Problem: It runs happily on burner number 1 but if I select 2 or 3 it
will, after a few minutes, start to pop and flare and will - unless I
switch it off - go out.
Al suggestions welcome.
TIA
Richard
ficti...@gmail.com
You'll certainly be able to get it serviced properly at a place that
sells them .Look up Calor in YP's . Have you tried blowing the muck
out of the radiants which is probably where the problem lies .If I
remember correctly they are cemented in to the fire and not loose like
on a mains fire .
Richard Savage
Thanks. I'll try a bit of blowing. Paying someone to service it
goes against the grain!
Stupid question time: how much does a full 25Kg gas bottle weigh?
ditto empty? I have no idea how much gas is in the bottle or how to
check it!
Richard
Clot
> On Feb 2, 7:06 pm, fictiti...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Mon, 2 Feb 2009 10:50:08 -0800 (PST), Richard Savage
>>
>>
>>
>> <fif...@excite.com> wrote:
>
> Stupid question time: how much does a full 25Kg gas bottle weigh?
> ditto empty? I have no idea how much gas is in the bottle or how to
> check it!
Simple, take it out of the heater and shake it. Sound and the motion will
give you an idea of the contents.
Frank Erskine
<fif...@excite.com> wrote:
>I have an elderly gas heater. It's one of those tin boxes on wheels
>with three ceramic elements, a piezo ignition system and a 25Kg gas
>bottle in the back. It's great for taking the chill off my garage and
>warming spanners.
>
The problem with heaters of this nature is that they spew out loads of
water vapour which will cause your spanners and other metally things
to rust.
I suppose the secret is to ensure lots of ventilation to get the water
vapour away, but you'll lose a lot of heat too :-(
--
Frank Erskine
Dave Liquorice
> Stupid question time: how much does a full 25Kg gas bottle weigh?
25kg more than an empty one.
> ditto empty?
Donno but I have feeling that weight might be on the calor site somewhere.
> I have no idea how much gas is in the bottle or how to check it!
Pick it up if it's "only a bit heavy" then there ain't much gas in it. If
it's almost glued to the floor it's pretty full. Rock it about you'll hear
the gas slosh about which will give you and idea and the intnertia as
well.
Is this problem fairly recent, like the last month or so? What colour is
the cylinder? Blue ones are butane and that doesn't vapourise very well
once ambient temps get down to near freezing. I suspect there is enough
heat about to vapourise enough gas for a single burner but not for 2 or 3
so it effectively runs out of gas.
--
Cheers
Dave.
ficti...@gmail.com
<fif...@excite.com> wrote:
If you can't judge by moving it around and listening to the sound of
the liquid or tell by the weight then I believe that you can get
strips that stick on the outside of the cylinder which change colour
as the level goes down .
Dave Liquorice
> I believe that you can get strips that stick on the outside of the
> cylinder which change colour as the level goes down .
Would only work once you are drawing gas off and the liquid and cylinder
cools down. When ambient temperature is on the cool side this might not
happen with butane (blue cylinders).
--
Cheers
Dave.
Bob Mannix
news:6uqg15F...@mid.individual.net...
> On 2009-02-02, Richard Savage <fif...@excite.com> wrote:
>
>> Stupid question time: how much does a full 25Kg gas bottle weigh?
>> ditto empty? I have no idea how much gas is in the bottle or how to
>> check it!
>
You can slosh them about which gives some indication. When operating, the
liquid butane or propane drops in temperature due to the latent heat of
evaporation as the gas comes off to replace that taken from above the
liquid. You can get magnetic temperature strips so the level is then shown
(or feel the side).
If it's important best to carry a spare though. You can often "liberate" gas
cylinders from the local tip (so I am told), especially when it's raining
and the operatives are sheltering (so I am told).
--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not
ficti...@gmail.com
wrote:
Where I stay you often see them lying in the street as the binmen
doing the bulk collection of larger items won't take them .You can
also get them on Freecycle
Andy Dingley
> Thanks. I'll try a bit of blowing. Paying someone to service it
> goes against the grain!
These are dead simple to service because there's little more to it
than dirt cleaning, which you can do from the outside without
dismantling. Check the rubberwork for perishing too.
> how much does a full 25Kg gas bottle weigh?
25kg + the tare weight that's plated on the neck of the cylinder. This
is pretty constant within a brand and cylinder style, but does vary by
a couple of kg for different makers.
Richard Savage
wrote:
Hi Dave
No, not recent and it's an orange (Propane?) bottle. Was originally a
white bottle supplied by Flogas (sp?)
I did wonder if there was insufficient gas to run more than one
element, hence my supplementary about judging the fullness of these
bottle.
Rgds
Richard
Richard Savage
>
> If it's important best to carry a spare though. You can often "liberate" gas
> cylinders from the local tip (so I am told), especially when it's raining
> and the operatives are sheltering (so I am told).
>
> --
> Bob Mannix
> (anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not
Hi Bob
I have been looking for a spare for a little while but have only
encountered those huge Calor bottles that road crews use :-(
My local tip is infested with cameras and stupidly low height limits
<rant mode = OFF>
Cheers
Richard
Dave Liquorice
> No, not recent and it's an orange (Propane?) bottle. Was originally a
> white bottle supplied by Flogas (sp?)
Presumably you didn't have to change the regulator and just used the
"lefthand thread cone" type? Though I don't think there are any changes
required in the appliance if you switch from butane to propane. (I don't
know what gas is in white Flogas bottles).
--
Cheers
Dave.
Bob Mannix
news:0cedd678-e062-4dd7...@g39g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
Hi Bob
Our's not too infested yet and they only look at the camera tapes if they
are looking for something. Quite often various cylinders, too, and they are
the other side of the bins from the operatives' portakabin. To be fair, if
you approach them it's "we aren't allowed to sell but if you would care to
drop something in my palm....". I did this for a wheelbarrow. Seems the best
system.
--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)
Cheers
Richard
Andy Dingley
> I did wonder if there was insufficient gas to run more than one
> element, hence my supplementary about judging the fullness of these
> bottle.
Possibly with butane, but it's owing to low temperatures more than
simply running out (unless you're right out of liquid). With propane
you'd have to be colder than this to see trouble.
Richard Savage
wrote:
Hi Dave
No change to regulator.
I know that for my gas BBQ I have to use different regulators when
changing from propane to butane.
Richard
anthu...@googlemail.com
sintv
Johnny B Good
> On Monday, February 2, 2009 at 6:50:08 PM UTC, Richard Savage wrote:
>> I have an elderly gas heater. It's one of those tin boxes on wheels
>> with three ceramic elements, a piezo ignition system and a 25Kg gas
>> bottle in the back. It's great for taking the chill off my garage and
>> warming spanners.
>>
>> I have no idea how to clean it nor has it ever been serviced as far as
>> I know.
>>
>> Problem: It runs happily on burner number 1 but if I select 2 or 3 it
>> will, after a few minutes, start to pop and flare and will - unless I
>> switch it off - go out.
>>
>> Al suggestions welcome.
>>
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Richard
>
> Some Calor Gas dealers service mobile heaters, go on www.calor.co.uk and
> click on "find a stockist" for your nearest one, then ring, explain your
> problem and book it in for a service.
or another by now.
BTW, the symptoms match what you get when either the tank is nearly
empty or very cold. The latter being a possibility since the OP mentions
the words "garage" and "chill" in the same sentence.
--
Johnny B Good