stinky turbo heater
 

I've been useing this thing for a bunch of years.
it runs on kero and I've never had no problems with it except this year boy does it stink.
i cant run it because it stinks so bad. I really havent touched it yet but i'm wandering if theres something thats causeing it too smell.
it has fresh kero but i'm thinking its not burning as clean as it used too and thinking something needs too be cleaned.my garage has more than enough air gaps too provide fresh air and its never bothered me before until now I have a smaller propane one but it just doesnt cut the cheese like this one does I really dont use it much but being out at all hours of the nite sometimes i fire it up too take the chill off

is there anything i can do too fix it?
where or what do i check?

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

Not sure if Tractor Supply still carries them but they used to have the tune up kits for them .Consisted of a spark plug with real long electrode on the end and a filter and a new nozzle. I think the last ones I bought were about $30 but makes all the difference in the world in the eye burning

It is just a matter of taking the screw out of the top half of the cover to get to everything. The filter should be accesable from the back without removing the top.

Richard

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

Great suggestion Richard!

I found a site that looks like it carries a free download of the owners manual
and has taken over support for the now defunct Desa International.
They are called Desatech and they also have a trouble-shooting section.

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

i always cleaned and set the points of the electrode for proper firing

if it continues to stink try gettin fuel from a different source// i found that fuel quality varied quite a bit back when i lived up north and used them things

i actually prefered diesel fuell over kero and found it ran alot cleaner in that type burner

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

I have two of these now ( different manufacturer and clearly marked) that will burn regular diesel fuel but the ones in the picture above will not based on my personal experience ( I have had 12 of these ). If you have run diesel through it that is most likely your problem. I have a 210000 btu reddi heater that has electronics that i was told would burn diesel. A couple years ago instead of getting K-1 in the storage tank I got off road diesel and filled all the heaters. since they had some K-1 still in them they fired up and seemed to run a bit hotter, but once the 2nd tank got in them all they would do is spit sputter and smoke up the place. I ended up putting new nozzles and plugs in all of them and switched back to K-1 and have not had any problems since except for the 210 unit. It still runs so rich you cant stand it unless you are outside with it blowing under the truck.

Richard

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

Number 1 kerosene will stink less but the cost will be more

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

I had no idea you could get a tune up kit for these. thats coo
l i'll have too check that out.

at the end of last year i did run some offroad diesel through it that must be whats its problems is cause it didnt smell that bad before
never gave that a thought until it was mentioned guess i'll be looking for a new plug and nozzle

I do perfer to use the k-1 it burns it alot faster but it really didnt smell too much at all .
the o.r. diesel was some free stuff that was brought over by a friend too keep us warm while we did some work on his car guess i wont be useing anymore of that stuff.

etsc10 that link is awesome
thanks guys for the help

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

Nozzel is the likely suspect.

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

yhea i'm hoping so I'm going down to the city this weekend.
I'm gonna write down the #'s on the plate and take the filter,nozzle and plug with me and check out tractor supply and this big propane kinda dealer place right near there if they dont have what i need.
I'll check the ag centers on the way back the ag center's are the places to go around here they usually a lil' more $ but it seems too me they can get anything they want the closest one recently started too carry craftsman tools:metal:

luclily its been pretty warm around here and I havent really needed it but i do have the smaller propane one too get me by if i need it

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

i didn;t know they sold tune up kits for these either we have 4 of these we run at work in our carwash to help keep it from freezing i need to go ahead and tune them up ours have been running 5 years 7 days a week during the cold winter and still fire off like nothing

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

i didn't know bout the tune up kit,good to know lol
I just sold them when they screw up
just brought my new one out to the bro-in-laws "new" garage used them for years,
only use cleaner burning kerosene
still stinky,i'd run it lots before i go out
sometimes turn it off a while
when we were painting we used two
I also found using a big fan to blow the air around the room helped,spread it

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

yea they can turn a freezer into a oven real quick. i can only run it 5 mins at a time before it gets too hot
but my old garage will turn freezing in 5 min also:lol:

that was something i didnt give a thought too until i saw the kid doing it over the summer he was in a hurry(as allways) too dry up some filler after fixing the lower qtrs on his blazer and used it to dry everything up quickly i was impressed that he thought of it but i really wasnt sure it was a good idea but it seems too be holding up good

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

When I run mine in my small garage I have an inline thermostat on the 120volt line that will shut it off when it reaches temp and turns it back on when it drops. I think tractor supply has them as well and not real costly. In my big garage I run a 210K, a 150K and 2 - 110K heaters and never have to worry about shutting them off while working. Needless to say I plan my working events around the extreme cold.:lol:

Just make sure if you are running in a small area that there is plenty of fresh air as the fumes can be deadly

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

the stat sounds cool i'll have to check that out also.
usually if its cold enough to run the heater i'm allready wearing insulated coveralls there for i cant run the heater long(sweat wet cold) dont work for me usually run it a couple minutes at a time just too take the chill off.

what i dont like is its loud usually once i turn it on a good song comes on the radio and it gets CRANKED then i turn off the heater and its like WOW that was loud:lol:

Re: stinky turbo heater
 

Burners like these use are common.They are used in these heaters,Hot water pressure washers and some small low pressure boilers used to help concrete set during cold weather(production stuff like culverts and bridge beams).You can alway try a pressure washer repair/dealer if you dont find the parts.