Mother earth waste oil heater

[zoevws]

 I built a mother earth waste oil heater and then moved to all the other burner design changes every one else has suggested. note one- forced combustion air is a big improvement. note two- heat from the unit is only great next to it apoxamitly with in 5 feet, need better exchange. I have just found an old popular sceince artical with a waste oil burner design and if it works well i will post it

[wildbill hickup]

I've got a bunch of old PS mags. What issue is that artical in?

[drdongle]

I built one about 20 years ago, and it worked well except for one thing. The burner assembly kept clogging up with gunk from the oil. Every there days I had to shut it off, remove the burner assembly, disassemble it and beat the clinker out with a hammer. My wife of the time said that it was the first time in her memory that the house had been warm in the winter.

[Don Cackleberrycreations]

I know an elderly mechanic who heated his shop using a simple used oil burner.

His design was quite simple a a long 6" steel pipe running at a slight angle suspended from the cieling (roughly 1ft drop in 20ft run) a smaller 1" angle iron was held up in the center of the large pipe. this was the oil path  He only used about 12ft of angle iron at the low end.

an oil tank was suspended and oil was piped by gravity and adjusted with a small valve to drip into the channel iron ( the oil feed pipe was welded through the large pipe)

He would start the oil dripping and light this buy simply putting a piece of paper at the low end . once lit it only took a minute or so for the draft to have the pipe roaring like a jet engine  other than at the first there was no sign of smoke from the chiminy . It was simple and effective within a few minuted the entire 30+ft of large pipe was glowing providing radiant heat a cieling fan blew the hot air down as well .

He'd been using this method since the 1930s according to him with no problems.

[vawtman]

Hi Don is there a way you could draw this up?Ive gotta lot of oil to burn.Thanks

[Don Cackleberrycreations]

I'll see if I cant get something drawn up for you and loaded .

It was a real simple set up . I think it could have been approved on in the fire safety factor with out changing much .

His "burner" was a piece of 1"x1" angle iron 1/4 inch thick with a series of weld beads creating small pools of oil. once lit from the low end the fire would move up the "burner". basicly an open V shape . what made it work so well was the draft  creating a blowtorch effect.

[drdongle]

Did this beast have a flue?

[Don Cackleberrycreations]

The long 6" heavy wall steel pipe with the angle iron burner inside ran at an angle and

ended in a 8-10" pipe chimeny that ran straight up .

  I was the gentlemans helper when I was a kid (his definition of a helper . He'd tell me what to do and if I couldnt do it by myself he'd help. ) I just wish I knew half of what the man forgot about machining and welding.

Im trying to up load  a drawing but the camera and computer are arguing  

[willib]

would a sleve of glass fibers improve the wick?

i'm pretty sure it wouldnt melt , but i suppose it depends on the temp ..

[drdongle]

Did the old guy ever have to clean it out? I constant problems with my M.E.N. oil burner.

[vawtman]

Hey Don,Do you remember how the angle iron was supported inside the pipe?I want to build one.Did he have soot problems in the lower section?

[phil b]

I hope I didn't double post.

You have probably alraedy seen this one.

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2004/9/28/123152/007

I made a MEN type burner several years ago. It smoked more than the freight trains in the area did.

My newest uses fire clay cast in a large coffee can. The inside of the burner is a cone shape with air entering via blower, just like in the link. The vortex it generates created a bright white flame and it gets hot enough to make the can glow. Synthetic oil does not fire as well as regular oil and I mix it.