I lived up in the mountains where losing power was a common event in the winter. So I found a dealer and had a Monitor Vented Kerosene heater installed in my house. The only thing you needed was a small Honda (or whatever type) generator to power the fan. So if it snowed, and we lost power, I ran a cord from outside, from the Honda generator to my heater and we stayed toasty warm. As info, Monitor is no longer in business. They made a great heater but I was told that management ran the company into the ground. We used that as our primary heat source from 1993 to 2021. No problems whatsoever. But right when we put the house up for sale, the heater finally took a dump. So then, I went back to the dealer who sold me the Monitor stove, and purchased a Toyo Stove Vented Kerosene heater for the place. I've heard nothing but good things about Toyo's. We sold that house and we moved down into the flatlands and I figured our winters would be no problem where we moved to. Things were going smoothly from January 2021 until January 2024. THEN we had a freak ice storm and we lost power for 2-3 days. I had no back up plan and we got cold as hell. AND that is why I'm looking into getting a small heater like this one to provide heat if we ever get another episode like the one we just had. I'm sold on kerosene, my father was in the propane business and I showed him the data on the Monitor Heater and he shook his head and said they had nothing that could compete with the BTU's and efficiency of these heaters. I also had a backup plan at my old house and that was I had a very good cast iron wood stove and a good weeks supply of wood, but luckily I never had to use that wood stove. So I have my generators, and I can keep my refrigerator and freezers going, use the microwave and coffee (very important to be able to make coffee) lol . I'm excited to purchase one of these as they're not expensive and they'd be my new, great, back up plan. And now I know how to replace a wick so I'm way ahead of the game! This was a really good video! Thanks for posting it!
Very good instructional video. I got mine done in about 30 minutes. I agree with another commenter that jiggling the wick raise-lower to remove the wick assembly was easier for me. That bear wouldn't budge in the full-up position. I figured one needed to find the position with the least amount of pressure on the bar. And bingo! But whatever, that will be the most challenging part for those uninitiated I figure. That was the first time I changed it in three Florida winters. So good luck folks and thank you much Country Fixing!
I also found that after some time trying to separate the wind cover into two pieces without totally distorting/destroying it, I realized that you can leave it in one piece, and take it off, just kinda harder to reach around it to get to the wing nuts. Still, for me, easier than trying to separate it. Great video by the way, very well done, thanks!!
Thank you so much!! I followed along and did exactly what you instructed. I've got it all back together and pit the fuel tank in and am having coffee waiting for the wick to soak. Great video. Clear easy instructions. Everything straightforward and easy to follow each step. Thanks!
I'm just ditto-ing everybody else. This video was a life saver. At first blush, the printed and online instructions that came with the heater looked like they would be clear. They're not. With the printed instructions alone, I would have never been able to replace my wick. Take the igniter for example. When following the printed instructions, I came to a standstill. I did not know how much of the assembly constituted an igniter, and the instructions did not clearly show it. That's when I did a RU-vid search and found your video. I thank God I did, because it made all the difference in the world. Thank you so much!
😊 great video! It took only 40 minutes to complete the whole process..your up close view of wick placement was a huge help. We use this heater daily and bought the replacement wick on Amazon for $18. Thanks again for posting this gem!
Very well made units mine is Aladdin S681U Equator II. Easy to change wick just rotate Counter-clockwise until tab up from latch then pull knob out to release wick holder collapse wick inwardly from pins reverse with new wick. It took me 2 tries to adjust wick height corectly 3/8inch exposed when fully to right knob (3X wick number)
Good video. I've watched a couple others and 1 took extra stuff off and the other I almost got motion sick in the first 30 seconds cuz the guy was Italian and talking with his handz or sumthinz (I'm Italian and talk with my hands all the time). This was a YUUUGE help.
. We just bought the Sengoku model of this heater and it works great. Thank you for this video as it will help me keep up ;the maintenance of this heater. Thanks again !!! Your video is very helpful and educational. I keep it in my bookmarks...
I found that, at least on mine, it was easier to get the wick holder out (when turning clockwise) if I had the wick holder arms lower...rather than higher as I was trying very frustratingly to get the wick holder to turn out. Seems lower is easier/better, at least in my case. It definitely takes patience, and almost finesse to get the thing out. Once you have replaced the wick once or twice, it's really not that bad. Just bring some patience!
-The flame is ragged, uneven, irregular -Lighting the wick is difficult -The wick lights but it takes a very long time for it to get to normal burn position
I just replaced the wick today. Same model here. Trouble is, when I fired it up there is no more adjustment now. Before, I would have high, then i would lower it as it got hotter and burned more efficient. Now, its like starting on low. Cant go higher nor lower. Strange. just one setting, on. I put the wick on and had the line on the wick level with the wick holder top. After I installed it, I could just see the line around it. I dunno. Your wick seems to be 1/3 of an inch it appears above the black line. Yet, the instructions say to put line just above the holder, which is what i did.
@@realdealGod Yuppers. Soaked for 1 hour. Its burning right now as I write this. Its adequate flame height; the thing about it is, I can't go lower or higher. Just on and off lol. I think what happened is that the wick slipped down a little. I will pull it apart in next week or so. I will continue to use it in mean time.
@@Romulan112 I agree. It sounds like your wick came off of the hooks that hold it to the wick holder. 4:52 quickly shows me pushing it into the hooks on the wick holder.
@@realdealGod I am totally unprepared for this winter. After I put it out last night, I put it on the porch. Woke up with snow on it. Some snow may have gotten in there where I fill it. I hope a little water doesnt ruin my work.
@@realdealGod yes. It's a brand new unit and I can't get the flame to stay low in that one spot. When the wick is all the way up it is banging into the igniter rod.
@@realdealGod I'm not running it all the way up, but I took off the glass tube and pressed the lever down until it was almost at the ignition point and I could see the wick hitting it
@@jwamerica84 so there’s 2 things it could be 1. The wick is too high up 2. The chimney assembly is not seated flat which would cause yellow flames to escape from one side. Just FYI, it is normal for there to be blue flames at the top of the chimney assembly. Yellow flames is what you don’t want.
The round high BTU Kerosun is a little easier than this but not much. A Standard Oil Perfection from a century ago is easy as the pot lifts out and you simply unscrew the apparatus like a mayonnaise jar.....however those have no safety features, no tip over mechanism and no standoff for children or pets. I like perfections, but will not use them when small walking or crawling kids are around. Older pets learn fast, but kittens and puppies can burn you house down.
It's really not as bad as it seems.a bit time consuming but, really not too difficult... with video instruction. I wouldn't want to try to follow the instructions that came with the wick.
It looks like a complete nightmare. I'm sure that would take me the best part of a week, and all the screws would end up lost, and I would be afraid to ever use it again.
