Propane Torpedo Heater Not Lighting & How they Work 

Dave D I have a pretty well sealed and insulated garage and made it a point a few years ago to put the Carbon Monoxide detector in there. I can run the heater for 8 hours and it will never set off the detector. But if I start a small engine it goes off in 60 seconds. I feel very safe running these heaters in an enclosed shop but a Carbon Monoxide detector is always a good idea.

sixtyfiveford Hi 65, I would tend to think that you should match the heater to the space to be heated. I am not sure, but those two men who died may have been asphyxiated, not CO poisoned, esp. if the heater was too powerful and just consumed all the oxygen. Dave D didn`t mention the cause of death. Kero heaters will not poison by CO. You may get black lung, though LOL. Thanks for the videos.

I have a duraheat 60000 btu and it works fine but I have noticed in the last few days it is blowing off a lot more smell of unburnt propane like there is propane that is not getting burnt fully is there a way to clean some opening or something because I use this little heater daily for dogs.Like I said it seems like lots of unburnt fuel.

It's leaking soapy water will find it

Sounds like a bs story. Many many heaters like this are used all over the country and no one has died. I've used these in garages and construction jobs for 20 years and never had problems. Bs !

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Sounds like the propane tank safety shut off. Turn the tank valve ON and wait a few seconds, turn it off for a few seconds(you'll hear a faint click), then turn it back on. It should now flow gas when you hold in the bypass/pilot button.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Are you low on propane? How cold is the area/room the heater and tank is stored in?

Awesome

Melody Capehart Medina Hey thanks for watching!

Sounds like a thermocouple. Thanks, I'm glad you video was helpful.

@@sixtyfiveford yep I thought it might be the solenoid that went out nope. It is the couple. Need to buy one off of Amazon. Thx

Hay by the way I hope you do a video of welding 101 class. I would love to see what you teach. Hope there is a way that you could put a welder shield on the cam so we could see what you see when welding. Thx man.

ShawnMrFixit Lee Thanks Shawn.

+Andy Haros Hey Thanks. I'm glad the video helped.... Can't make everyone happy.

goriverman Thank You. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

A lot of these have a relay with a bunch of wires going into it. Most have a clear plastic cover so you can see inside. You take off the clear plastic cover and you can clean the little metal relay contacts/ switch contacts.

@@sixtyfiveford Will give that a try. Thank you.

@@jsmith5622 Just use a very fine piece of sand paper 300+. I have a video on automotive relays and how to clean them if you need.

@@sixtyfiveford So this unit is old school and all mechanical. "Clicker" style ignitor like a bbq grill (which works) and thermocouple/high temp wires connect to bottom of gas valve to activate the magnet. No relay/plastic cover to speak of. Should make it easy to diagnose, but guess not. I jumpered the high temp sensor wires and unit still shuts off when knob is released. Multi-meter shows current flowing to the magnet after it shuts off, but wondering if it's enough or if the magnet do-hickey is shot. I'm at a loss.

@@jsmith5622 Try removeing one wire from the high temp sensor. It may be stuck closed.

You're getting a RICH mixture of propane to air in the burn. You need less propane and about the only way this is accomplished is with the jet/nozzle. The one burning your eyes is more than likely jetted for lower altitude(larger jet) which puts too much propane fuel through. At higher altitudes with less oxygen the jet is smaller to make a more complete efficient burn.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

The 2 terminals that connect to the relay "stops operation" to what though? If thermocouple is bad, it's not producing voltage...and no voltage is produced by manually holding plunger either...so something else would not be functioning either if the two terminals were feeding voltage to some other stop operation. I suspect it goes the other direction as a fail safe and is fed TO the thermocouple FROM the relay instead. Such as when the high limit switch is tripped. Perhaps it grounds out the voltage in the thermocouple so that the voltage will release the plunger? I came to this video looking for an answer to this very same subject. I've got a thermocouple on hand I can use today until the one I have to order comes in....but the one I have is not one with the 2 terminals. I'm trying to do a little work around temporarily.... just need to find a little more info.

+Ahennem You're welcome.. Yeah, I think winter is here whether we like it or not.

Yeah the propane heaters seam to eat a lot. I originally used this propane one and now it's just a backup. I use a Kerosene/Diesel heater solely now (with diesel). Propane= 91,200 BTU per gallon Diesel=138,800 BTU per gallon Kerosene=135,000 BTU per gallon My current cost 2014 Propane=$3.00 gallon= $3.28 per 100,000 BTU of Heat Diesel(dyed)=3.15 gallon =$2.26 per 100,000 BTU of Heat Kerosene=9.60 gallon= $7.10 per 100,000 BTU of Heat

Wow that adds up

chet larson Thanks for watching

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

The spark stays on indefinitely and never shuts off.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

The pressure regulator in the hose goes bad fairly regularly.

billfromelma Yeah, the jacket has seen a little use.

***** Thanks Man.

Steve Rob I prefer Diesel(Red Dye/ Off Road) over Kerosene. I think diesel smells better, has more BTU per gallon and is a fraction the price. Propane= 91,200 BTU per gallon Diesel=138,800 BTU per gallon Kerosene=135,000 BTU per gallon My current cost 2014 Propane=$3.00 gallon= $3.28 per 100,000 BTU of Heat Diesel(dyed)=3.15 gallon =$2.26 per 100,000 BTU of Heat Kerosene=9.60 gallon= $7.10 per 100,000 BTU of Heat

Bruce Pender Yeah, there is definitely some magic going on in them.

sixtyfiveford Speaking of which, I bought a pH soil tester and it uses 2 different metals to determine the acidity of soils. The electronics in it just amplifies that voltage and drives an LCD display.

tblbaby I have a pretty well sealed and insulated garage and made it a point a few years ago to put the Carbon Monoxide detector in there. I can run the heater for 8 hours and it will never set off the detector. But if I start a small engine it goes off in 60 seconds. I feel very safe running these heaters in an enclosed shop.

Hey, good info :). Somehow my settings changed and I did't get this. That's some great info on propane heaters. I know people use them but never knew how safe or not. Wonder if kerosene is the same situation.

Yeah, I almost solely run my Kerosene/Diesel heater. Carbon Monoxide isn't a problem with these heaters. But the one fear would be if you used a heater to large for the space it would use up all the oxygen and asphyxiation could happen. The area would have to be pretty air tight as well. Asphyxiation is generally what people die from when they use a heater in the cab of their truck and go to sleep.

zx8401ztv Yeah, they can be tested and put out around 30-60 millivolts . They go bad pretty frequently and are inexpensive so most of the time they're just replaced.

Awesome

wtbm123 Livin on the edge. I would do the same for the little switch.

Sounds like the propane regulators/bottles were freezing up. This is a very common problem that can be overcome by using larger bottles and or intermittently heating the regulators/bottles with the heater.

Glad I could help!

Good tip!

The linked one should have fit, just an inch longer overall. The exact part for my All Pro is a 6654NR that is 12.5" long . I used a universal one in the video.

Sounds like a regulator problem not allowing enough gas to flow.

EdOfTheNorth Thanks for dropping in.

Mark Strickland Online seams to be loaded with them. They are a pretty basic item and relatively inexpensive.

+Higher-Ground Farm Does you thermocouple have two spade wire connectors coming out the side?

It looks like this. It does have a brass block with two connectors coming out. Sorry about the crappy photo. I had to use my scanner, as my camera is on the fritz. drive.google.com/file/d/0ByPnRZK3U8Yjc3BXUjJhZklBTUE/view?usp=sharing

Those 2 terminals connect into a relay on the electronic panel. I've had the contact points on the relay(they can be cleaned) get oxidized and not work. You can bypass the relay by connecting these two spade connects on your thermocouple to determine if it is working correctly.

I already tried that trick so I picked up a Universal thrermocouple, and am going to install today. Wish me luck.

+sixtyfiveford That fixed it. An 8.99 universal thermocoupler did it. I did have to drill a new hole in the back plate, to fit the diameter of the snap in holder, but it is all good now. Thanks for your video. It pointed me in the right direction!

Awesome, I'm glad it was helpful.

More than likely your ignition coil is bad.

And how exactly do I go about testing the coil?

If power is going to it and it doesn't spark, it's dead.

Dasdfjkl They have the same safety concerns and one is not more dangerous than the other. I have always ran all my heaters with regular diesel fuel which is identical to #2 heating oil.

scottsinfl Thanks Buddy.

+Chrissy Foreals Most will have 1 or 2 electrical relays with a clear cover. The contacts can get dirty and not engage. The cover can be taken off of the relay and the contacts cleaned.

Sounds like your just not getting enough fuel. This can be from the turn on procedure you use with the propane tank, the regulator of the valving that the propane flows through internally. -First, the OPD device built into the propane tank can fight you without proper turn on procedure. Connect everything. Turn the propane tank knob on, wait a few seconds. Now turn it back off for a few seconds(if it is quiet enough in your shop you'll hear a click which is the OPD(overfill protection device) disengaging). Now turn it back on for the final time. Fuel should flow freely. A little background on the OPD: it limits huge out rushes of propane and stops it from being overfilled. The initial connecting and opening the valve can trigger the OPD as it thinks it is a large out rush/leak. -Second, the regulator could be limiting the amount of flow. Disconnect the hose at the heater or anywhere behind the regulator. With the regulator hooked to the propane tank open the propane tank valve. You should get a large volume of propane coming out. A small hiss of propane would signify a defective/limiting regulator. -Third, if both the other check out fine you will need to take apart the valve, piping and nozzle to check for an obstruction.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

I don't recall. However I believe one it larger diameter than the other so you could find one on Ebay or similar and have the seller measure how big of round it is. This will let you know which one you need.

The only other thing is the relay box. It is about the size of an old school ice cube with a black or clear cover and half a dozen wires going to it. The contact points get a little corroded and a very fine(300+) grit sand paper needs to be ran between them to clean them up.

This means it is putting too much fuel into the burn and needs less. It's running rich. The regulator at the propane tank is what controls this and is likely bad.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

No spark=replace spark module.

quadlinear Thanks Man

Alan Mulry I really need to do a tour. I went to a lot of auctions this fall and have had a ton of stuff occupying my work shop. It's actually nearly all sold and my space back to normal.

MRrwmac I put a huge piece of glass between the camera and heater. I knew it would melt it within seconds otherwise.

The propane pressure regulator controls this. They go bad all the time.

You're correct. They burn very clean and odor free when running correctly.

Some have a over temp sensor that can go out. You can also clean the contact on the relay. It has a bunch of wires going into it and a clear cover that'll come off to allow the contact to be cleaned with fine sandpaper.

Customsouthernarms Thanks for watching.

I would suspect your regulator on the hose is freezing up.

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

The regulator does go bad but will generally dump tons of propane when it does and or the regulator will leak propane. You should be able to hear it hissing propane while pushing the ignite button. Sometime the propane bottle OPD device can restrict the propane flow if not properly hooked up. Connect the propane hose to the bottle. Turn on the bottle valve. Wait 3 seconds, then turn it back off. You may hear a light click inside the propane bottle. This is the OPD valve resetting. Now turn the valve back on and the OPD should be fully open and ready to deliver propane.

Either the inline regulator or the safety valve on the propane tank is partially close. When you connect a propane tank: turn it on approx 1 turn, then turn it off and wait a few seconds(sometimes you can hear an audible click of the safety valve disengaging), then turn it back on full. This will make sure the safety valve isn't partially shutting off the flow internally.

thank you! I'll give that a try tomorrow!

Figured it out! It was a bad high limit switch. I bypassed it and the heater works great! Now i just need to find a few of them. Thanks for your help!

Safety valve in the tank is slowing the propane flow. You need to follow a few steps when you put on a new tank. -Connect tank -Turn tank valve on and wait 3+sec -Turn tank back off and wait 3+ sec You may hear a light click inside the tank; this is the OPD safety valve disengaging. -Finally turn tank valve on and you're ready to use it.

Are you sure the fan blades aren't rubbing the housing?

Bad regulator

@@sixtyfiveford You’re speaking of the regulator on the hose that connects the propane tank to the heater? If that’s the case then I wonder why the other heater I have works perfect with that hose and regulator?

Ozzstar Thanks Man.

Your propane safety valve isn't open all the way. To fix this: -Open the valve and wait 2seconds -Shut the valve and wait 2 seconds(you'll hear a click) -Open it back up and you should be good to go. If you hear a click when you open it the second time you will need to close it one more time and reopen it.

Two other things I have found: Some heaters have an over temp switch that can go bad. The other is the main relay(generally has a dozen wires going to it with a clear cover) will get dirty contacts.