Wood Furnace with a waste oil burner add on

Mike Dunn

Jeremy, are you using a fuel oil burner and trying to run waste oil in it?

Jeremy_11

Wood Furnace with a waste oil burner add on

I have a wood furnace with an oil burner add on but it isnt working correctly. It is a freedom furnace. Can anyone tell me where to look to find waste oil burner add on for furnaces? Thanks in advance.

Jeremy_11

It is a waste oil burner but there have been so many problems and the company that i have bought it from is no help. I was trying to find other waste oil burners to try to use but i am not having much luck.

Edward A. (Ed) Carey_3

Type of use??

Describe how you are using this equipment. Is this residential or commercial?

Ed Carey

J.C.A._3

I'm thinking.....

A "retrofit" waste oil burner will be harder to find than hen's teeth.

Most are built to go into a specific piece of equipment...and any maker will more likely than not, pass on having someone stuffing their burner into something that wasn't designed by THEM. Job security...if you will. JMHO. Chris

Derheatmeister

Ditto to J.C.A.'s Post .I just went to the western stock show in Denver and talked to a rep.from Cleanburn.it looked to be a good unit/company. maybe give them a call.if the Chamber is approx. the same size and the Pattern/gph./Nozzle is the same than maybe it can work out with a burner replacement. Call them.

Jeremy_11

here is the furnace site...

http://www.freedomoutdoorfurnace.com/multifuel.html

now... the furnace didnt originally come with the addon... i bought it and had the dealer install it for me. There was many problems starting with the nozzle, to the pressure, and now fuses keep blowing and cant figure out why.

[Deleted User]

Clean Burn..

I have 2 of these boilers on a snow/ice melt system for a truck washout stall for a major concrete pumping firm.

Although sound in concept, burning used motor oil is EXTREMELY labor intensive if you want to retain any semblence of efficiency. You should clean to the inner combustion surfaces weekly of accumulated fly ash.

And although they would never tell you so, I suspect that the person cleaning the unit is exposing him/her self to more chemicals than they really know, like babbit, which is related to lead, and who knows what else...

Just take a look at the vent termination. There you will see a tale of the tape of what's been laid down. I suspect the EPA turned their heads the other way when looking at the environmental impacts of these machines. They probably figured that there was less potential for air damage than there is soil damage should said oil be spilled instead of being burned.

Just be aware that burning used motor oil/hydraulic fluid is not as "free" as it would appear to be...

My $0.02 worth.

ME

Derheatmeister

Clean Burns Emissions was tested by the EPA and it meets and exceeds the requirement for preserving clean air. it's because they're heat exchanger/burner is designed different that you regular 1970 ties Waste oil Burner/heat exchanger.

[Deleted User]

Yeah butt....

and there's a butt in every crowd...

The EPA assumed that these units would be "properly" maintained.

I suspect that if they were to show up and see real world operations, they have a different point of view... Once you see the insides of a regularly neglected unit, I suspect your take might change as well...

Just speculation on my part.

Here in Denver, there is only one company that works on the burner assembly, and they let you know that...

ME

Derheatmeister

I Agree that the real world looks different, and if i was the one that had to clean that exchanger i would use a really good Vacuum cleaner that was made for this and respiratory equipment(not just a mask).

hot_rod

waste oil burner's days may be limited

www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/news/2007/011101.php

I suspect more and more areas will look at the emissions from these units.

The biggest Issue I see with the 9 or so CB's I have installed is what exactly they get fed. ATF burns the cleanest, drain oil and gear oil from diesels really smokes up the place. Antifreeeze really throws a wrench in the works, who knows what paint thinners, parts cleaners, and other "liquids" that get dumped in, especially when the tanks get low.

One of my jobs tried burning break in oil from a nearby engine rebuilder. We had problems with that stuff igniting and had to blend some used crankcase oil with it. Brand new oil doesn't burn either, when I tried priming some new installs

I believe the real life efficiencies is much lower then the data indicates, on Clean Burns, especially when they ash up as mark mentioned, which happens frequently when they burn non stop.

Use a vacumn that you can pipe the discharge outside, vacs plug up quickly when you suck ash.

The amount of oil my customers burn, when compared to the heat load of the building makes me wonder if 60- 65% isn't more realistic.

Free and dirty still trumps clean utility based energy sources for some. Same for OWF. A front page story about the problems with them, and proposed solutions hit the local paper last week.

hr

Derheatmeister

Hot rod how does it work on system were they are just using waste oil from oilchanges only? Not sure about synthetic oil ether!

hot_rod

If the drain oil

goes right from the car to the oil tank, it's best. Storing it outside in barrels can lead to some water issues.

Occasionally drain oil will have anti freeze from a cracked head, bad gaskets, etc. A slug of that will usually cause the burner to lock out. Good filters and a settlement area for any water or antifreeze makes a big difference.

It's such a messy fuel to deal withy, the diesel drain oil is the worst. Seems like you never get it out of your skin or clothes.

hr

Derheatmeister

Hot rod

I've worked on regular Oil burners in the 80ties and do not miss that!! so given all the other thing's that one has to deal with on these Wasteoilburners and all your and marks firsthand Experience i may have second thoughts about this.Thanks for the input Richard.

Leo

To Hot Rod's comments

When I went to the Clean Burn class all the things you said were bad we were told not to put in. Granted people will sneak it in but some will even void the warranty on the HX. It is up to those who have made the investment to monitor what goes in.

As to the Canadian link on banning them, looks to me like Safety Kleen may have a strong lobby there.

Leo

hot_rod

I don't deal with the ash cleanouts

anymore. I send them to the Clean Burn dealer service techs. They have the tools and the willingness.

I agree with ME it has to be a very unhealthy dust to breath.

Another tip for CB boilers.... run the boiler circ on constant circ, with a P/S piping. The factory 10 minute post purge is not enough time to purge the HX when they ash up. Plenty of tripped relief valves will be the symptom.

When the paint on the jacket starts to discolor, better clean them out, they are overheating! They'll start to eat PL-36's when they overheat also.

They really need a buffer tank in my opinion unless the load matches and is fairly constant.

Low loads, really cycle them and cause overheat conditions.

Keep a large METAL container under the pressure relief valve discharge line if you glycol them. You'll know why soon enough!

hot rod