Burn Chamber With No Mesh ?! - Diesel Heater. PT-14

[@wallacefrey6247]

Congratulations on breaking 1500 subs. Now you may want to start thinking about how to run an air conditioner on an inexpensive fuel source soon with summer on the way for us folks down south here in Texas. Great video as always,keep up the good work.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha... yeah... It's going to be winter here for a few more months, but I have been thinking about how I'm going to transition over to summer.... Thanks for the comment !

[@PUBHEAD1]

My dad just bought one of these so I got to see it in action. Based on your vids and his experience I think I'll be buying one.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

It's a revolution !! Diesel heaters taking over the world ! seriously tho... that's great. Glad to hear it.

[@colinhamer6506]

I'm liking the shorter safety warning you could get rid of it all together and talk about the mini in the corner instead lol

[@loweredexpectations4927]

LOL... Maybe just have a scrolling text "don't be an idiot" while I'm telling a story about the Mini ?

[@colinhamer6506]

@@loweredexpectations4927 never I've had 7 of them when they were affordable 👍

[@jorgruthschilling]

The security warning is an essential part of the show! 😜 There are thousands of KZbinrs talking about Chinese diesel heaters, but only a few are so entertaining!

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@colinhamer6506 Haha... I got notification in my email and forgot we were talking about the mini... I was like "you had 7 heaters when they were affordable"... Yeah, the price for them is outrageous now.

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@jorgruthschilling Thanks ! Good to hear.

[@hawkkim1974]

just for you to know, we can make a fully manual diesel heater controller. All you need is DC motor controller, fuel pump control timer, and glow plus control timer, and temperature measuring mechanism for safety. Thus we can bypass heater shutdown for over temperature.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks for the comment. Yes... I have seen a few people on youtube playing with such things. I think that is really cool, but I am quite obsessive, and if I start down that road, this will become a channel about building electronics....

[@bobthebarsteward]

Hello again, and here's a few more thoughts. We already know the blower motor in these heaters is only just adequate, bends in the exhaust or a build up of debris can reduce the air-flow, perhaps that screw clamp is slowing down gas flow? Second thought, that washer in the burn chamber, some say they will come out with a little force, some say they are welded in solid, either way, it would be good to remove it and make up a short cup-like assembly to replace it, which could be held in place with a button-head screw or two. Obviously this would be better done on a new unit, I bought one for a little over £20 here in the UK so they're not expensive. A removable washer would allow easier cleaning of that secret chamber. Last thought - honest, engine oil has so many additives, even when new, many designed not to burn, it's little surprise there's residue left to build stalagmites and stalactites (way to remember, tites come down...) and the only way I can see round this is to use the oil in lower quantities, as a mix with diesel or kerosene.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks for the detailed comment. I do address the gearclamp being in the path of the exhaust in a future video... I start putting it off to the side when I realize that there actually was room. Yes, I have seen that the washer thing comes out of some... It does not in mine. However, now that I have split my chamber, it is really easy to clean the tube out. If / when I get a new burn chamber, I will be either doing the same thing and splitting it, or if the washer thing come out, then doing it that way. Yes... oil is designed NOT to burn, haha... no surprise I'm having issues. I think right now, I'm trying to build a pool on the beach and there's no bottom in my bucket... You are correct to say "the water is just going to sink into the sand" but until you have a bottom in your bucket, you can't even collect the water 🤣 ( meaning. Contamination of all sorts would be an issue with burning the oil if I could actually burn all of the oil) If you look at 24:58 you can see the black carbon inside. It's getting better, but it's still an incomplete burn.

[@easymac79]

28:18 I have a theory that you can cook bacon solely with the grease from previously cooked bacon. There is probably a diminishing returns point, to get more grease means applying more heat. But I think you can get it to food safe temps at least.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha.... There's no reason not to try.

[@rwun283]

Nice. So... The "distilling" process with the waste dripping out the bottom is almost like government waste processing. Burn off the good stuff and concentrate the worst. That does give me some ideas though. I'll keep you posted on my thoughts.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha... yes... Like I said... You could actually run a catch can and just have it so that the crap came out the bottom. Eventually your exhaust would probably get plugged, but you could probably design around this 🤷‍♂️ This is kinda how distillation of crude oil is done. Lighter fuels like butane are collected at lower temperatures and stuff like motor oil base, at much higher temps... then the stuff that is left over is basically what came out of my exhaust.

[@mightyfinejonboy]

Yup, got another ecu on its way from the seller after posting a video of its symptoms.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Awesome !

[@mightyfinejonboy]

@@loweredexpectations4927 arrived after 2 days so must have a stock ready to send out...

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@mightyfinejonboy That's impressive. Where did you buy from ?

[@mightyfinejonboy]

@@loweredexpectations4927 ebay. sent a video to the seller and they think it was the motherboard. i had ordered one before from china so will have 2...will fit it next week and see if it sorts it.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@mightyfinejonboy Good stuff.

[@hunter7181]

Moving the controller board outside the heater and if necessary extending the cables will save it from being destroyed if the heater gets to hot.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

This is a good idea, but you also need to desolder the speed sensor from the ECU, build a bracket for it, and run wires to it as well. The ecu mounts where it does so that the speed sensor is close to the fan. As long as the fan is running, the ecu stays pretty cool.

[@hunter7181]

@@loweredexpectations4927 Thanks for that info 🙂. I have not installed my heater yet so will se if I look more in this later.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@hunter7181 I personally wouldn't worry about it too much. I have abused my heater for months, restricted air flow and managed to melt parts in the fan motor, and the electronics were not affected. I believe my electronics failed because I continued to use the damaged motor and it was causing excessive current draw. Cheers.

[@hunter7181]

@@loweredexpectations4927 Thanks!

[@ark-mark1]

There can be moisture in the waste oil. How about a catalytic converter mesh inside the burn chamber? You could try to get hold of an old car catalysator and take some of the material inside it and make a catalytic converter inside your burn chamber. If that's not possible, buy few grams of platin and make the electrolysis yourself. All you need is some acid and electric current.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Yes, there is some moisture in my oil for sure, and gasoline. I haven't posted the video yet, but I have tested a catalytic converter.

[@dave858man2]

Keep up the good work. I run mine off a solar panel and cheap charge controller and I think it over volted and fried my ECU. It just ran the fan all the time power was connected

[@loweredexpectations4927]

That sucks ! ... fortunately most ecus are not too expensive. I got the better one and a controller for $46 Canadian. Yeah... mine did some odd stuff with the fan as well... I got a new ecu from amazon, overnight for under $30.

[@dave858man2]

@@loweredexpectations4927 yes i bought a spare one because I have 5 of these things. 2 still in the box, one with the ECU I borrowed to see if that was my issue, and one at my trailer. cant hurt to have a parts inventory with that many units lol. I have a bunch of used oil waiting to get mixed with Diesel once I need these things running again. Have a great day

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@dave858man2 Oh, awesome ! Haha... you are good to go.

[@heyjoe6948]

I use used veg oil and gas at about 50/50. Have burned about 60gal this winter. Little issues with it.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Right on ! I have heard a few people have decent luck with veg oil. Is it new or used oil ? I know some people use new oil as it's actually cheaper than diesel in some places.

[@heyjoe6948]

@@loweredexpectations4927 Its used. I work at a restaurant and we have to pay to get rid of it. My heater sits outside so the oil gets thick in the cold, so 50/50 works for me.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@heyjoe6948 LOL... The first thing I saw when I looked at this comment was your last comment "I use used veg oil and gas at about 50/50" ... Thanks for the response.

[@chucknSC]

Veg oil doesn’t have all the minerals in it like motor oil ( zinc, calcium etc) so it will inherently leave fewer deposits in the burn chamber. Look at someone’s used oil analysis and see what’s in it.

[@GMCLabs]

​@chucknSC yeah after watching enough project farm, I learned there is alot of junk in motor oil. Those chunks are probably calcium and zinc deposits. Not gonna burn that stuff off!

[@GMCLabs]

Man I just got one and its getting sent back. 1st pump died in less than 8 hours. Replaced the pump and add 2 fuel filters and that one died just as fast. I was burning kerosene with about 30% biodiesel. I thought that could have been what killed it, but after seeing the junk you're pumping through yours, I doubt it. I think the issue is with the ECU. I think it stops pulsing the pump and just get stuck on, burning out the coil. I tried whacking it like I've seen in other videos, but that only works with a stuck piston. Im pretty sure the coil on the pump is what burnt out.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Yeah... I haven't been able to kill a single pump yet, haha. One thing that kills them is making them pull fuel up out of the tank. I make sure that the inlet side of my pump is gravity fed... basically, the pump is lower than the tank.

[@easymac79]

26:45 This oughta be good. 27:51 huh? 27:57 HUH??? What are you going to do to your heater? For a moment I was thinking gelatin was glycerin, I was like "isn't that what you remove from veggie oils to make biodiesel?" But now I'm just confused. Looking forward to the next update as always! Cheers, stay safe!

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha... 26:45 ... gasoline is very volatile. Gelatin for removing crap from oil... not sure if it works in motor oil. Sulphuric acid also used for cleaning crap out of oil. These "experiments" will probably be done on a very small scale just to see if they work, and most likely showing that they are not practical solutions for most people / on this scale.

[@Jokker868]

Great video keep up the good work and like someone else said a video on your classic mini would be cool.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks Mark... I may make a video and talk about my Mini at some point. Cheers !

[@Mwwwwwwwwe]

Another great vid- please setup a patrion/ YT crowd funding thing so we can fund your crazy mad science heater torture

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks, I appreciate it ! I actually have a Patreon account that I started for my other channel... I don't talk about it too much here because it was created around the Jetski channel, but I have been dedicating all my time and effort to this heater. Link in the description. Patreon.com/joel_a

[@Mwwwwwwwwe]

@@loweredexpectations4927 dang didn't realize can't do one off payments with patrion- will set up patrion when get a free time

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@Mwwwwwwwwe Yeah... A few others have pointed that out as well. The should have a one time donation option.

[@tonyestvik7969]

Mabye- should do a cathcan- system so if you driving the heater richer you can reuse that, mabye not directly but you can pour it back.... cooking gease- ok- its a start.... but think that deep fryed American chinken wings and chips- I know your a Canadian big diffrents 😁😉👍.... but thats Im after, the leftovers from restaurangs.....I know im naging you.....🤔

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks for the comment ! Unfortunately, the stuff that comes out of the exhaust is very thick... more like tar than any sort of fuel. It took a lot of brake cleaner to remove it. I would love to try all sorts of different fats / greases, haha. I'll have to hang out outside KFC and make some friends... get a hookup on something as close to American leftovers as possible🤣

[@roastntoast7550]

The diesel heater had to go through a lot. Now he is Chinese heaven among her peers. It looks like you need to go down a bit with your mix.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha... She had a good, but rough life. figuring out the mix ratio with both gas and oil, and fuel and air turns out to be pretty tricky ... but yes... I do need to figure that out.

[@TheDivergentDrummer]

Congrats on the on the ongoing Success. I'm an Electronics guy, and I am curious as to the failure mode of the controller myself. If you could hit me up, I'd like to take a look, and maybe fix it for you. May even be able to ass some manual control for pump and fan frequency.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

I would like to know what the deal with the ecu was as well. Unfortunately (unlike most things) I disposed of the old ecu when I got the new one and I have since switched to a different ecu and controller so that I can change my pump hz and fan speed independently. I appreciate the offer !

[@TheDivergentDrummer]

@@loweredexpectations4927 If you come across it again, I'l be around lol. Also, have you ever gotten the blue controller on to a 2 digit screen that only allows you to scroll 1 digit up or down at a time? thinking a menu, with code, not sure what tho... Hold Power and OK. To exit hold the gear..

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@TheDivergentDrummer I've actually had a few people tell me about this menu... For me it was a 3 digit screen / menu... I had someone tell me that they found a code (by trying random numbers) that did something useless, but not one for admin settings.

[@PUBHEAD1]

Mmmmm bacon grease

[@loweredexpectations4927]

You know it ! I want to make sure that I have the heater running reliably before I do it, because I don't have a lot, and I want it to be a fair test 😂

[@NY411Info]

The control unit powered the fan back on because it was 44°C 111°F in the heater case/heatsink. Hmm, or you cooked the ecm.lol.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Good guesses !

[@jimhill5472]

I wonder if adding Lucas oil diesel additive on a regular basis could help keep deposits from forming either with waste oil mix or even for users who only use pump diesel. I sent a message to Lucas but they responded that the heaters are totally different than a mechanical engine with combustion. They said none of their products are for that use. I think some people on youtube claimed they used techron injector cleaner to attempt to clean burn chamber by adding to fuel. Might be something to try.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Wow... just seeing this comment now... I just uploaded a video where I do this very test with Lucas DPF cleaner... I didn't show the test, but I tried injector cleaner and it did nothing for me.

[@gregorykucera4235]

So what you are saying is it will run with no mesh in chamber on diesel right, Great video you mess with them alot

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Yes... that seems to be the case. I assume that it will likely run cleaner before it is fully warmed up and maybe cleaner on shutdown, with the mesh... but overall performance doesn't seem to be effected.

[@wallacefrey6247]

If VEVOR reads the comments,you should have another heater soon.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

I'm going to send them an email saying "Wallace said to send me shit"🤣

[@wallacefrey6247]

@@loweredexpectations4927 Tell them they better since he's from Texas and heavily armed.

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@wallacefrey6247 They said they already know all about you... Something about "they only got one of our balloons" 🤣

[@wallacefrey6247]

@@JoelArseneaultKZbin 🤣😂 That was funny.

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@wallacefrey6247 Haha... thanks.

[@macuser2469]

how has it done burning other nondiesel stuff WVO? old gas? New - old oils?

[@loweredexpectations4927]

All the mixes I have tried have been WMO with other stuff like old gas, alcohol, chainsaw bar oil, Varsol... I plan to try lots of other stuff... I bought some veg oil today.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

All the mixes I have tried have been WMO with other stuff like old gas, alcohol, chainsaw bar oil, Varsol... I plan to try lots of other stuff... I bought some veg oil today.

[@Trevorkloida]

Comment for a buddy not for a dumb heater

[@loweredexpectations4927]

I finally got a jetski video for you on this channel, haha. It's a week late, but its out.

[@Evilslayer73]

Hi i have a brand new diesel heater brand Likaci from Amazon and i have an error code 03 i changed the glow plug and still throwing this damn code the battery is good i installed 10 awg wire with an inline fuse on it could it be the ECU?

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Hey... sorry to hear you're having troubles. Amazon is usually really good about returns. If you can't return it to them, perhaps contact them and explain why ... I have gotten a fuel tank replaced without a return once, as I wasn't able to ship an item that once had fuel in it. The error happens if there is either no connection at all, or if the wires are totally shorted. I assume that you didn't have two bad glow plugs, so it's likely a bad ECU... unfortunately. The only thing you can really do from here is to check the solder joints on the ECU circuit board where the glow plug plugs in. If there appears to be no solder or if the blob of solder touches two terminals, that could be the issue. I guess the other thing you could do is check to see if the wires are in the right place. The connectors usually have 3-4 pins, but only 2 wires to the plug... If the wires aren't on the correct pins, that would cause the error code. If you look at the circuit board, you may be able to see what pins actually have tracers ... Hope this helps.

[@Evilslayer73]

@@loweredexpectations4927 When i installed it it was working like 10 to 15 minute then shutdown after that i got a error 03 since and after changing the glow plug... im gonna try a new ECU i waiting for it today :) in fact its not my diesel heater its for my boss for the Ford E250 Van for a maintenance cleaning company :)thanks for you help!

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@Evilslayer73 Good luck... It is probably something to do with the ECU... Good job taking care of business !

[@sanduafaceri2792]

Ai făcut un test cu biodisel? Eu am un Vevor de 8 KW și fac biodisel în bucătăria mea. Cheie azi am făcut 10 litri din untura de porc și o amestec cu motorina.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Foarte tare ! Nu l-am testat încă, dar acesta este pe lista mea foarte lungă de lucruri de făcut.

[@PUBHEAD1]

Being in Calgary would you run it in Alpine mode or just the normal mode on straight diesel. Elevation is not super high but still a few thousand feet above sea level

[@TheBry_Guy]

I'd wait to see what controller you get. I just got mine a week or two ago, so I assume yours would be the same as your dad's and mine, so would not automatically adjust. Some have said some versions adjust based on elevation but I've not seen that. I'd fire it up and see if it's smoky, if so, try alpine mode. if not, stick with defaults.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Hey... When running it on diesel I had really good results running on diesel. I ran it for a total of about 7 days strait with no issues. Took it apart and it was perfectly clean. It runs a little hotter in normal mode, but it may eventually carbon up.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Yeah... self adjusting for elevation would require a different ecu with sensors specifically for that. I think I may have seen one on Dave McLuckie's channel... I don't think you're going to find that on any budget minded model. Not bad advice, but you won't see smoke unless it's very rich... the can produce quite a lot of carbon deposits without visible black smoke.

[@jorgruthschilling]

The best thing would be to buy a Chinese diesel heater which comes with an altitude automatic. These have a barometer built in. Some Chinese heaters show you the current height above see level. They cost only a few bucks more. The ECU with the "alpine mode" is a low-cost variant without the barometer sensor.

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@jorgruthschilling Where do you buy such a thing ? I have seen them in videos, but when you are shopping for a heater, they do not give you these details.

[@Keith24GB]

If you want to increase your burn temperature off whatever your burning add some WD40 to the mix. Though not very cost effective 😏

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Haha... You know what... I kinda actually did that in a few recent tests BUT not by adding it to the tank. I made a fibreglass mesh (cloth with no resin) and soaked it in WD40 to make the heater fire up quickly... it worked like a charm ! ... but yes, not economical.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Buy a gallon and speed up the bankruptcy. Lowered financial expectations.

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

​@@wallacegrommet9343 HAHA... "I'm never going to financially recover from this" 🤣 It would be interesting to see what it burned like used as an actual fuel.

[@raymondj8768]

Hey Dude whats up !

[@loweredexpectations4927]

You know, doing my thing... breaking stuff and calling it "experiments" ... Sounds legit.

[@raymondj8768]

@@loweredexpectations4927 hahahahahahah

[@JoelArseneaultYouTube]

@@raymondj8768 If you call it science ... it is.

[@JetSkiHQ]

☝️

[@loweredexpectations4927]

✌

[@donnied6759]

How about making a gasket between the burn chamber to the heat exchanger your venting sucks do you have any wind cap outside only reason for the smoke inside is Dat it not going up and out No wind cap baffle what ever ya want to call it duh smoke going to backup OF course it good be leaking into heat exchanger

[@loweredexpectations4927]

Thanks for the comment. I sometimes run a gasket, I sometimes run glue and sometimes I run nothing at all. Yes, my exhaust leaves a lot to be desired. I do not have a wind cap and I get smoke in my garage all the time as a result. I'm not worried about it. I'm not sure what you mean about leaking into the heat exchanger. The pressure on each side of the exchanger is almost equal and the gasses have an unobstructed path out the exhaust.

[@donnied6759]

@@loweredexpectations4927 A gasket between the burner and the heat exchanger where you bolt it back together

[@donnied6759]

Just maybe it's getting to much air

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@donnied6759 Yes, that is a good Idea. I put one in there sometimes.

[@loweredexpectations4927]

@@donnied6759 I have been doing a lot of testing. It seems the main issue is that the burn chamber does not get hot enough. The more air I use, the more cooling effect there is.