Easy Fix Chinese Diesel Heater White Smoke Machine

[@fsecofficial]

I call my chinese diesel heater cheech and chong because I haven’t seen that much smoke coming from a van since up in smoke. 😆

[@naturlvelocityls]

I tore everything apart, cleaned up all the carbon build up, replaced the glow plug, screen, & gaskets, and it still was smoking. Saw your video, tried removing the muffler, and voilà no more smoke!

[@TheHowtoDad]

the mufflers do need replacing occasionally. they get clogged too

[@MrRatkilr]

I love these heaters. I use them to heat garage now. I have a nat gas overhead heater. But not using it anymore. It does not have an automatic flue dampner or shut of. When its not running. All the heat in garage is going right up the flue. My garage is kinda big. 2 1/2 car garage. Got two of these set up. Sealed off flue for nat gas heater. When its really cold use both to warm it up quicker. Then just one to maintain heat. Just a 40 degree raise in temp is good enough to work in. I only use them when working in garage on weekends or nights if I have job to do. Not constant heating 24/7. But both have worked flawless for almost 3 months.

[@TheHowtoDad]

I think my biggest problem is that I ordered the 5kw instead of the 2kw. it doesn't run full blast very much, which may be causing some problems

[@MrRatkilr]

@@TheHowtoDad I have heard the 2kw ones are not as efficient with fuel as the 5kw. But i don't have the small one to verify. when -40f I run mine at 5.5 hertz. Once temp in garage is up I dial back to 3 or 4 hertz. On 3 hertz mine run a long time. Before I turn them off I run them wide open for 20-30 minutes to help burn out any carbon. Over 3 months now and zero problems with mine.

[@twowheeledsmurph]

I have a 5kw in my garage for the past 3 years and it’s been flawless. Of course it stopped working this week when we hit -38°C. So now to take apart and clean as I’m sure it’s full of soot.

[@stevecarlisle3323]

Don't forget the exhaust

[@ptwohig]

I believe the white smoke is just boiled diesel fuel, so it's not really smoke it's just vaporized fuel. Since Diesel needs to be a vapor to burn, the glow plug gets the fuel hot enough both boil and the fuel. Once the heater has enough heat built up, it just burns the fuel without the assistance of the glow plug and it's essentially running the fan. When you see that, the glow plug is getting the fuel hot enough to boil, but not to ignite. The white residue on the plug may be enough to inhibit heat transfer to the fuel. The glow plug may be wearing out, too. That's my two cents.

[@TheHowtoDad]

this makes sense because I turned down the pump rate and it starts fine now

[@ptwohig]

@@TheHowtoDad It looks pretty cold where you are, makes sense you may need to tweak some settings to get it working. Where I live we consider "50F" to be frigid outside, so the one in my sailboat doesn't have to work very hard at all.

[@TheHowtoDad]

@@ptwohig I think it had more to do with the elevation

[@apollo8352]

If you have replaced the fuel pump, it is possible you have been sent one with a slightly different flow rate per stroke which upsets the air fuel mixture....check the fuel pump....some have different diameter inlet valve housings 19mm dia and 16mm dia I found....they all look the same otherwise....but the wrong one will cause burn issues!

[@oojimmyflip]

Ive just installed a 2kw one of these and when i first started it on 20th dec 2022 it burned perfectly but someone told me the code 9009 to enter the special features menu, when I increased the fueling it did exactly what you are describing, so i turned it off and restarted it on the oem settings and all has been fine since, I think the overfueling was cooling the burn chamber down, when the 2kw arrived its top fuel pump setting was 3.1hz I increased to 5hz not a geat idea to much fuel for it to cope with, it never once showed any error codes. Now running it at 2.5 hz at start up and shut down and 1.7 hz once warmed up it is sipping fuel at 1.7 hz and keeps my 2 bed semi detached house at a constant 20 degrees c all day long using about 600ml of fuel a day. Have just purchased a 5kw all in one unit to heat my workshop but that one will be using cold outside air and heating it instead of warm house air like the 2kw is. I dont think we are supposed to meddle with the settings and that's why they dont supply the special features code at point of sale. Maybe its a saftey protocol to limit carbon monoxide output and environmental damage? My carbon monoxide alarm showed 33 parts per million when it was overfueling it now shows zero ppm on the oem settings. So please be careful people unless you really know what you are doing. Ive learnt my lesson. I spent a lot of time building an exterior wall box for the heater which is now slightly sooty inside from the overfueling.

[@jedics1]

My unit often takes me starting it up, it cycles for 5 ish minutes then turns off but just starting it up again usually means it works fine after that. Recently is started smoking like yours at start up and now I turn it on and it just turns the screen off and on again and does nothing. I took it apart and it looks clean inside...Hopefully it just magically works again when I put it back together like yours :)

[@TheHowtoDad]

Check your pump settings! this solved my problem. I am at a high elevation, so there was too much fuel going into the burn chamber. I changed the pump settings to reflect the elevation, now it works perfectly. Just google: Chinese diesel heater elevation pump settings

[@MrRatkilr]

when you take one apart or put on new gasket give them a thin coat of vaseline or chapstick. I do that with all my carbs and the gaskets come right off without tearing and can reuse them.

[@TheHowtoDad]

this is a good tip! (could have used it a few days ago...) thank you!

[@MrRatkilr]

@@TheHowtoDad Cleaning or scraping old stuck gaskets sucks. lol.

[@BS-ql5nl]

Clean atomiser usually gumed up I put it across gas burner until its all clean. Check the intake pipe sometimes the paper inside comes apart and blocks air coming in. If gasket breaks just put some silicone on to mend it or throw it away and use heat resistant gasket silicone does same job if not better.

[@TheHowtoDad]

@@BS-ql5nl great thanks! I will add this to the list of things to do at the end of the winter

[@patrickbodine1300]

"Easy fix" proceeds to totally dismantle the unit.

[@TheHowtoDad]

fair...but taking it apart was pretty easy

[@Vera-xu3xw]

😂

[@SacredHeart0520]

It's easy yo dismantle

[@IggnantOG]

I have 6 of those heaters. Sometimes if you unplug it and plug it again it works. Just a few days ago one just wouldn't light. Took it apart, had lots of sticky black crap. OH and don't try blowing the dust off. Its hard to clean out of a beard.

[@TheHowtoDad]

in this case it was a setting issue. too rich for my altitude

[@IggnantOG]

@@TheHowtoDad is there a way to adjust it for altitude? Maybe unplug and replug?

[@TheHowtoDad]

@@IggnantOG in the setting menu. google Chinese diesel heater settings

[@HirschCustoms]

Research I got was the battery needs to be greater than 12volts on startup and the thing will fire the glow plug when needed to give it more flame, good fix is a bigger battery bank and a amp that boosts voltage to maintain 14volts even when battery's are 11.

[@tomasviane3844]

That might make sense! My battery at startup is only 11V. Might try to get up to a bit over 12V and see what happens. It could be that the glowplug does not get hot enough.

[@wrathofpaulii]

i started mine up for the first time, and it made tons of smoke. I think if I kept it running for a while it would have burned cleaner. had to shut it off immediately as I was inside (with ventilation) gonna try it outside. maybe because it's the first time running it and it has to burn off materials from manufacturing or something

[@jedics1]

Ha, I just did pulled mine apart, didn't see a problem, put it back together and it is working again....weird af. I blew into the pump line as hard as I could so maybe it unblocked it.

[@TheHowtoDad]

I bet the pump is putting too much fuel in the burn chamber. You problem will solved for a brief time, but if it comes back, check your pump settints

[@JJ_Khailha]

6 mins of my life I won’t get back.

[@TheHowtoDad]

that's what your wife said

[@JJ_Khailha]

@@TheHowtoDad lol

[@johnorth8490]

Have you got it set to Alpine mode. It adjusts the air fuel mix

[@TheHowtoDad]

that was the issue

[@lucacavallini561]

i dont understand? you have resolved the smoke problem, removing the air in tube?... i have two unit, and from new boot make smoke start up (more of your unit) i have replace the glow, and battery but nothing

[@TheHowtoDad]

try changing the pump rate settings. that's what fixed mine. the pump was sending too much fuel to the heater for the elevation I live at

[@petermoygannon698]

I've got my 2 bobs worth .2kw new unit.. A good battery for enough amps volts for glow plug . And start it on a low setting for 5 minutes mine smokes if started on 3.0 Hz.. start it up and full warm up on 1.0 Hz. Naturally if you start it warm it up stop it then turn it back on its not going to smoke . Wait until tomorrow see what happens.

[@yammo12]

well that was a big help

[@stevecarlisle3323]

They can shoot up after prolonged use on low setting, the camper van is a dead giveaway. The soot can also get the exhaust, and the muffler. Combustion for diesel needs fuel and AIR.😢

[@fredhammond8532]

I had the Same problem, Try using a Diesel Fuel Additive like Howes Diesel fuel additive.

[@TheHowtoDad]

I needed to adjust the pump settings to adjust for the elevation I was at.

[@daveprice6870]

Lol I hope it works for mine tomorrow morning

[@wordup1944]

I watched all the way to the end Hahahaha

[@norm5785]

Congratulations 🎉 stay warm

[@TheHowtoDad]

thank you

[@SacredHeart0520]

Your lucky you didnt break that glow plug taking it out like that .

[@andygofind3786]

Take the muffler off the exhaust. It's coked up.

[@TheHowtoDad]

it was pump settings. exhaust is fine

[@dirkrichardson1681]

I'd say carbon on the glow plug.

[@TheHowtoDad]

The glow plug was white...I hit it with a little steel wool off camera, wonder if that did the trick?

[@CS-uc2oh]

wow, this was trash. I have this problem but it actually only happens once per day. So once I turn the unit off in the morning and go to start it again in the evening, I have this problem but if I were to turn it off and then turn it back on, the problem doesn't repeat until the next day after running the unit for a long time. I think it's actually a fuel leak when the unit is off.

[@davemartin2970]

Lol it was water in the exhaust

[@mgcreed]

I have 4 of these Chinese pieces of shit. I've replaced everything you can think of and they still blow white smoke and will not ignite

[@TheHowtoDad]

have you checked the pump settings? white smoke might mean wet glow plug. if you adjust the pump to pump less diesel when starting it may solve your problem. it solved mine

[@mgcreed]

@@TheHowtoDad after swapping out multiple parts and a different fuel pump I finally got one going. Never let them run out of fuel I know that

[@mgcreed]

@@TheHowtoDad I've rebuilt 3. New glow plugs, fuel pumps. Cleaned the tanks replaced the lines and filters none work. I will be officially giving up on diesel heaters they don't last long enough to be practical for me. I think the longest I had one work is 2 1/2 Weeks.

[@TheHowtoDad]

you're doing something wrong. check your elevation and pump settings

[@mgcreed]

@@TheHowtoDad I can't change pump settings. I've ordered 2 new fuel pumps. I will try from there. Then I'm going to propane

[@CPL74]

For me is very dangerous 200$ in the trash

[@TheHowtoDad]

you can send it to me. I'll use it

[@CPL74]

@@TheHowtoDad 🇨🇵 to 🇺🇲 impossible sry ... M'y Vevor burn after one use it's not security system

[@logisticsandcrypto]

Lol

[@jessejameson154]

Biblically annoying ....hope it didn't stay working

[@lukepommier2356]

My cat said" Nice job amigo".

[@noDOejOP]

most anti-climatic ending i need a explanation wtf

[@TheHowtoDad]

fair assessment. it turned out to be a settings issue. the pump was pumping too much fuel for the elevation/altitude

[@noDOejOP]

@@TheHowtoDad i had this issue this morning, i live offgrid in co, elavation is 7000ft, i had it at 8*c or 1.6; what was the correct calibration?

[@TheHowtoDad]

@@noDOejOP try this link kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGqwe3ugYraaq6M

[@noDOejOP]

@@TheHowtoDad Thank You good sir!

[@gabewatson1378]

great instructions on how to get lucky. wtf

[@TheHowtoDad]

you like that!? turned out to be a pump setting issue. The pump was sending too much fuel to the heater.