Not ATV related, but asking for help with Torpedo heater.

[Mudflap64]

Ok, all you guys/gals are good with this type of stuff.

I have a Reddy Heater 150,000 btu torpedo heater thats acting strange. It shuts off after about 5-8 minutes of run time. I re-tuned it last year, but now it's acting crazy. It burns fine until it shuts down. If I reset it right after the switch trips it will not fire!......It just blows out raw fuel. If I let it sit for a few minutes it will fire back up and run good for another five minutes or so then shuts down again. I've replaced the plug, cleaned the filter & nozzle, pump housing, checked all the lines for the pump & it all looks good. The photocell is clean & the fact that it shut's down when it doesn't fire back up tells me the photocell is functioning properly. The last thing I'm thinking is it possibly has some water in the fuel tank. It looks clean but here is my question.....can I simply mix some dry gas ( isopropyl alcohol) with the kerosene or should I use some type of diesel style fuel drier??? I don't want to blow something up. It really acts like it has moisture in the fuel but what do I use for "dry gas" in kerosene??? Thanks for any advice.

[oxidized_black]

don't put any gas in it. are you burning kerosene or diesel? there are conditioners for diesel that will work for kerosene. i know those things are tempermental, mine was a bi*** from new until i tweaked it just right ...

[Mudflap64]

I run K-1 kerosene. Just wondering what type of "dry gas" I could run in it that won't kill it. I'd never add gasoline. The belly tank looks clean but it would be a pain in the butt to drain. A fuel additive suggestion is what I'm looking for......Just to rule out a moisture issue.

[oxidized_black]

when you get it going, there is an adjustment screw, it shouldnt flame out past 2 inches from the cone ...

[Mudflap64]

This one has no adjustment screw that I can find. It runs GREAT till it shuts down. It doesn't shoot flame past the outer shield. It's an awesome heater but just started acting up when I got it out of storage, that's why i'm suspecting moisture. After I rebuilt it last year it would run constant, quiet, not smelly, & it would heat me out of my 24'x24' un-insulated garage in about 10 minutes. Now it's just not running right......I guess I'll try some fuel addative & see if that makes a difference. Dunno what else to do @ this point. It's a pretty simple machine.

[marioweldinginc]

Drain the tank and add some fresh k1 that will at least eliminate one suspect

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[Mudflap64]

Update....I rebuilt the entire heater, new pressure line, fuel line, filter, nozzle is clean, new plug. I re-checked all the electrical connections. It runs OK but now I cant get it to build enough pressure to set the pump pressure. It should run @ 5 psi. , but I can only get around 3.8-4 on the guage. I'm thinking it's a worn rotor/vein assembly. I'm tired of working on this simple machine!!! It's driving me insane!! Any tips to rigging the pump would be appreciated. I'm thinking of tightening the headspace tolerance by surface grinding the pump housing.

[Mudflap64]

Just put a new pump rotor in it & now it runs worse!!! I'm really getting pissed off @ this thing. I found the pump pressure adjustment & guage port. so all is good there. It just won't build enough pressure to operate properly. I'm @ a loss with this damn thing. It will NOT go above 4 psi. no matter what I do with the adjustment screw. All the lines are new, new plug, new filters, fresh fuel, new rotor and vains. The only thing I can think of now is a weak spring in the nozzle assembly......but I'm getting tired of throwing money @ this thing. Anybody have ideas with this dang thing, or experienced a similar failure? I'm quite certain the low pump pressure is the issue but don't know what else to do to fix it???????