I use a "remington" style 30-50K BTU propane heater on the boat. LAKEISHA does fine with the prime valve and the piezo lighter, but the flame shuts off at will. I am thinking its a bad thermocouple. Sometimes on shut off, it needs to get real cool via the fan before it'll re-light. Am I on the right track? LATANGANIKA does the same thing. Ol' TYRONE is a 150K on a Thermostat with a spark plug and starts on demand. He respects me and at 50+ years old usually answers with a yessuh... He heats garage "B" with fervor. All the T/Cs I've seen look conventional (straight) and mine looks like a wire with a 90* bend in it. I dont think its the overheat switch. Any ideas? ws https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPESFA?psc=1
I gave mine to my next door neighbor when we moved to Florida. It's name was John Glenn. It also was at least 50. I had a starting issue with it for a couple of years and switched back to real Kerosene (from Diesel fuel) That solved the starting problem.
Mine is a Master mh-75t. It gets moisture build up especially when using diesel, and I have to hold my Bernzomatic in it to get it to light the first time if it's been cold. It has an automatic lighter and a thermostat, but those first few times it will actually flame out until it gets heat built up in it. It's better with kerosene, but then I can only manage to be in the shop for about 15 minutes from the fumes.
Yeah...When the big red one fires up, ya gotta say FLAME ON TYRONE! Once in a great while, theres a tiny misfire and you get a WHOOSH outa it like a sonic boom. I used to use kero or heating oil, but working on the boat there's minimal draft (enough for safety and combustion!) but the odor permeates everything and there was always a sour smell that had to air out in the spring. Propane is a hassle getting tanks filled ($40 for 9 gallons or 40lbs) and now the DOT wants an inspection sticker (not stamped anymore) on the bottle and the filler guy has to log all the transactions. Ive seen too many roofers that toss the bottles to the ground from the roofs, but I take especially good care of mine! Its a PITA, but being comfy (and everything heat sinked) to get paint and varnish to dry is as important as a warm A$$ LOL ( I LIKE the John Glenn part!) My mom had a bumper sticker back in the day on her Rambler wagon that read AU H2O for president. ws
Do those "newer" units have a high limit switch on them? They do, but as far as I understand, in the event of a loss of 110VAC, the fan quits spinning and the flame will cause the OH switch to open and effectively, close the valve so theres no fire in the chamber without the forced draft pushing it out. Still sounds like a TC. All the replacement TC units seem to have trouble as well; Hecho en Chine, would you expect anything less? The remedy seems to be to start the unit, and then put a spring clamp on the "depress to start" knob and let it run. I dont EVER leave it unattended. You should have put in floor radiant heat in ... nice clean and easy! These are portable units. If Mohamed wont go to the mountain, then you bring the mountain to Mohamed. This is on my boat job, a few hundred feet off Lake Michigan and the wind HOWLS through the yard. At least the boat is covered with shrink wrap. Right now its raining sideways and 36*F and I am heading out for some house cleaning and varnish work. ws
