No heat !!

[REW]

My son and I went out for a day of fishing today -
I decided to pull out the old sunflower style heater - that I hadn't used for a couple of years and the spare propane bottle.
We were out for a bit - and I had my portable set up and was helping him - when I attempted to light the sunflower heater - no luck.
Finished the day of fishing - using just the heater in my portable.

When I got home - I checked the regulator - on another heater that I have - fine no problem - gas flow good, and connector good (quick disconnect connector.)
Then - I used high pressure air to insure that I could get gas through the regulator and into the heater - it appeared to allow air flow ok.

Then - because the heater still didn't work - I removed the orfice and the nozzle inside the heater -and ran a tiny wire through the jet - of the correct size - to insure that there was no rust or other obstruction in the jet. Still no heat.

Finally, I used a propane torch - to heat the surface of the sunflower heater and turn it red hot -- same as if it were in nomal use. I can ignite the flame - and it will pop and burn in the jet assembly -- a typical ability - if you happen to catch a wind - and have the heater blow back and ignite in the burn tube. However, no matter what I do - I can't get any flame to cause the screen to glow red.

I am just wondering if - while my heater was stored in the rafters of the garage for the last few years - if the catalytic convertor - that is used to generate the heat - could have become coated with something casuing the heater failure. I am frankly stumped. It is not that a big deal if I don't get it fixed, since I have spares - it is just that it makes no sense to me that I can't get it working properly. I know my son, really would have appreciated it working this morning - when he was untangling his line in the cold wind.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

p.s.
I also used high pressure air to blow out the surface of the burner -on the possibility that dirt or something else was on the burner - although there was no evidence to support such a theory.

REW

[Phil T.]

Did you look for that plague on camper water heaters, a spider web in the air intake?

[REW]

Phil,
That was my first thought -
I am sure that I eliminated that - by blowing high pressure air - both forward and backward - through the entire heater.

Part of my problem - is that I don't know precisely what the composition of the heater is "behind" the sunflower screen. i.e. what is the path of the air/gas mixture - after leaving the propane gas orifice. After I removed the orifice and locking nut - I can look down the clear tube - and seeing it head into the head of the heater . What exactly - is there behind the head of the heater - if anything?? The entire head assembly appears to be mechanically crimped together, and doesn't appear to be able to be mechanically disassembled.

Take care

REW

[REW]

Brain dead -!!
I double checked things on the heater again this morning. I decided that things could not be that difficult.
I found that if I really screwed in the pressure on the regulator - that the heater worked just fine.

Then it hit me!
I haden't used this heater for a couple of years. It was a heater that I had modified to use with a quick disconnect coupling.
However, I had also built up a couple of stoves and other heaters - using the same quick disconnect hose. I now remembered - that the stoves used the hose with the built in regulator. However, the sunflower heater - already had its regulator built in. Thus -- I was double regulated -- no wonder I couldn't get any gas - since I was only using 1/2 oz of propane pressure at the heater.

I picked up the other hose -- no built in regualator -- where it has been laying for the last couple of years -- and the heater no works just fine.

I guess that we all need to cycle through our storage areas to refresh that goes with what.

Take care

REW