Fuel burning heater info

[cranetruck]

Had some requests for information on the Stewart Warner fuel burning heaters and thought that providing info in general might be a good idea (applies to Benmar also).
This article by yours truly was first published in the Feb 2010 issue of MVM and is attached with permission from the magazine. Enjoy!

View attachment 2010 0201 mvm feb 2010 issue, Fuel burning heater article, pdf.pdf

 

[snowtrac nome]

that's a good write up I still have 2 almost new I wont use them now as the additives in ultra low diesel will foul the atomizer cone in a short time. I have worked on many of them in my time in the Alaska national guard. a good alternative fuel for one would be jet-a as long as you buy a product with no prist like the additives added to ulsd prist will also foul the atomizer.

 

[fabrik8]

Does anybody know if kerosene would be a fuel that would not foul the atomizer cone or be detrimental to the heater?

 

[snowtrac nome]

kerosene and jet fuel will work just fine you just cant draw from the vehicle tank any more. when working right they put out the heat, I had one years back I converted to 12 volts in my dodge diesel pickup. At 15 below I didn't want to get back into a cold truck so I left it running with windows up when I came back out the gauges had all melted down. thank god I could still find parts for an 89 at the wrecking yards back than.

 

[Rjolson]

I Appreciate your insight and working knowledge of the fuel heaters.

 

[rustystud]

If you cannot find one of the old military ones you can use some "modern" units. WABCO makes a few as do several other manufactures. They will run all the modern fuels with no problems, including the "ultra low sulpher" fuel. At the transit agency all the modern buses use them since the "Ultra Fuel Efficient" engines do not make enough heat to run the busses HVAC systems.

 

[oboyjohn]

Another "modern" heater maker is the European company of Eberspaecher. We had these heaters installed in our Canadian M109's to heat the cab interiors and another to heat the coolant for the engine. We also had another model installed in our 10 ton trucks to heat the coolant, the battery box, and on the recovery version, the hydraulic system.

Here is a link to the web site for anyone who is interested: http://www.eberspacher.com/products/military-products.html

Trust me, these put out A Lot of heat.

 

[snowtrac nome]

I have a rusian built heater simmalar to the wabasto or espbacher . its called a planair the thing works good and can be attached to a thermostat best part they are affordable. I even have one mounted in a mount with a cover in place of a 10530

 

[rustystud]

I have a rusian built heater simmalar to the wabasto or espbacher . its called a planair the thing works good and can be attached to a thermostat best part they are affordable. I even have one mounted in a mount with a cover in place of a 10530

But can your "rusian" heater be bought here in America ? If not it's not much use to us.

 

[BKubu]

that's a good write up I still have 2 almost new I wont use them now as the additives in ultra low diesel will foul the atomizer cone in a short time. I have worked on many of them in my time in the Alaska national guard. a good alternative fuel for one would be jet-a as long as you buy a product with no prist like the additives added to ulsd prist will also foul the atomizer.

I am not saying this isn't so, but I have a fuel burning heater in my M925A2. It has been in there almost a decade (I installed it) and it works every time I fire it up...all with over the road diesel plus regular use of conditioner. Maybe I have just been lucky. Any suggestions on keeping it going other that switching to JP8 or kerosene?

 

[snowtrac nome]

yes it can there are several distributors on fleabay I got mine second hand I cant speak for getting repair parts as the thing has just always worked.

 

[snowtrac nome]

I've rebuilt them, and I cant speak for all the additives, I know there are some out there now that wont foul the atomizer cones. here in rual Alaska a primary heat source is the toyo stove those have an atomizer that works the same way, fuel sold here is speced out with a requirement that it can be run in toyo and moniter stoves. it seems to have worked well. from personal experience I have seen some diesel additive packages foul toyo stoves, which means it will foul your 10530 also. power service conditioner, and prist used in jetfuel will foul it also. I'm not knocking power service I think it is a pretty good product, just not the best thing for your heater, I know I was a religious user of it until I had to replace 3 atomizers in a month when it was - 10 to -20. I loved my dry heat from that heater.