Torpedo heater trouble

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I have a Reddy Heater R55BT torpedo heater I use in my garage on a line voltage thermostat. It has been giving me grief with low pump pressure and black smoke on startup. I have replaced the pump rotor, plastic housing, filters, nozzle. If I take the air hose off the pump and put my thumb over it I can get maximum ~5 PSI. With the air hose connected and the unit running I show 0 PSI. I need around 3.4 PSI running. I replaced the air hose between the pump and nozzle but that didn't help. I'm not sure what to do next.

Anyone worked on one of these before who could give some suggestions? Thanks.
 
need a new air pump, or clean the air passages in the siphon nozzle.

Black smoke = not enough air
 
Do you have the clearance set right on the rotor?

Also there should be an adjustment for the air pressure. Have your tried adjusting it?
 
I didn't lubricants the vanes but I spun the rotor with the pump cover open and they appeared to be sliding freely. I have the pump pressure bleed screw dialed in all the way and the pressure still reads 0 while running.

How much pressure should the pump be making? I held my finger over the bleeder screw port and the pump outlet (with hose removed) and started the pump. It peaked at 5 PSI before the photo cell shut it down. I'm not sure what the pressure drop is at the nozzle so I don't know if 5 PSI is enough coming out of the pump. I can't find any specs on that.
 
Many are about 3.5 PSI.

How about the gasket for the cover of the pump?

With mine if I pull the air hose off nozzle and insert pressure gauge into air hose it's between 3 and 5. Cannot remember exact. In that range. Steady pressure. Before I lubricated the vanes it was 0. After I lubricated the vanes it was 0. After I removed 95 % of lubricant and just went with a tiny amount I got the 3-5 PSI.
 
I tried the graphite on the vanes. Still poor ignition and 0 PSI on the gauge. I disconnected the hose at the nozzle and connected the gauge as you did. I'm getting 5-6 PSI. I tried switching the nozzles with a spare I had but no change. I ordered a new plastic nozzle holder assembly to try. I will see if that makes a difference when I get it.

Thanks for the help.
 
New nozzle holder came in today. I installed it and fired it up. Looks like I'm getting 0.5 PSI max pressure, a fluttering flame, and enough odor to make my eyes water. Over the past two winters I've spent over $100 on parts trying to tune up and get this thing running right but it still smokes me out. So far I have replaced the nozzle holder, rotor/vanes, ignitor, control board (burned that up at one point), nozzle, hoses, fuel filter, air filter foam, cork gasket and the plastic cover that screws over the cork gasket. Thanks for the help, but I'm thinking it may be time for the trash for this unit. I have a small propane heater I can use, it's just unfortunate propane costs 2x as much per BTU.
 
Your not getting enough air pressure is the issue. Like I mentioned before you need to make sure the rotor clearance is set right to the housing. Also there is an adjustment screw for the air pressure. It's a pressure relief that bleeds extra air pressure off so If it has something stuck in it or its out of adjustment you won't have good air pressure.
 
The metal plate part of the air pump needs to have a perfect seal to the air pump housing. It's a metal to metal joint with no gasket. You may need to clean the surfaces with brake cleaner and or very fine sandpaper.

As someone mentioned, check the rotor clearance.

The gasket and output filter need to seal perfectly between the metal plate and plastic end cap.

When measuring air pump pressure put your finger over the air pressure adjustment screw see if the PSI increases some.

You are dealing with very low pressure here. Thre can be no leaks.
 
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