Refleks heater- worth repairing?

Kelpie

Kelpie

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I've been offered an old Refleks cabin heater in exchange for helping with some boat jobs. Quite tempting, however it's in at least superficially very poor condition. It hasn't run for many years and is very dirty with lots of rust on the non stainless parts.
I'm assuming it will need some sort of rebuild so just wondering whether this is going to be worth doing or if it will end costing way too much. I'm also a little concerned that it is on the small side, I was actually planning on installing a solid fuel stove of around 2-3kw and this Refleks is, I think a bit less than that.
It was quite hard to read the model number due to corrosion but it's a '66', there may have been a letter after that, but who knows!
 
This one is about 1,6kw I think.
One important factor when sizing to the boat is, in my view, to not only look at the maximum output but also at the minimum output possible. To high and I you would have to choose between turning it off or wasting your fuel.

Regarding spare parts: I think that the dutch company which used to supply the regulators has stopped trading, so these are sourced elsewhere now. Could make it hard to find spare for this, perhaps.
 
If its superficially poor conditions I would clean it up, strip it down and see if it works in the shed. You've got nothing to lose. But I'm well known for taking on lost causes.
 
Thanks for the replies. I think the owner wants it out of the boat as it is a bit of an eyesore, I will see if it will work 'as is'. Might be worth having for the flue fittings if nothing else, I suppose.
 
Hartlepool marine supplies sells them the one your looking at is the smallest, probably to small for your boat. The bigger ones that you can pop the kettle on top are better and nice and cosy on a liveaboard. Pm or ring for more info.

Regards

John
 
You shouldn't have any trouble getting parts. Refleks heaters are still a firm favourite amongst Scandinavian fishermen and still produced in Denmark.

The advantage of a diesel heater over a solid fuel stove is that once it's lit you can more or less forget about it until the tank is empty. I had my dickinsons stove going for nearly six months straight when I was living aboard and not once did I have to worry about it going out or disposing of the ash.
 
Excuse my ignorance, but how do they actually work? I understand it's some sort of drip feed, but is there any electricity involved? What controls the fuel feed rate, what keeps it lit, and what happens if it goes out- does unburnt diesel keep dripping?
One of the main advantages of solid fuel, for me, would be the simplicity of it all. I had a Wallas heater on my last boat and when it died it turned out to be far too complex a beast for me to be able to fix it.
 
The only important part is the drip regulator - if that works the unit is worth rebuilding - it that is broken it is just a pile of junk.

When working they are terrific units - the heaters of choice for the Patagonian and antarctic cruisers/charter fleet. They are reliable, use no electricity and burn cleanly.
 
Kelpie said:
Excuse my ignorance, but how do they actually work? I understand it's some sort of drip feed, but is there any electricity involved? What controls the fuel feed rate, what keeps it lit, and what happens if it goes out- does unburnt diesel keep dripping?
One of the main advantages of solid fuel, for me, would be the simplicity of it all. I had a Wallas heater on my last boat and when it died it turned out to be far too complex a beast for me to be able to fix it.
Click to expand...

They're not unlike an eberspacher in that they burn vapourised diesel. However they don't need electricity since the fuel is supplied through a regulator with a gravity feed and the coil that vapourises the fuel is initially heated up by priming it with a firelighter or similar (my dickensons I lit by letting a bit of diesel into the combustion chamber and throwing a scrap of lit tissue in). Should it go out then yes, unburnt fuel does continue dripping so it's not wise to leave it unattended for long periods of time, that said as long as it's getting fuel there is not much reason for it to go out in the first place. Once or twice on very windy days I saw the stove get blown out but it was hot enough to reignite itself immediately.
 
Kelpie said:
Excuse my ignorance, but how do they actually work? I understand it's some sort of drip feed, but is there any electricity involved? What controls the fuel feed rate, what keeps it lit, and what happens if it goes out- does unburnt diesel keep dripping?
One of the main advantages of solid fuel, for me, would be the simplicity of it all. I had a Wallas heater on my last boat and when it died it turned out to be far too complex a beast for me to be able to fix it.
Click to expand...
On mine it's just a very precise slow feed of diesel going through the regulator. No electricity. If it goes out you can end up with a small lake of diesel at the bottom of your heater. Set up right it won't go out. They're great, new regs are around for about £180 big ish? I liveaboard, they're great :) worth resurrecting IMHO.
 
Woodlouse said:
They're not unlike an eberspacher in that they burn vapourised diesel. However they don't need electricity since the fuel is supplied through a regulator with a gravity feed and the coil that vapourises the fuel is initially heated up by priming it with a firelighter or similar (my dickensons I lit by letting a bit of diesel into the combustion chamber and throwing a scrap of lit tissue in). Should it go out then yes, unburnt fuel does continue dripping so it's not wise to leave it unattended for long periods of time, that said as long as it's getting fuel there is not much reason for it to go out in the first place. Once or twice on very windy days I saw the stove get blown out but it was hot enough to reignite itself immediately.
Click to expand...
Sorry to disagree but they're not at all like an Eberspacher which is a blown hot air unit with an electric feed pump.
 
Thanks again. And the drip regulator- is this the bit bolted on the side, with a knob on top, or is it inside the body of the unit? I also noticed what looked like a shutoff valve or something on the front, that part was very rusty...
 
Kelpie said:
Thanks again. And the drip regulator- is this the bit bolted on the side, with a knob on top, or is it inside the body of the unit? I also noticed what looked like a shutoff valve or something on the front, that part was very rusty...
Click to expand...

It's the bit bolted on the side.

The bit that looks like a shut off on the front is actually a cleaning rod. You push it in and it cleans the diesel drip path to the burner pot
 
Update.
I've got the heater out of the boat and given it a bit of a clean up. Unfortunately, I think the regulator is beyond repair. The float still moves up and down but everything else has rusted solid. It is currently soaking in WD40 but I am not holding my breath.

As a last ditch attempt to resurrect it, I am pondering how I could replace the regulator. My understanding is that it is simply a device to hold the diesel at a particular level, so that it can drip at the required rate. In other words, a bit like a header tank but on a tiny scale. It doesn't sound impossible to build something to replicate that function using a miniature float valve- if I can get my hands on such a thing. I would probably lose the ability to finely control the output, but maybe I could live with that.
 
Kelpie said:
Update.
I've got the heater out of the boat and given it a bit of a clean up. Unfortunately, I think the regulator is beyond repair. The float still moves up and down but everything else has rusted solid. It is currently soaking in WD40 but I am not holding my breath.

As a last ditch attempt to resurrect it, I am pondering how I could replace the regulator. My understanding is that it is simply a device to hold the diesel at a particular level, so that it can drip at the required rate. In other words, a bit like a header tank but on a tiny scale. It doesn't sound impossible to build something to replicate that function using a miniature float valve- if I can get my hands on such a thing. I would probably lose the ability to finely control the output, but maybe I could live with that.
Click to expand...

You may be able to modify an auto bleed pot to act as a header, they contain a small float and cut off needle and are very cheap.
 
Kelpie said:
Update.
I've got the heater out of the boat and given it a bit of a clean up. Unfortunately, I think the regulator is beyond repair. The float still moves up and down but everything else has rusted solid. It is currently soaking in WD40 but I am not holding my breath.

As a last ditch attempt to resurrect it, I am pondering how I could replace the regulator. My understanding is that it is simply a device to hold the diesel at a particular level, so that it can drip at the required rate. In other words, a bit like a header tank but on a tiny scale. It doesn't sound impossible to build something to replicate that function using a miniature float valve- if I can get my hands on such a thing. I would probably lose the ability to finely control the output, but maybe I could live with that.
Click to expand...
You can still buy them. They're not particularly cheap, but a lot less than a whole new stove. Even if you don't need to use the thing any time soon I'd just clean up what you have and then buy and fit a regulator when the time comes.
 
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