Reflex Heater

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mark210962

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I have a small Refleks heater, but am having problems getting it to work properly. Anyone out there that has experience of trouble-shooting these heaters? They seem to have a great reputation, so maybe it's user error!
Mark
 
Have also recently started using a heater of this type, & have had many problems with it, but it is now working fairly reliably (touch wood) what are you having difficulty with in particular?
is it a drip-feed, or carburetor type regulator?
 
It has the carbureter, which isn't letting enough fuel through. It works OK if I loosen the whole mechanism and hold it up a few millimeters with a screw driver. This way I can get it glowing cherry red, but when put everything back together it barely stays alight, even on "full". Any ideas?
Mark
 
is the fuel flowing into the float chamber OK?
probably is if you can get it alight by over lifting the reg valve.

is the o-ring seal in good condition?
it must be a nitrile o-ring or it will react with the diesel / paraffin fuel and swell or disintegrate.

is the valve stem / seat clean?
no diesel bug in the tank?

Is the burner pot clean?
any ash in the pot can partially block the fuel inlet the other favorite is a drop of water, but if you have managed to get it lit, then that would have boiled off.
are the air holes in the side of the pot clear? be very careful not to enlarge these of you do clean them out, the correct size is critical to stable operation.

Is the tank in a cold part of the boat?
fuel oil thickens as it gets cold - take a couple of turns of fuel pipe around the flue to pre-heat
Alternatively warm the tank up by leaving a tube heater (electric greenhouse heater) underneath it,

My heater is currently running on road diesel, which is a much more refined fuel than red diesel / paraffin / domestic heating oil

Or you could try thinning it with petrol, never tried this, so cant recommend it, or promise that it wont damage your heater, but - once upon a time before fancy fuel additives, it was recommended to run diesel engines on a 50/50 mix of petrol / diesel in very cold weather. careful with this one, to much petrol in one your heater could be very exciting.

sorry i can't give a definite answer, my problems have mostly been related to over fueling

if you continue to have problems I know a man who can overhaul these heaters, I can PM you contact details, just ask /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Some good ideas, thanks!
Fuel seems to flow OK - if I loosen the mechanism too much it floods in (and out of the overflow ...)
The o-ring - on the cleaning pin - is in good condition. The carb. mechanism is clean and working smoothly. Have I got a bug? Well, the fuel is clear and flows easily, so I don't think so.
But the problem could be due to the temperatures. The tank is in a cold part of the boat, and it has been sub-zero over the last few days (when we really needed the heater!!). I do have two tanks, and although they run through a single manifold, as long as I remember to switch over, I could run the heater from one tank, the engine from the other.... But ideally I should be able to run the engine from the heater tank!
I'd love to have an over-fuelling problem right now. Wife, son and dog are not amused.
 
Is your boat plum/level, and the heater level? The carb has to be at the right height to the burning chamber. Years ago a freind had an Aga on a boat, and he had to mount the carb on threaded rod to adjust the height, depending on trim, or how the boat dried out in the mudberth. An extreme example, but might help.
 
Yes, I think the levels are OK. The heater was running well in the summer (August 2008 in the UK: so we had it on every day to dry us out, and once even overnight).

I think the fuel getting too viscous could be the problem - the symptoms fit. I found this information on the www.kamco.co.uk/diesel.htm website:

" The temperature at which a given fuel will give rise to problems (the operability limit) is indicated by the COLD FILTER PLUGGING POINT (CFPP) test. Generally, the lower the CFPP, the better the low temperature characteristics of a fuel. BS2869 requires Oil Companies to supply diesel fuel with a CFPP of at least -15°C from October to March (-12°C for gas oil / "red" diesel), but only 0° during the summer months. Often it is well into the winter before diesel operators can be sure that their fuel is 'protected' to -15°C, as a result of adding winter grade fuel into tanks still containing summer grade fuel."

If this is the case, and if red diesel is lower spec. even than forecourt diesel, then this would explain my problem. I have two tanks nearly full of "summer" diesel. So my next question is 'how do I treat it to keep it flowing OK?'

I migh start another post - this must be a common problem, not just for heaters.

Mark
 
Diesel has a shelf life of 12 months (I think), so you could drain your tanks into Jerry cans, refill with white until the weather warms up, then put the stored fuel back in
 
i lived on board for 10 years and spent some very cold winters aboard on swinging moorings in the uk . main problem was fuel gelling up . i put a hurricane lamp under the fuel tank which helped alot , wouldn't advise if any gas or petrol onboard tho'. also i put parafin and petrol in as other people have reccomended . would probably help to insulate fuel pipe too. good luck and don't give up cos they are so reliable once problems like this are sorted [and ultra safe ]. also important to keep flue cleaned regularly , and insulated outside . flue length is also important . good luck
 
Many thanks - this gives me confidence that it is the fuel that's the problem. I'll have some warmer weather next week, so will try again. Also, Kamco sell an additive that helps diesel flow at lower temps - they're sold out at the moment of course, but I might try this in the future.
Thanks again,
Mark
 
From reading your posts, it seems as though you're all on the other side of the pond. Last year (Winter of 2008/09) I had the same problem. I had been running my Reflex for 4 years, all winter (in New England), 24/7, buying road diesel from the cheepest source and never had a problem. Last year, all of a sudden, the stove just quit! It so happens that it quit just a few days after I had given it a good clean-out so I know that wasn't the problem. The fuel was flowing into the regulator and the path from the regulator to the pot was clear. The ONLY thing that could be mucking up the works is the flow valve itself. I've tried to open the slot and increase the flow through it with marginal results. It seems to run fine on (expensive) Karosene (K1 or JP4) but when I introduce diesel into the mix, it stops flowing, even when it's 3 parts K1 mixed with 5 parts diesel! Frustration is building. I don't want to heat with electrics any more but if this thing keep acting like this, it's gonna visit the bottom of Gloucester Harbor! I have a schematic for the regulator which I have attached, but I don't have the list to go with it. Any information would help!
 
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