4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

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4cylndrfury
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4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by 4cylndrfury »

So, Ive found that scavenging a HVAC shop scrap pile is often a GOLDMINE for a hobby caster (get the HVAC company owners permission first!!! - finding a facefull of smith and wesson is not a price worth paying for a crappy old burner :shock: )

Ok, so my first burner find was a beat up Becket unit. The Body had been crushed, and the transformer and associated relays had literally been burnt up. You can see below the electric motor and pump assembly removed (background) from the battered shell.
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Here are a few poor quality pics of the pump and motor assembly. The motor powers the blower, as well as the pump. The pump must be run at 3725 rpm or greater to achieve the 100psi needed to atomize the fuel through the nozzle.
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I cobbled together a wooden frame to hold the assembly, and plumbed a few lines to run fuel to the nozzle - Delevan nozzle to be exact. I prefer .75 gallon per hour nozzles, with as narrow a spray cone as possible. I think this one is a 80° angle, semi hollow spray (meaning he center of the cone is partially hollow, allowing for air to mix with the fuel for an efficient burn).
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it works!
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As fun as this setup was, it was rickety and I wanted an all in one system so to speak. I went back to the scrap pile weeks later and found this big behemoth:
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Its an Armstrong brand, cast iron boiler burner, supposedly from the 40s or 50s. It had a transformer to ignite the fuel by blowing a spark into the mist, and a badly damaged pump. I degreased the cast iron housing at the self service car wash, and primered and repainted the body in appliance enamel.
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And reassembled it with a new fuel tank (1.5 gallon capacity) on a knocked together stand. I plan to build a real stand at some point, but am waiting till I build a new furnace, as I have some ideas about tuyere/nozzle placement etc...to be covered at a later date.
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And a shot of my basic foundry setup (minus some other safety gear and associated mmolding tools etc...)
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"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"
-Leonardo Di Vinci

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near...."
-Jim Morrison
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GypsyTinker
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by GypsyTinker »

BEEF CAKE!!!

Wow... I imagine that could melt iron with out a problem at all. Is it LOUD?
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Harry
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by Harry »

Those burners look cool and it is great they come with everything there. I have two concerns with them though

1. They are pretty much off or fires of hell as far adjustment goes.
2, The impossibly tiny hole that the nozzles use.

I will admit the second there is just my perception and I have not hear anyone who uses these burners complain about them plugging and the nozzles are cheap at $5.00 each so having a spare to swap out is no biggie but the adjustment thing is a deal breaker for me since I like to have fine control over my furnace temperature and atmosphere.

Also 4cf, you can upload your images into the forum and the forum will resize them and make a link to the larger image. You can pull them right off photobucket too by pasting the link into the browse window (where it says file name when the browse to a file on your computer pops up), just right click where it says file name and paste the link there. Then click the Open button and it will download the image to your temporary files and then you can upload it here with the Add the file button. Just leave off anything in the link past the .jpg

Once uploaded you can click the place inline button to put the picute where you want it in your post like so.
Furnaceburner3[1].jpg
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
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4cylndrfury
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by 4cylndrfury »

yeah, Ive fouled a few nozzles through carelessness at shutdown. Its kind of a bummer. Also, gotta thin the waste oil fuel with kerosene ($$) and then filter it (time) before running the burner. Lastly, the high pressure the fuel must be at is rough on the fuel lines. It originally had copper hard lines plumbing the fuel from the nozzle to the pump when I salveaged it from the scarp heap. When I rehabbed the Armstrong unit, I used plastic fuel line. Its not up to the task at those pressures, and was on the verge of failure the last time I ran the furnace. Its now temporarily on sabbatical until I get time to replace the plastic line with a new copper line. I kind of want to just go ahead and get started on the Gast rotary air pump though and abandon the hvac setup all together. Not sure which one I want to pursue at this moment.

Also, sure thing (about the pics) Harry. I will start that from here out.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"
-Leonardo Di Vinci

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near...."
-Jim Morrison
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Harry
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by Harry »

Its no problem on the images, I just think it makes for a nice looking post and since the forum links to the bigger version it is a win win to me.

The little pump works great, the only thing I have left to determine is if it will hold up to enough use. I would like to see 1000 hrs out of it but even half that would probably be worth the savings on running the big compressor.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
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GypsyTinker
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by GypsyTinker »

4CF, did you see those vacuum cleaner siphon burners? I built one in about 2 hours... might want to try it. It's self contained, small and must be quieter than your big boys.

I know it's not big and industrial lookin, but I bet it would power that furnace of yours just fine. I hooked mine up with a remote dimmer switch :D
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Nudge
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by Nudge »

That is a cool looking burner you have there :D
I like that it is an all in one unit
I like to build "Stuff" using Stuff that costs Stuff All!
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GypsyTinker
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by GypsyTinker »

it's SO easy... you could probably build one on the can :-P
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4cylndrfury
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Re: 4cylndrfury's HVAC Burner adventures

Post by 4cylndrfury »

Actually workshp ;), its amazingly quiet.the motor is almost silent, as is the pump. The fires roar is louder by leaps and bounds than the burner mechanicals. I do have a running vacuum motor, and have been thinking about makin one of andre's SS burners from it. However, its crazy loud! Really, the gast pump system Harry has going seems the most logical. Should be bulletproof, easy to maintain, low operating cost etc.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"
-Leonardo Di Vinci

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near...."
-Jim Morrison
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