Dickinson Diesel Heater Troubleshooting

[Trust]

Hey all,
I have a Dickinson Newport heater and have an interesting issue where it primes we’ll enough, starts, then goes out. Sooting the inside to high heaven.

So I clean, think I’m doing something wrong, and repeat. It’s never burned very well, or more generally- at all. Perhaps the diesel is too old? There is a 2.5 gallon tank dedicated to it.

Are there tricks to keeping soot down? Additives or conditioners for my diesel?

Thanks!
JC

[Nord Sal]

My friend had a Dickinson stove that never burned properly. He sent it into Dickinson and they said they couldn't get it to work either. He ended up replacing the stove and everything worked great. I found his story a little hard to believe but he swears to it and isn't the type to make things up. I suppose the rare lemons do exist.

You don't say how old the fuel is but diesel will be good for a long time. It should be simple enough to pump out the old fuel and replace it with fresh to test if you think this could be the cause.

Are you getting sufficient fuel flow? Dickinson has a spec for for minimum height the day tank should be installed above the stove (fuel supply pressure) and also one for minimum flue length.

My stove has a plug I can remove to from the fuel line to clean it right where it enters the firepot. I use a gun cleaning brush to do this once a year. The first time I did it there was quite a bit of buildup (PO didn't clean it) but to be truthful I never noticed a difference.

My guess is your problem would most likely be related to fuel flow or flue draft.

[Nord Sal]

Just had a thought, I believe Dickinson stoves are available set up for different fuels, no. 2 diesel, no.1 heating oil and kerosene. Could you be using no. 2 fuel in a stove calibrated for one of the others?

[Trust]

Nord,
The fuel flow seems normal, but is creates a lot of carbon when priming. 5-10 minutes seems in-step with the directions however, though no-one I've talked to seems to have trouble with carbon buildup.

My fuel line also has a port in which to clean carbon out, and it seems like I'm doing it a lot.

JC

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Trust

Hey all,

I have a Dickinson Newport heater and have an interesting issue where it primes we’ll enough, starts, then goes out. Sooting the inside to high heaven.



So I clean, think I’m doing something wrong, and repeat. It’s never burned very well, or more generally- at all. Perhaps the diesel is too old? There is a 2.5 gallon tank dedicated to it.



Are there tricks to keeping soot down? Additives or conditioners for my diesel?



Thanks!

JC

As already noted: What is your flue length? Do you have a barometric damper installed?

http://dickinsonmarine.com/product/s...metric-damper/

Do you have a fuel filter on fuel line? Such as:
http://dickinsonmarine.com/product/filters-regulator/

[Trust]

Pelagia,
I don't have either, actually. The prior owner didn't seem to have any issues with it/ or the flue length.

All the trouble, and I think ultimately, I'd prefer a solid fuel heater. I've got plenty of room for wood!

Anyone in the market for a Newport!?


JC

[Dickinson_Tech]

Hello JC,

Typically if one of our diesel heaters is experiencing inconsistent fuel supply - too much one minute, barely anything the next - the first thing I look at is the oil level in the metering valve (carburetor) and how smooth its operation is.

When old fuel dries on the moving parts inside the valve, their movement becomes sticky, meaning that when the valve is supposed to shut off/open up its fuel inlet it's doing so clumsily, resulting in either too high of an oil level (which gives you too much fuel) or too low of an oil level (which starves the heater of fuel)

The video below shows how to disassemble and clean the seat inside the valve. It's stickiness inside this seat that tends to really mess up the fuel supply. Cleaning the seat will make the mechanism operate smoothly again and return the oil level back to where it should sit.

I recommend performing this little cleaning step at the start of every season or anytime the appliance has sat unused for any significant length of time.

Service your Dickinson valve - in just 5 mins

[Bowdrie]

Re-printing a post of mine concerning Dickinson.
While it is about stoves, the heaters operate on the same principle.

Your not alone, the internet is, and has been replete with dissatisfied operators trying to get a Dickinson to burn properly with the newer formulations of diesel.
I'll try to explain; The stove I have is an older model that used what was called an "R" burner, in which their was a central tube that was screwed into a fitting that was welded at the bottom of the burner pot,, that fitting had female pipe threads.
A small "tripod" shaped superheater device slipped over the tube, and the heat in the burner pot transferred into that vertical tube and would vaporize the fuel.
The rising vapor would exit the tube, and then be directed back down into the bottom of the burner pot with a second tube where it would combust.
I know,, clear as mud, right,,?
Anyway, you probably have the newer model, so I'll focus on that.
The new style burner pot does not have any threads at the bottom, nor any threaded-in vertical tube, the fuel feeds directly into the bottom of the pot, where it would form in a little pool.
The new superheater is this device with vertical fins, and a couple of rings,
and the bottom ring makes contact with the bottom of the pot.
The theory of operation is that the rising heat is captured by the vertical fins, then that heat is transferred to the bottom ring and the bottom of the pot, that heat is supposed to "boil off" the fuel, turning it into a vapor/gas that then ignites.
Dickinson does say that the superheater must have good metal-to-metal contact to work properly,, and if it does, it will work ok, that is, until the new formulations of diesel came along.
Here's the deal, the older, non-bio diesel fuel will vaporize easily in the Dickinson, the fuel with bio content is like trying to vaporize corn oil or butter,, high draft fan, high fuel setting,, and low heat with soot.
The answer that Dickinson came up with is a little tripod shaped decice that sits on top of the soot ring,, it's supposed to re-direct heat back down into the burner pot, to add heat to the fins for transfer into the pool of fuel.
And, it does work,, after a fashion.
Ok, here's where I critique the Dickinson burner assembly,, not for design, but rather in choice of materials, and this is the crux of the matter;
The superheater is made out of Stainless steel.
Stainless steel has very poor heat transfer abilities,, adding the little "deflector" at the top is just a band-aid, and doesn't address the issue of getting enough heat where it's needed.
The superheater needs to be made of heavy gauge brass/copper, something that will REALLY transfer heat,, you must BOIL the fuel off.
With repeated hot/cold/start/stop cycles, copper, unless it's very heavy, will end up becoming "over annealed", and gets weak/easily deformed/bent.
Brass is not as good as copper for heat transmission, but will maintain its physical strength better.
Another issue is that a superheater made from brass/copper cannot be simply and cheaply spot-welded,, it needs to be a good Tig-welded unit, and that adds a lot of cost, both for the base metal, and the fabrication/welding.
So,, that's kind of the bottom line.
I'm still "fiddling around" with better designs, and a friend, (who is a pro welder, and a Dickinson owner,) is working with me.
The goal; To make a "Super" superheater.
Sorry for such a long winded post,,.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Trust

Are there tricks to keeping soot down? Additives or conditioners for my diesel?
Thanks!
JC

Addendum to my above.
To amplify; The problem(s) with the Dickinsons is the Superheater, it simply does not have the surface area, nor the heat transfer ability to fully vaporize the new high-bio content/ultra-low sulphur diesel.
You can get a part from Dickinson that will help, but it's not a total solution by any means.
Now, their is a "trick" of last resort; Whatever the percentage of bio is in the fuel you buy, add that same percentage in Kerosene.
But,, you wouldn't want to run your engine on that mix.
Also, are you using the fan?

[Lepke]

Soot is a sign of too much fuel or too little air in combustion. Too little air can be caused by a too short flue, using a barometric damper when not needed (usually in high winds only), or restricted incoming air.

If the stove uses inside air for combustion, and the vessel is buttoned up tight in the cold, the stove could be having trouble drawing enough air. The air holes in the burn pot could need cleaning or the flue could be sooted up. Using a product like Red Devil will cause the stove to burn hotter and burn out the soot.

The stove will make less soot burning kerosene or #1 diesel. Using a forced draft blower will also eliminate soot.

[Trust]

Thank you all for the thoughts! The flue seems to be in-spec. I intend on mixing kerosene into the day-tank plus red devil to burn out some soot.

Cheers. You’re a beautiful lot of fine people.

JC

[Ardbeg]

I had soot problems with mine. I extended the exhaust chimney to 4 feet as the book says, it solved the problem.

[Cheechako]

I have not found one of those type of diesel heaters to work well at all. The one situation where they work well is to get them burning hot and never turn them off. They just are not a good short use device.
I would think running on kerosene would be fine. ??

[arcticmonkey]

I concur... my stove worked really well on stove oil very little carboning plus it burns a bit hotter

[CarinaPDX]

Your problem could well be from an inadequate chimney. When a Newport is mounted on a bulkhead there is often too short of a chimney if the smoke head is just above deck; the fix is to extend the chimney externally so the smoke head is a foot or two higher. Also, you should have a barometric damper installed; basically it keeps a tall chimney (or a strong wind) from creating too much vacuum in the burner (not your problem now but maybe on occasion with a taller chimney). Everyone with a diesel pot burner should add a temperature cut-off device (Dickinson sells them) as an extra level of protection.

Greg