Beckett Burner queston

[CBhaydare 14]

First off Hello to everyone! I have been scrolling around on here reading for the past couple of nights. Now It's time to post...

I think I meant questIon :o

I have a Beckett Burner AFG model with a F6 head. this thing had been sitting out in a barn and the weather for who knows how long. I took it completely apart, cleaned everything, bought a new suntec pump and solenoid, had the transformer tested, it tested strong.

tried it out today and it ignites and burns but I have a little bit of blue smoke and fuel that isn't getting burnt. like it may have to much fuel pressure? I downloaded Beckett's PDF document for this model, but are the adjustments the same for use on a pressure washer coil as it would be for residential use? My pump is an AR and 4gpm, would I need to change the nozzle on the burner to increase the btu's for heating 4GPM?

I will have to look at it and see what nozzle is in it now, I think it was a 1.50gph x90

and the pressure setting from Beckett was 120psi

I haven't put a gauge on it to see what the psi is set at yet.

Thanks

Brian

Edited May 21, 2010 by CBhaydare

[Jerry 24]

Good job so far !

you are meticulous, and we can be very productive with your summary !

you will need that pressure guage, for sure, but you're not far from up and running..

You're right.. too much fuel, OR not enough air..

If the air bands are most of the way open, your fuel pressure is probably too high.

If the airbands are half-way open (or less,).. open them a bit, and the smoke should clean up.

Unless. there is, in fact too much fuel pressure.. Where is that guage ??

..EVERY diesel burner should have a guage, to quickly eliminate downtime,

and to monitor the system is the first place. Eh?

Anyway..

Check the EASIEST things first, but..

Be aware of the possibilities..

fuel pump out of adjustment,

burner nozzle worn,

low voltage to the burner assembly,

burner motor failing (turning too slow), etc.

Here's a good one..

There's a cover (baffle)-plate welded to the underside of the coil-center in the burner chamber..

IF it has burned through (or fallen-off), the fire-flames come-up the center of the coil,

allowing the normally ball-shaped fire-ball to become oblong, burning less efficiently.

Don't go taking the coil apart, 'til you've checked the easy stuff. Eh?

Let us know what you see next..

you'll get lots of help on this forum.

By the way,, you'll probably want to go up to a 2.0gph burner nozzle

AFTER you prove you have the original problem fixed.

Edited May 21, 2010 by Jerry
sp.

[CBhaydare 14]

Thank you Jerry!

I don't have a gauge yet, this might be a dumb question but, Can you get a gauge from an auto parts store? If they carry one that is rated for a high enough pressure?

I already had the coil and all apart, this hole coil/burner setup was some old unit I bought for $40. from a guy, for a unit I'm building. The center plate is still there, the welds were cracked but I re-welded them. Sandblasted the coil and need to pressure test it still.

I will check the air bands, I think I had them all the way open, should they be choked down a bit?

The nozzle maybe worn, should it be shooting out a stream when it first comes on before it fires, or should it be a fine mist? Then again I guess if the pressure is incorrect, there's no way of knowing until I get it adjusted to the correct psi.

Thanks again

Brian

[Chris Tharpe 40]

PSI gauge's can be found everywhere even parts stores if you need a quick fix. We get ours from grainger or Parker and they are fairly cheap. Easy to install and the pressure should read up to 250-300 psi and your covered incase of fault. most burners are set to 140-200psi range and if you need more fuel change out to a larger nozzle instead of upping the pressure over 200.

[Jerry 24]

Good call on guage availablity, but

I avoid allowing a heater to run over 140psi,

as the fire-ball changes shape (the wrong way). ..fatter is better.

Airband adjustment should NEVER be all-open, as it can "blow-out" the spark,

and push the fuel-spray into the coil before it is all burned..

.. same problem as too much fuel pressure.

about replacing the nozzle.. like in the Nike ads.. "just do it"

[CBhaydare 14]

I put a gauge on it today and it was at 140psi, so I dropped it down to the 120psi that is on the burner rating for the nozzle that is in it right now. I ordered a 2.0gph nozzle through Grainger, I have an account there so it was the easiest.

I adjusted the air bands down to about halfway open, and adjusted the electrodes to 1/8" apart, 1/8" from face of nozzle, and about 3/8" from center of nozzle.

It seems to burn better and not smoke, but I am still having fuel spay that doesn't seem to be burning.

I started thinking and I think it maybe the way I have it hooked up right now for testing it. What I have is, it is sitting on my shop table as you can see in my avatar pic, I wired a extension cord to, blower, transformer, and solenoid. So my opinion of why I am having fuel that is squirting out, (before it fires and after i cut the power) is because everything is coming on and going off at the same time. So the pump is pumping fuel right away and still pumps it as long as the blower motor free spins until it stops after cutting the power. But the electrodes are not sparking so it is not burning that last bit of fuel.

So when set up with a flow switch, you turn the power on to the blower, and transformer, then when the trigger is pressed on the wand the flow switch opens and sends power to the solenoid and feeds the fuel. When you kill it the fuel flow is stopped before the electrodes stop sparking, and all fuel is burnt...?

Is that correct?

Thanks for all the help guys

Brian

[Jerry 24]

U R A good student !! you get A+ !

Firing on the bench, with NO back-pressure from the coil, makes the burn very inefficient..

in fact, the fire is completely different.

If you have it firing as well as you describe, it's "ready to fly", but..

You will have to adjust the air-bands again when it is installed.

the goal, is the "perfect burn"..

Open the air-bands only enough to get a "clean burn"..

NO more air than that, or you risk "blowing out" the spark you need for reliability.

If you need any other info, schematics, safety & reliability suggestions,

I will be glad to help.

[CBhaydare 14]

Thank you very much Jerry! you have been very helpful!

I have a couple more questions,

1. is there something I can use from house hold products, or something easy to get locally to flush my coil out with?

2. This was a vertical mount coil/burner, both the ports come out the bottom of it, would it be a bad idea to turn this in to a horizontal mount burner? I'm able to fabricate all new housing for it, but I don't want to weaken it's heating capability.

Thank you

[Jerry 24]

Brian,

there is a GREAT descale acid for safely blasting the rust away..

and circulates through your pump safely.

I have been using it in our service dept for over 25 years.

It can ship as NON-hazardous, so freight is cheep..

10 lbs containers and 50 lbs boxes too.

5 lbs can descale a coil in about 2 hours !

also available.. a kit that converts a 5 gl pail into a descale bucket, with filters.

The same acid removes stains fron Concrete stains better and safer

than anything else I've seen. Period.

About the heater position.. horizontal keeps rain out of the electrode assemby.

It has a lower profile for parking garages, but it rusts on it's side.

Vertical has a smaller footprint, is easier to change coil,

but it gets rain down it's throat when you'r not lookin'.

You decide.

Either way, you need controls..

ours yields an average "coil life-span" of 12 to 15 years.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Jerry
sp

[CBhaydare 14]

When you say controls, I take it you mean, flow switch, or pressure switch, and thermostat?

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Being a verticle mount I would say it was a good choice to reweld that baffle. When they or pieces thereof fall they can block or divert the fire and just about burn a hole right through the side. In some cases such can cause sporadic sparking/fire and cause an actual fire from unburnt fuel even if it's all wired proper to only have solinoid power while electroid fires (daisy chain/series wired versus parallel wired). That's what mine did anyways. Great reason for mounting washers in open trailor or all metal trailer if ya ask me..

Oh and I converted mine to run via pressure switch/pressure unloader as the old setup was unreliable and not condusive to other mods of dual machining, etc.

Edited May 23, 2010 by MMI Enterprises

[CBhaydare 14]

I'm wiring mine with a flow switch, and thermostat in a series. copying a Landa wiring diagram, good or bad?

[Jerry 24]

Landa's schematic is "fine".. but..

I always add indicator lights at the temp controls, and flow switch.

I use fuses to protect everything.. control circuit, HV, Blower-motor,

even the engine's charging system gets it's own fuse.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Jerry

[CBhaydare 14]

Yea I was thinking of adding fusses, resets, or even a circuit breaker, only makes since in case of a short or overload, you don't burn something up. I want a temp gauge also but, I can't seem to find any that don't have a 3" probe on them and I feel like that would reduce my volume?

[Jerry 24]

"Some of us" sell the temp guages

with a Hi-Pressure Tee-coupler to allow direct immersion,

with NO flow restriction.

Circuit breaker at the battery connection to the heater system is good,

it also protects the burner motor too.

Curcuit breaker on the charging system is cool,

but for insurance on everything else..

I like standard fuses (that are easy to find in a pinch,)

and are more accurate in circuit protection.

My formal education was in Electrical Engineering,

so I'm a bit more than meticulous about these things..

..You won't see "smoke rising" from one of my electrical systems, ever.

..but you might need a fuse, on a really hot day...

That reminds me.. I got a call from a customer I hadn't heard from in several years..

He just wanted to say "thanks, for the spare fuses" we (usually) throw-in

to the control box of our heaters.

I love my job.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Jerry
sp