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Shop heat

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I am looking to install a used waste engine oil heater in my shop. Have any of yall ever dealt with these? I have plenty of used oil available (we service forklifts and heavy equipment) and can get more from a neighbor if necessary. I also have a good air compressor, 3-phase power and tanks for collecting and filtering the oil. Anything I should be aware of? Any recommendations? The one I am looking at is 350,000 BTU and is only the heater. It is a "Reznor" brand and will need the transfer pump and lines, air regulator and lines, the storage tank (which I have) and the thermostat. It will also need the exhaust and hangers and will have to be wired, which I can do.

What do yall think?

Thanks, John
 
I manage a large carwash next door to a quick lube. We use 2 Clean Burn brand 350k btu units (stacked) to heat most of our hot water. I can't complain too much about these units, but you will have to educate yourself on how they work or plan on paying for service calls. They are not a "set it and forget it" piece of equipment for sure.



Main things to watch for are:

-Plan on cleaning the ash and soot out about every 800-1000 hours. (not fun)

-Plan on changing or cleaning the flame sensor eyes and oil nozzle periodically

-Make sure your oil supply is dry and free of antifreeze or it will cause all kinds of problems

-Make sure you have a high quality pre filter setup to avoid nozzle plugging issues

-You may have to install some type of damper or such to provide makeup air to your shop - they will not function well without this.



If the settings get messed up, our units will roll black smoke out the stack. This provided some concern to the fine members of the local fire department a time or two. Plan on watching them for a few seconds every day to make sure everything is right.



They each run on their own 20 amp breaker, and air usage is not that great. They only have 1/8" line running to them. It sounds like you are fine for power and air needs. The two units can burn about 5 gal per hour running wide open.
 
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My son has been heating his auto repair shop for several years with a "Black Gold" system (I think they have since changed names but you can find them via a google search).

He had to add a draft inducer, but other than that it's been pretty much trouble free, other than having to cleane the intake screen a few times each winter.

Oil storage is his big issue... his tanks are full by august, then he's hunting oil in February.
 
Thanks for your opinions and experience, guys. MLimpert, your oil consumption sounds about in line with what I have read. I saw that a 350,000 BTU unit will take 2. 5 gallons an hour to run. I have heard cleaning is a bear, but also heard that the cleaner the oil, the less troubles will occur. Much of our oil (probably half) comes out of propane powered forklifts and that stuff stays amazingly clean. I will set up a good filtering system also. Thanks for the help again and keep any more advice coming.

JLeonard, the brand I have found is a "Reznor". We had a natural gas one by that brand at our former family business and it worked well for years with no problems. I found this one at what appears to be a bargain because the guy ran into the same problem you did: could not keep enough oil to feed it. He swapped to natural gas and now is getting rid of the oil heater. I should not have this problem, as I have a good supply through our shop and have several customers I can turn to if necessary.

Thanks again for the info.

John
 
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