Kerosene Heater Repair

Kerosene heater is a heating system that is portable and unventilated, which makes it more safe to use. Kerosene heater is also called paraffin heater. It uses kerosene as fuel and has a battery operated or piezoelectric igniter. Risks of any potential accidents reduce, if it is maintained carefully and regularly. The portable kerosene heater is extremely useful, in case of electricity failure or if you wish to heat a particular room instead of heating the whole house. Repairing a faulty kerosene heater is not as difficult as you think. You just need to diagnose the fault correctly.

How to Repair a Faulty Kerosene Heater

A kerosene heater may not work properly due to several reasons. Here are some frequently observed air kerosene heater problems:

• When a kerosene heater causes a bad odor: This indicates that you are using a bad-quality fuel in your heater. The low-quality fuel contains sulfur in greater proportion and it lacks refinement, which results in the incomplete burning of its fuel. This unburnt fuel deposits on the wick, in the form of hydrocarbons, emit strong kerosene odor and cause indoor, air pollution. Always use a good quality fuel (K-1 kerosene), which will not cause the odor. Keep the heater in a ventilated room and adjust its position, in such a way that bottom of the burner unit will be settled on the floor appropriately. Do the wick adjustments carefully.
• Heater does not ignite or ignites, but goes out within few minutes: This is a very common situation, often faced by many people. It indicates that either you are running out of fuel or there is water content in your fuel tank. You can either refill or replace the fuel, depending upon the requirement.
• Heater is working very slowly: This indicates that you need to clean the wick. It even occurs, when the wick gets older. In such a situation, you will have to replace the wick.
• Heater does not ignite at all: Your heater ignition may work properly, after wick cleaning. In many cases, problems in the ignition occurs due to a faulty igniter. Here, replacing the igniter will solve the problem. In the same way, if dead batteries is the problem, you can replace them. Always use non-alkaline batteries as they reduce the risk of blustering of igniter filament.
• Kerosene produces smoke: Sooty, black smoke from the forced air kerosene heater can be a result of low-grade kerosene. If your air or fuel mix switch is turned off, it can also produce such smoke. Do not use any flammable fuels, like gasoline, in the heater.
• The heater cannot be turned off: A hardened wick creates difficulties in the shutting-off process of the heater. The wick hardens because of the carbons and other tar depositions on top of the wick. Low-quality or water-contaminated fuel, often cause this problem. It can be solved by removing the depositions and using a good quality K-1 kerosene.
• Heater produces high flames: Whenever the heater produces high flames, take a look at the wick first and also check if the heater is properly set on the surface. A wick, which is set on high, causes high flames. Unpin or lower the wick, it will solve your problem.

Portable kerosene heater repair should be done very carefully. Consult the heater manufacturer, if necessary. The problem can be easily solved, if you diagnose it correctly. It will save your time as well as efforts.