Today I finally decided to do my own maintenance on my AH. I don't know why I was so scared to take this on. I have built 1000 hp engines from ground up, removed and installed motors in boats, rebuilt outdrives, and rebuilt transmissions, and taken a wrecked boat and rebuilt it.
I have noticed that it has started to smell when running so figured it was time for me to get my hands dirty. I have not been a Youtube guy that watches a video before I dig in but this time I did.
When I went to change the fuel filter it must have been put on by a gorilla. I had to take my large strap wrench to get enough leverage on the filter and use a big crescent wrench on the older to keep from breaking it off the wall. The filter was all dented up by the time I got it loose.
Rest of the tear down, clean up, and replace of the nozzle went good. When I got to the part of taking the spark probe template and checking to make sure the probes were in the correct locations is where I came to my first real problem. As you can see in the picture the probes are no were close to where the template says they should be. The template looked like it was bent out of shape a little bit but I do not think it could be causing me to be that far off. Since the unit has been running great I decided to go and put it back together with where they were at. Once together started unit up and started right up and was working perfect.
I am about 1" low of the cold mark. What is the boiler fluid that I should be putting in this? I have read all different kinds and not sure what I should get.
Anyone have an idea why the probes show to be way off?
I would go with the template.
Proper location of ignitor points is right in the "Vs" of the gap gauge.
Coolant fluid is GRAS boiler fluid. If concentrate is purchased, dilute 50/50 with distilled water. Concentrate freezes at -100. Only Century brand is diluted.
If needing to top off overflow tank, just use distilled water
Any Idea why they are so far off?
What smell were you smelling when it was running?
No idea of why someone set them that far off. I check the gap on every burner service and just usually make minor adjustments to center them right in the Vs.
Wife says I can't smell $###. Before last week I could not smell the exhaust. I keep the coach in a 2,500 sq ft building and run the AH while in the building. When I ran it last week for it's by weekly run it did not smoke at all but had a smell like an old car that had bad rings. It was way over due for the service and nozzle replacement .
Rudy is the man on all this, but I "assume" ignitor tips only spark during starting phase. So, tip misalignment wouldn't impact burner performance once lit, eg, smoke/smell? Pump pressure, air mixture and injector tip condition would seem to be the keys to burner performance. With the cold snap coming to south Texas, I was thinking about all things AH. I stumbled on a post in another forum--basic issue was: "will AH pumps run if thermo including basement, call for heat but burner and electric circuits are turned off?" Reason I was interested is because there are times when basement thermo setting might call for heat but I might have the burner and electric circuits shut off for storage. With no heat available, would basement pump circuit run continuously? I am thinking the answer is: yes!
The pump would run, but not the diesel or electric, so no heat to the bay.
Hey RT--that is exactly my concern. Agree, it would take a specific set of circumstances, but if you have the AH turned off and ambient temps drop below the basement manual thermo setting, the basement heater fan and circulation pump would run continuously until ambient temps again rose above the thermo setting. Depending on circumstances, the pump and fan could run needlessly for hours.
Scout,
Several, including myself have installed a switch in the line to keep this from happening when in storage. If the thermostat for the basement had an actual off position, then no switch would be needed.
Mike
I am not sure, but it is my understanding that if the bathroom thermostat is off, the basement thermostat is off. Therefore it should not call for heat.
Wrong, sorry
It's not the first time....
As per Rudy to prevent the fans coming on at all in the bay I removed two fuses (4 and 5. I think) in AH. I have not checked but I presume this would render the fans in the coach u/s as well