Author Topic: old german drip system, need grates, advice  (Read 23213 times)

stubborn66

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old german drip system, need grates, advice
« on: October 10, 2011, 10:19:00 am »
Hi
I recently got an old style drip heater that that was made in germany, it is probably about 25 years old.  the pump was not working so I cleaned it and go it to work.  I have tried the burner twice so far but I have a few questions maybe someone can help me with.  I dont know anything about the manufacturer except that it is German.  The burner has about a 7 gallon tank on the side of the unit, a two speed pump is located on the bottom of the tank that feeds the drip.  At the bottom of the heater is a thermocoupler that needs to reach about 160F before it allows the pump to come on.  It also has another tube that comes out of the bottom that empties into a small pot.  If that pot become full it presses on another switch that will shut off the pump, I assume that is a safety.  It also has a electrical box, the same as a regular oil furnace, that has a place to wire in a CAD cell and a Thermostat.  Both of those have been jumpered.  It has a cast iron pan that goes in the bottom of the heater that the oil burns in and it has a grate that sits on a ledge about 6 inches above the burn pan.  That grate is round and dome shapes with various holes in it.  Currently that grate is broken but I have enough that I can make a pattern.  After I got the pump working and verified the thermocoupler and safety switch worked I fired it up using old cast flat grates from a grill that I had.  Everything seems to work fine and it shut down twice without a problem.
First Question, how critical is it that I have a dome shaped grate?  I have a few of these flat grates that I can use and the flame seems to be a nice lazy yellow flame with no smoke at all coming out the chimney.
Second question, can I use the thermostat on a system like this?
Thirdly, How often do I need to shut it down and clean it?

stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2011, 01:14:05 pm »
Well, I took a ginder and a wire wheel and thouroughly cleaned the inside and the plates.  I will start using it and see how long it takes to get the dirty again.

Still not sure what to do about the grates, getting a couple made to match the original will cost a few hundred dollars and I am not sure if it is worth it.

Does anyone have a model similar to this or are they all home made on this site?

Thanks

Russ

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2011, 07:49:55 pm »
Greetings Stubborn66,

I think most are working with home made units, or modified residential systems, but maybe as it cools down and the board becomes a little more active, someone will have some ideas for you.

Good luck with your heater!


stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2011, 02:23:23 pm »
Well, I found out this is a KROLL heater, made in Germany in 1979.  It was distributed by a company in NY that no longer handles them.  Kroll is still in buisness and sold through an Australian company.  They actually still make the same unit to this day.  there is no longer any distribution in the US.  The value seems that it will burn may types of oil and is fairly water tolerant.  It is undoubtedly durable given it's age.  The down side is the vaporizing pans need to be cleaned daily.

I have modified a grate to fit as the original did.  I have burnt used motor oil, veggie oil and now even strait Glycerin.  The glycerin needs to be burnt with the pump on high and the valve fully open to keep it hot enough to produce heat and keep the flame going.  The BTU rating is 120K btu at .68gpm.

If anyone has one of these old units I would be interested in spare parts.

Thanks
Tracy


Cmdr. Ron

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2012, 05:25:24 pm »
That be a really great find ya got there, STUBBORN66.

A 7-Gallon tank in the heat?  Cool.
  1 cu ft = 7.48 gallons
I agree with your supposin' 'bout the safeties.  There be a ton of good reasoning there.
 That switch in the second pot - is that a float switch of some sort?
 I likes the thermocouple to on/off the pump.
  Can you tell anything about the relay to which it would connect?
 Would you share the rough dimensions of the cast iron burner pan in the bottom?
 What's the fuel consumption on that puppy?

Thanks
Shalom!
Cmdr. Ron

stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2013, 11:54:44 am »
Hi Ron,
i just stopped by here again today and saw you response to my earlier post.
Well I am on my second year with this heater and I am loving it!  I had to rebuild the pump motor and make grates for the flame deflection but other than that it works great with no issues.  The last year I heated my shop with fuel oil I spent $3500.00 in oil, last year I may have burnt 50 gallons of regular fuel!
This year I replaced the old hot air oil furnace with a commercial Gas hot air furnace that hangs from the ceiling as my back up and freed up more floor space in the shop too.
To answer some of your questions,
yes that little drip pot is positioned over a pressure switch so if the oil back feeds it will shut the pump down.
The thermocoupler is a good idea too, I actually stopped burning the glycerin because the temp would drop too low and shut the pump off.  The thormocoupler is set at 160F, located at ethe bottom of the fire chamber and is connected to the power supply of the pump, it does not complete the circuit until the thermocoupler see 160.
There is also a regular control box located on the side of the unit that you would normally see on an regual oil gun. I was not sure what was for.  I learned that the unit originally came with a Cad Cell that was positioned at the top of the burner but the original owner did away with it because it would often get enough soot on it to falsly shut down the pump.
The burner pans are about 13 inches in diameter.
Burns just under a half a gallon and hour on low and just under 3/4 gallons an hour on high.  I can get about 12 hours on a tank full
The cleanest burning oil is the used vegetabel oil, I can go for three days before I need to shut won to clean pans, with waste oil I shut down and clean once per day.
Great little unit, When the time comes I will probably get the "eliminator" as the replacement for this unit.  It has a thermostat that will help reduce the oil consumption. 

doug

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2013, 07:05:51 pm »
stubborn66,

Your "old german drip system" is that an original drip waste oil heater or was it a drip fuel oil system?

doug
You can't put it on the internet if it isn't true!

http://wasteoilheaterforum.com/index.php?topic=102.0

stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2013, 07:47:44 pm »
It was originally intended for waste oil.  The brand name is Kroll and they are still made and sold in Germany and Australia

doug

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2013, 08:46:18 am »
stubborn66,

Is this what your Kroll heater looks like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5p94mFeGI
You can't put it on the internet if it isn't true!

http://wasteoilheaterforum.com/index.php?topic=102.0

stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2013, 10:37:14 am »
That is the one, and mine was built back in the 70 and still going

doug

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2013, 11:29:20 am »
You can't put it on the internet if it isn't true!

http://wasteoilheaterforum.com/index.php?topic=102.0

stubborn66

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2013, 02:09:08 pm »
Thanks

Russ

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Re: old german drip system, need grates, advice
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2013, 09:28:37 pm »
Just in case that link ever quits working, I have attached it to this post.