Artic heater help

[Bigdog123]

I have a question about the Artic heater. Where can I find parts for them? Mine has 2 studs on it that has wires on them. underneath the studs looks like a metal strip connecting the studs together. That piece of metal is broken in half and now the heater does not work. looks like it made contact with the metal case and burnt in two. Sorry i do not have pisc but i am in Afghanistan coming home in December and want to get the heater fixed as it gets cold in Upstate New York. Any ideas out there as where to get parts for these things?

 

[Darwin T]

is it a arctic fuel burning cab heater or an arctic fuel burning box heater for an M109a3? i have one of each new in the box for my truck and "NO" you can not have mine. but i may be able to find the part number and keep an eye out for one of you very own!

 

[m-35tom]

sounds like the thermo switch on the side. should be available from someone like grainger with numbers from the old switch. i have found parts for the heaters are just not available.

tom

 

[jwaller]

you can find complete heaters on ebay. I have 4 heaters that are being parted out so get me a picture of it and I can prob get you one.

 

[Bigdog123]

Still looking for the overload protrection on this heater. Any assistance would be great. I'm back in the states and will post pics tomorrow.

 

[Bigdog123]

you can find complete heaters on ebay. I have 4 heaters that are being parted out so get me a picture of it and I can prob get you one.

Are you still parting out the heaters?

 

[Bigdog123]

It's cold and I really could use some heater help. Here is pics of what I need. Any help would be awesome

 

[m-35tom]

that is a safety switch. it is normally closed and opens when the heater temp rises past a set point. you could just bypass it until you find one. you might want to consider replacing it with a newer style as i boubt you will find that one. grainger sells limit switches in the newer round style.

tom

 

[Bigdog123]

Thanks Tom,
I tried to bypass it the heater runs in start but the light never comes on and will not run in the run position. Any ideas?????

 

[m-35tom]

did the heater work before? does it actually start but not switch to run? there can be many problems and you may need the manual for that heater to solve them.

tom

 

[Bigdog123]

The heater used to work but then the circuit breaker in the cab switch started to pop. I took it apart and discovered that metallic. Strip was shorted out. Now the heater goes to the start position heats up but will not switch to run (the light never comes on). The heater. Is getting hot but not cycling to the run position. Any ideas would be helpful

 

[cranetruck]

Thanks Tom,
I tried to bypass it the heater runs in start but the light never comes on and will not run in the run position. Any ideas?????

Do you have any exhaust when you try to start it?
Keep in mind that it may take over 60 seconds to get it running. Do you have the Stewart Warner or the Benmar unit? In any case, fuel must be atomized and ignited by the glow type heating element.
I can help you along if you give me some info to work with.

 

[Bigdog123]

I have the Stweart Warrner model. It gets hot so much you don't want to touch it and smoke comes out the exhaust as well as when you turn it. Off through the vents. I was wondering if the metal is closed till it hits temp then opens to allow it to. Know it's ok to got to run and when you bypass it it does not tell it it is hot enough to go to run???

 

[cranetruck]

I have the Stweart Warrner model. It gets hot so much you don't want to touch it and smoke comes out the exhaust as well as when you turn it. Off through the vents. I was wondering if the metal is closed till it hits temp then opens to allow it to. Know it's ok to got to run and when you bypass it it does not tell it it is hot enough to go to run???

The device responsible for switching on the pilot light on the control box is the flame detector switch shown in the image below.
When the light comes on, you must flip the start switch from "START" to "RUN" without hesitation (if you let it stay in the "OFF" position for any length of time, the fuel pump will shut off).

This heater relies on a wick for igniting. This wick soaks up fuel and brings it to the igniter, which is not unlike the cigarette lighter in your car. The igniter glows red hot and will start a small flame, which in turn ignites the atomized fuel in the combustion chamber.
The calibration of the fuel control valve is important and should be about 15cc/min in "LO". If too much fuel is supplied, the wick may not ignite. The "HI" mode of operation is locked out during "START".
So, if too much fuel is supplied, the heater will not ignite, but fuel will begin to fill the combustion chamber and may create a situation later if not removed. You will have smoke from the exhaust even if there is no flame.
The normal shut-down procedure includes a run time without the fuel pump running, so that any excess fuel will burn off. Any time the heater is turned off after a failed start, fuel will remain in the combustion chamber and should be removed. The TM will tell you not to try to start the heater more than 2 or 3 times for this reason.

At this point, I'd suggest that the calibration of the fuel control valve is checked...

 

[Bigdog123]

While in the start position I get smoke that we talked about but when I let go of the start switch I hear a "Poof" like the flame is going out I turn it back to start I hear it "poof" again so I believe it is fireing "creating a flame" the back side of the heater (Towards the Cab) gets ver hot (too hot to Touch) so I think it is flaming but the light never comes on to swithch it to run. Like I said it was working then stopped and I found the overload grounded out to the heater chassis so I corrected that now it will operate in start but not go to run. I'm a little lost in this right now.

 

[m-35tom]

since it starts and gets hot, it must be working up to the point of switching to the run mode. since yours has a start and run position, it is an old design, but the flame switch ( a micro switch with a quartz glass rod ) should register the heat and operate the micro switch. if you carefully operate the micro swich manually the light should come on. if it does, loosen the adjusting nut and then tighten it until you hear a click from the switch. then turn it an additional 1/2 turn. it is also quite possibly, even likely, that the shorted limit switch damaged the switch contacts in the control box.

tom

 

[Bigdog123]

This thing is really getting frustrating. Since I messed with the micro switch ( took it out and put it back. In). The light now comes on in the start position and you can hear the fan run but will not fire up anymore. I really do not know where to go from here. Any ideas on how to get it to fire again. I messed with it for about an hour with no luck. I do not have a garage that it will fit into. It's 10 degrees here and pretty cold to be messing with the heater. No Joy to be found. Right now.

 

[m-35tom]

when the light comes on, the heater thinks it is hot and burning. the glass rod expands when hot and pushes the switch lever. so if the light is on when cold as in starting, it must need adjusting.

since you had the unit (flame detector) out it could easily now need adjusting as it is fairly sensitive to any moving.

when the light is on in the start position, but the heater is cold, then tighten the adjusting nut until you hear the switch click, then 1/2 more turn. this is now in the cold range of the flame detector and when it fires up and gets hot the light should come on. then you should be able to switch to the run setting.

tom

 

[cranetruck]

I have the Stweart Warrner model. It gets hot so much you don't want to touch it and smoke comes out the exhaust as well as when you turn it. Off through the vents. I was wondering if the metal is closed till it hits temp then opens to allow it to. Know it's ok to got to run and when you bypass it it does not tell it it is hot enough to go to run???

Any progress on this?
There may be a procedural problem here also, it takes a while for the heater to get going on its own (=flame detector transferring operation to the heater and turns on the pilot light).
You will hear the flame after about 30-45 seconds, but keep the switch in "START" a little longer for the detector to react, perhaps another 30 seconds at which time the pilot light should come on and you will need to flip the switch to "RUN".
The overheat switch has a protective function and the housing would have to be very hot for it to open, perhaps 275°F or so. The unit can overheat if the air flow is blocked, for example.

Edit: The flame switch calibration is critical as pointed out by Tom above, a 1/4 turn can make the difference between a running and a non-running heater. If the switch transfers too early, then the combustion may terminate after a short while since it wasn't hot enough to sustain itself without the glow starter.
Turning the adjustment screw clockwise will delay transfer...

 

[blackhueys]

not to hi jack a thread but cranetruck or anyone else that can help me out do you have any of the tm numbers for these heaters? Or a Download of the TMs