tatra 813 new owner

[duncan]

Been working on the heater again. Somehow the glowplug is dead now, so getting a new one on monday. Improved the test setup a little. Found 6 deep cycle 105amp/hr batteries in the chemical dump box that were still in good shape. Dont know who scrapped them or why, but thanks

 

[danomano]

Nice find on the Batteries!

Great project!

 

[duncan]

Ive got it to work!

We got a new glowplug cause the old one didnt glow. The new one doesnt either though, something is wrong there. With both the old and new (expensive) plug not working and probably dead by overvoltage....

But wait, the thing is soviet! So, in a stroke of genius, my train of though went:

The glowplug doesnt work.
The plug should be hot so the diesel ignites.
What else is hot...

Fire!

I got a small blowtoch, used it to heat the unit, and some left over diesel started to burn. Then switched on the fuel supply, and the fans, and off she went

 

[John C]

lol - well done pal, they certainly do smoke a little when you first start them, I suppose though it will until the unit gets hot enough to vaporize and burn the fuel properly - I have a diesel fired space heater I use in a workshop which works along similar lines and that is about the same smoke wise when cold. I've not looked at the heater closely yet to know exactly what everything does but it sounds your glow plug is not receiving any juice, perhaps the electrical safety trip is the reason for it?


On a slightly different note; does anyone know where I could get hold of a new canvas for the rear body? - Thanks

 

[southdave]

I have seen an old tug boat, on the Ohio river, it was pre war 2 vintage diesel that was started by heating a bar similar to glow plug with a rosebud before the airstater was engaged. or was it a pony motor. I was 10 there was alot of noise and that is all I ask at the time

 

[cranetruck]

Congrats Duncan!
Have you tested the glow plugs (igniters) separately to see if they are functional?
Also, didn't John C mention that most Russian heaters are gasoline fired (post #629), as you know diesel is a lot harder to vaporize/ignite than gasoline.

Don't think you answered the question I had about the exhaust; how is it separated from the fresh air stream? If there is any trace of exhaust fumes in my heaters, Benmar or Stewart Warner, then there is a failed seal between the combustion chamber and the fresh air flow.

 

[John C]

Hi Bjorn.

I did say the Russian heaters were indeed gasoline fired, however the Tatra is Czech built not Russian and so uses diesel fuel instead.

I should spend some time looking at the heater as I don't really know much about its construction, I can only say though its not really been neccercery for me yet as mine seems to work fine atm.

 

[tatra813]

lol - well done pal, they certainly do smoke a little when you first start them, I suppose though it will until the unit gets hot enough to vaporize and burn the fuel properly - I have a diesel fired space heater I use in a workshop which works along similar lines and that is about the same smoke wise when cold. I've not looked at the heater closely yet to know exactly what everything does but it sounds your glow plug is not receiving any juice, perhaps the electrical safety trip is the reason for it?


On a slightly different note; does anyone know where I could get hold of a new canvas for the rear body? - Thanks

I know a guy in the U.S. with a new factory Tatra rear top. Its very expensive I got one for one of my trucks and truthfully I think a nos military top from a 5 ton american truck is better quality and easy to adapt.

also its tons cheaper. Im getting them for $300 the Tatra top was a couple thousand dollars.

 

[duncan]

Whoa I can buy a complete truck for that!

Congrats Duncan!
Have you tested the glow plugs (igniters) separately to see if they are functional?

Thanks! I dont know how to test the plugs. They're 4 volts and I only have 12 or 24. When I take the tester to the connection ithe plug gets a nice 24 volts though, so Im guessing theres a resistor broken and my plugs have burned out by now. Ow and there is only one glowplug in the heater!

Don't think you answered the question I had about the exhaust; how is it separated from the fresh air stream?

I dont know but Im finding out as we speak. The entire unit is coming apart for a cleanup and repaint.

On a slightly different note; does anyone know where I could get hold of a new canvas for the rear body? - Thanks

Just have one made by a local shop? Any marine equipment or truck dealer should be able to help you out or direct you to someone who can.

 

[vtunimog]

Ive got it to work!

We got a new glowplug cause the old one didnt glow. The new one doesnt either though, something is wrong there. With both the old and new (expensive) plug not working and probably dead by overvoltage....

But wait, the thing is soviet! So, in a stroke of genius, my train of though went:

The glowplug doesnt work.
The plug should be hot so the diesel ignites.
What else is hot...

Fire!

I got a small blowtoch, used it to heat the unit, and some left over diesel started to burn. Then switched on the fuel supply, and the fans, and off she went

Was very smokey at first... when most of it cleared I took this pic It's got the entire workshop nice and warm. Should do the trick for the cabin easily.

Czech Czech - not soviet. lol. I have a Russian heater in my Ural, wow talk about dangerous. From the Asbestos heater lining/insualtion to the heater chamber leaks.

I have yet to see an 813 heater that actually works so congrats !

 

[vtunimog]

Well here's an update from my weekend - been to see the T813 Duncan located for me but have not come home with a new set of keys. There is a lot to think about... in the meantime, here's some pictures:

View attachment 145653
View attachment 145654
View attachment 145655

The overall condition is good, mechanically I can believe the 1100km / 360 hours shown on the dashboard. It certainly runs smoother and quieter than the last one we looked at. It's very complete - all the lights are present with guards, and the running gear all looks very clean.

Unfortunately, the gear linkage was worn or badly adjusted (same as the last one!) so driving it was tricky - you could have reverse, 1st, or 4th. CTIS was also not connected (same again!). It's not road legal, which is a hurdle (and meant we could only drive round the yard). The cab needs a good cleanup, a new cab would probably be the best option but there's no way I'd have the money for that.

The saga continues...

Not a bad looking truck. By any chance is this one of the trucks from the dealer in Denmark? I think his name was Christian. He 20 or 30 trucks. If I recall he wanted to sell them as a package though.

 

[moleary]

Hmmm...good points, however, the crane boom does not have to be stored in "figure 4" position, but may be extended over the container/camper for plenty of space for access on the sides of the crane pedestal....

Wouldn't an storing your crane boom in an extended position also mean extended hydraulic pistons? I would be worried about pitting and rust forming on the polished surfaces. Or am I an idiot?

 

[cranetruck]

Wouldn't an storing your crane boom in an extended position also mean extended hydraulic pistons? I would be worried about pitting and rust forming on the polished surfaces. Or am I an idiot?

The highly polished pistons have a light residual coating of oil after each use and after 15 years, no sign of rust...

 

[duncan]

Don't think you answered the question I had about the exhaust; how is it separated from the fresh air stream? If there is any trace of exhaust fumes in my heaters, Benmar or Stewart Warner, then there is a failed seal between the combustion chamber and the fresh air flow.

Ive taken the unit completely apart now, so I can answer this. There are 2 air systems, completely seperate. There is a fan that blows fresh outside air through the unit, which then comes out hot at the other end. Another fan sucks in air through an intake pipe in the bottom of the unit. This air goes into the combustion chamber, burns, etc, and goes out of the exhaust. The fresh air is heated by flowing past the hot unit.

Czech Czech - not soviet. lol. I have a Russian heater in my Ural, wow talk about dangerous. From the Asbestos heater lining/insualtion to the heater chamber leaks.

I have yet to see an 813 heater that actually works so congrats !

Youre right, they were Commie but not Soviet, sorry.

As far as I've seen now, these heaters are very easy to work on. Just as straight forward as the truck itself.

The highly polished pistons have a light residual coating of oil after each use and after 15 years, no sign of rust...

Ive always learned to store any cylinder, hydraulic, pneumatic, whatever, in a collapsed state. Rust is not your only concern here. Any dirt on the shaft will be forced past the seals when using it, eventually causing leaks. Also when its cold, watch out for ice on the shaft, that will also puncture your seals. Either way, most important is to have the cylinder in a neutral position when storing so there is no pressure on any parts.

I still want one on my truck

 

[cranetruck]

Thanks, Duncan! To take it a little further, does the unit come apart for visual inspection of the combustion chamber, if so, how is it sealed? That seal is a weak spot on the Benmar heater, being exposed to high temperature and not surviving a very long time in storage.
How is the fuel vaporized? On the US heaters, a porous "vaporizer" is saturated and mixed with the air. Two methods of igniting the vaporized fuel, a wick brings fuel to the vicinity of the igniter or the igniter runs right through the vaporizer (Benmar).
Image below shows the seal circled.

 

[duncan]

Right I checked that out for you, from the outside it looks a lot like your unit. Has a seal on that spot as well. I scraped some excess seal from the edge and its some undefineable substance. Looks leak free though. Sorry for the lack of pictures.

 

[duncan]

Also, we've started on new diesel tanks. As I probably mentioned, one of my tanks was left empty for years and thus leaking quite bad. I thought the other tank was fine until I accidentally bumped into it, it sprung a hole right away. Turned it over on its side, it sprung more holes. Right, not gonna work.
New tanks would cost me over $500, a piece, and I'd still be stuck with 0.8mm thin steel that's probably just as old and rusty as my own.
Second option? Build new! Bought some sheet metal (2mm), used the sheet bender to make a tube out of it and weld on the sides. Will cut the filler hole and diesel intake/return connections from the old tanks. The new tanks are a little heavy, but that's well worth it. Not like I'll notice another 100kg of cargo anyway.
Total costs? $200 plus some elbow grease, and some big pieces of usable 2mm sheet to spare. I'm a happy person!

 

[John C]

I like the idea but how about something like this? SCANIA ALLOY FUEL TANK 200LTR WITH BRACKETS on eBay (end time 22-Dec-09 16:33:24 GMT)

I think in the end I personally would be more inclined to just buy one - I'm too lazy to bother making such things.

Dean - How easy are the 5 ton tops to convert?

 

[cranetruck]

Good job on the tank Duncan, you need to think about cleaning slag and other debris from the inside, though. Also a possible coating to keep rust away. I'm using old steel tanks as subs for the original aluminum tanks (long gone and hard to find) on my 8x8 and added a magnetic filter in line to trap any small metal particles...

Thanks for the heater images! I'll take a closer look at those.

 

[duncan]

Aluminum would've gotten too expensive sadly. We can weld it though, so maybe some day... some day.

John: I looked around, but building my own tanks is still cheaper, and it allows me to make them to size. Using a 200litre tank instead of the regular 260's means losing 120 liters total, thus about 200km range.

One thing I'm not sure about is whether I should put a drain plug in the bottom. It's always useful, but makes theft a lot easier. And I cant put a lock on it, it wouldn't last very long being on the bottom of a tatra tank. I'm afraid the lock will either break or never open again due to dirt and rust.