Frederick Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 With the house came an Amsta POELES A MAZOUT heater ...a big brown convector type with oil container and burner...it is quite new and in the outhouse is two 40 gallon drums of red fuel for it. I havent a clue how to light it and no instructiions as to how to use it . so would appreciate it if sombody who has used one can explain what you do with it ...Its shown on sites still by providers of this AMSTA heater but I cant find any instructions as to use .....only price etc . I have never seen anything like it in the UK . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Nearly all this type of heater operates in the same way.The oil drip-feeds, via a control valve, which is set by a heat control, marked in graduated numbers, lowest being 1 and 0 being off.On top of the control vale should be a small lever which turns the oil on and off. The oil is fed by gravity, via the valve into the burner.First and most important step is to check inside the burner bowl and see if it is carboned. If so, first step is to clean this out. It is a filthy job: rubber gloves and an old vacuum which you keep for this job only!If the heater hasn't been used for some time, clean out the filter, which normally sits at the bottom of the valve.Set the heat control to mid-way and turn on the small on/off valve.Wait for a few minutes and using a torch, probably, look to see that the bottom of the burner bowl is wet all over. DO NOT ALLOW TOO MUCH oil into the bowl!Once the bottom of the burner bowl is is wet all over, soak the end of a piece of kitchen roll ( I find this the best way: simply dip it into the tank once I have filled it) in oil, chuck it into the bottom of the bowl, drop a match onto it and close the door.The flame will burn yellow, tinged with black and after the burner heats up it will turn blue.Once the flame is blue, then the heat can be regulated using the control: setting it low will make the flame burn yellowish, with the odd blue bits. Setting it medium to high will always result in a blue flame.This type of heater is very effective, but messy to clean and is very thirsty.If you keep it topped up, however, it will run for weeks in cold periods and provide loads of heat. We even cook on our Deville; it has a cast iron top plate which is ideal for slow cooking casseroles etc in Winter.If you are not confident about cleaning and servicing the filter, call in a qualified Chaufaugiste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Thank you Gluestick ....that helps a lot .....I noticed the bowl has holes right round it so far up .so I take it the fuel vaporises then you get a ring of flame round the bowl when you have heated the fuel on starting it with the fuel soaked kitchem roll .....makes sense now......The bowl was not carboned up so I dont think its been used much at all......very grateful to you ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Yes, quite right, Frederick.They either tend to have fixed rings or like ours, a cast plate in two bits which is removable. And as you say, when burning blue, you get a ring of blue flames through the plate/s.One other service comment I forgot (brain's dead today, far too much work on!): you should find at the bottom of the burner bowl where the feed pipe goes in, some sort of "Plunger", which you can push and pull and twist. This is used to clear out the jet inlet if the oil isn't feeding properly, which is normally caused by excessive carbon build-up on the inside.Forgot to say earlier, the principle is actually quite common. Years ago in the UK we used to use Salamander Space Heaters, which were simply a large round tank, with a chimney, used by farmers, garages (us!) etc. You filled the bottom with paraffin, diesel or even waste oil and away it went.Very dangerous if not de-carboned, as the chimney (which simply sat on the top) used to launch up like a space probe, with a loud thud when you turned it off and all the dampers were shut down! Insurance companies didn't like them: don't know why?[:D]Used to frighten the apprentice very sucessfully! [6]Also same principle used in house space heaters and still apparently used by the US military in temporary huts here and there. Used to be common in Canada and the USA for "Log Cabins". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Thanks again for all the information...Gluestick..... .I have a sack full of flu piping to go with it ..... now I know what to do one day it might well be all connected up and we get "lift off "....I shall just have to see that my wife is not about when I light it the first time the expression "having kittens " comes to mind ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWINKLE Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Amsta oil for heaters?Well that is SO cruel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Dunno Twinks, perhaps you've just dicovered the first real use for a hamster? Good thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 [quote user="TWINKLE"]Amsta oil for heaters?Well that is SO cruel![/quote]Interesting line of thought you have started here, Twinkle. Is it Oil from 'Amsters? Or it could be construed as oil heaters for keeping 'Amsters warm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 I think Twinks meant that you could burn them to fire the heater, not a bad idea if you could get them to breed fast enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Ummmmmmmmm a sort of self re-generating mazout. What a nice concept! Or should I have said "mice concept"? groan............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now