maintaining and servicing poêles à pétrole

[mint]

Can someone tell me, apart from keeping the back vents clean and clear of fluff, what else do you have to do to maintain these things?

[mint]

JohnRoss, you MUST know the answer to this one?[:)]

[Gluestick]

Doers it have a wick, Sweets?

Or is it wickless?

There are a number of different types.

[Quillan]

The 'electronic' heaters use injectors which I have seen for sale on ebay.fr. Basically they are all made by the same company (Zibro) then badged for different importers (Webber, Stover, Tectro, Heator, Toyostove and others depending on model). Model numbers and display panels may differ depending on particular model but the 'electronics' and error codes are the same.

The only 'user' service functions approved by the manufacturer is cleaning the two filters. The big problem comes when they go wrong in finding somebody to fix them. You can contact the main importer, the details are below.:

PVG France SARL

4, Rue Jean Sibélius

B.P. 185

76410 SOTTEVILLE SOUS LE VAL

tel: +33 2 32 96 07 47

fax: +33 0 820 34 64 84

email: [email protected]

[mint]

Thank you for your answers.  They are "wickless", Gluey.

They are the ones that Q has described.  There's nothing wrong with them at the moment.  It's just that with the cold weather now upon us, OH thought that perhaps they should be "attended to" in some way.

[crossy67]

[quote user="sweet 17"]JohnRoss, you MUST know the answer to this one?[:)][/quote]

John Ross, not an ex Snap On man by any chance?

[mint]

What's a Snap On man, Crossy?  Sorry, my knowledge of colloquial English isn't what it might be![:(]

Perhaps JR will notice this post and come on and make contact.....

[crossy67]

lol.

Sells Snap On tools.

[Gluestick]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

What's a Snap On man, Crossy? 

[/quote]

Best mechanic's hand-tools in the World, Sweets.

Mega expensive: I have quite a few.

They used to be only sold direct to the user (Usually garages, aircraft engineers on ground maintenance) by franchised agents.

Now they can be purchased online.

[mint]

Well, now that OH has found one of the tanks leaking, he reckons that he needs a snap on washer and has driven into the nearest town to get one!

How you two make me laugh.....I guess a man and his tool (snap on or otherwise) is seldom separated?

[Quillan]

If it's the 'cap' that goes on the fuel canister then they are readily available, you can also buy them from various places on the Internet.

[mint]

It's not the yellow cap, Q, it's the washer thingy that lives inside the bottom spout.

[CeeJay]

We have two of these things, used on Tempo red days, but they are infuriating because they continually close down and showing the message CO2. We have even resorted to putting them on a small plinth but that seems to make no difference. I wonder if there is any adjustment anywhere.

Is this a common problem and what might be the answer?

[mint]

I don't understand, CeeJay, ours go fine.  Belt out the heat, quiet, efficient, all the things that one could wish for.  We wait for the paraffin to be on promo and then, it's all hunky dory.

[Quillan]

[quote user="sweet 17"]It's not the yellow cap, Q, it's the washer thingy that lives inside the bottom spout.[/quote]

Sorry crossed lines. When you take out the fuel cartridge you turn it upside down and remove the cap, you file the cartridge with paraffin, replace the cap then put it back in the heater the right way up with the cap at the bottom. The cap is made of metal and actually regulates the paraffin coming out of the cartridge, these caps can be bought from most places as a spar as they are the same for many types of paraffin heater including the non-electronic ones.

[Quillan]

[quote user="CeeJay"]We have two of these things, used on Tempo red days, but they are infuriating because they continually close down and showing the message CO2. We have even resorted to putting them on a small plinth but that seems to make no difference. I wonder if there is any adjustment anywhere.
Is this a common problem and what might be the answer?
[/quote]

You need to keep the back about 1M away from any wall or obstruction and have nothing in front of it. It will also produce this alarm if you are in a very small room like a toilet and leave it on for a long time.

[Chancer]

Where I am working it is at 1 degree each morning so I use my propane space heater, the problem is the two studios are now well insulated and the temp quickly reaches 10 - 12 degrees, I then have to turn off the heater as I am too hot as a consequence of all the thermal layers I wear.

I have bodged on an adjustable detendeur but the propane heater cannot be turned down low enough to maintain the temp without cutting out so I am constantly turning it on an off and being either too hot or too cold, the poêle à pétrole sound like it might do the job.

So I have a few questions about these things.

How much do they cost?

How many Kwatts do they kick out?

Can they be turned down low?

[Quillan]

They are temperature controlled down to 14 deg. We set them at 20 deg and when they get there we turn them down to 16 deg because in 'tick over' mode they still produce 0.8kw. They burn on average 5ltr over 24 hours or so of being on. They have a C02 sensor plus a 'knock' sensor so if you kick it by accident it goes off. They also have a timer. Don't bother getting the expensive non smelling paraffin because there is no smell when running anyway, just when you turn them on and off and then for just a couple of minutes. We pay about 15 to 16 Euros for 20 ltrs of fuel. A few of us have them and when we spot a place selling the fuel cheap we let each other know. One big advantage over your gas heaters is that there is little or no condensation with them which was the original reason why we bought one. We were so impressed we now own three plus an old style non-electronic version in case of power failure. Anyone I have told them about have always thanked me profusely for introducing these heaters to them so trust me, you won't be disappointed. Oh, just to add they come with a 2 or 3 year warranty, mine are 10 years old, one has failed because the cat did a piddle on it.

They all start at 3kw max output going to 5.5kw with prices from 190 to 999 Euros, you will find the 3kw quite sufficient I suspect. In fact its cheaper to buy two 3kw heaters than 1 5.5kw plus you get an extra 0.5kw. There is a link below so you can have a look yourself.

http://www.leroymerlin.fr/mpng2-front/pre?zone=zonecatalogue&idLSPub=1047462447&renderall=on

 

[Chancer]

Thanks Quillan, they aint donné are they?

Mind you I can see that they are a world apart from the wick ones, I think I still have one of those kicking around somewhere.

Interesting about the condensation, I dont get any with the gas space heater, one of the garage types with a fan blown flame but it may well be just because the place is well insulated yet ventilated, the RH is reasonably high though.

When I used to use paraffin space heaters in a workshop I got tons of condensation, I seem to remember some old guff about 1 gallon of paraffin creating 5 gallons of water, but I am sure gas is similar, in any case it does not look to be an issue.

What is an issue is just how quick I can get through €75 of gas and its so bloomin expensive here.

Are these sort of heaters also sold in the UK? I can feel an E-bay fishing trip beckoning!

[Quillan]

I think you have to look at it from the fuel cost per hour. On average these things get through 5lt every 24 hours that's about 15 cents per hour. I don't have a clue about your type of gas heater and what that burn's per hour but you must know roughly how long a bottle lasts.

When we rented before we bought the house was badly insulated and the people gave us a couple of these gas heaters with a bottle in the back you can push around. The condensation was horrendous and they didn't seem to give out much heat. We saw the price of 'Petrole' was then around 10 Euros for 20 ltrs (at the time) and on impulse bought one of these heaters. The first thing we noticed was the dramatic decrease in condensation, it all but disappeared. I believe the reason for this is the flame heats a 'unit' and air is blown round the outside of the unit so its a form of indirect heating if you catch my drift.

I found two on ebay UK, one in Durham for 0.99p collection only and the other for £199 buy it now price which is only marginally cheaper than here but as they only deliver in the UK it could work out over twice the price.

[Chancer]

Thanks Q.

It would certainly seem a more economical fuel from what I have found and there are plenty on Leboncoin, trouble is I am now out of gas, do I go and spend €75 and "possibly" be OK for the rest of the cold snap or go through the faff of negotiating for one on Leboncoin?

dont answer that I was just thinking out loud!

[mint]

Chance, if you are buying new, do NOT buy a Zibo.  We have two of these heaters, the Zibo one cost roughly twice as much as the other one and, as Q pointed out in an earlier post, they are more or less identical apart from one or two little details.

I can't now remember the exact price but of the appliances.  Turning down the thermostat increases greatly the economy.  I wish JohnRoss would come on here.  I believe it was him who told me that you could turn them down to 12 degrees and it's surprising that, at that level, the ambiant room temperature is way in excess of 12 and the thing is hardly drinking any paraffin.

I have to go out now but, when I am in this evening, I will find you the thread where I asked about these and you'll get all your questions answered on there. 

[crossy67]

[quote user="Quillan"]

I found two on ebay UK, one in Durham for 0.99p collection only and the other for £199 buy it now price which is only marginally cheaper than here but as they only deliver in the UK it could work out over twice the price.

[/quote]

Do you have a link to them Q, so I can get an idea what you're all talking about please?

[Punch]

Buy a Zibro and preferably one that plugs into the mains. These have a small powered fan that distributes the hot air and we find it very efficient. Incidentally ours       ( and I think all the latest models ) can be set right down to 6°, so you can set them on "tickover" when you go out by a simple button push. You can also program them to come on by using the inbuilt timer function. They also have child locks to prevent tampering.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Punch"]Buy a Zibro and preferably one that plugs into the mains. These have a small powered fan that distributes the hot air and we find it very efficient. Incidentally ours       ( and I think all the latest models ) can be set right down to 6°, so you can set them on "tickover" when you go out by a simple button push. You can also program them to come on by using the inbuilt timer function. They also have child locks to prevent tampering.
[/quote]

That's the type we are talking about. [;-)] It does not matter how low you can set the temperature as anything that's 4 deg or below the temp you want will make it go in to tick-over mode. Basically set it to 20 deg and once it gets there reduce the temp to 16 deg and it will stay in tick-over mode unless the temperature in the room gets down to 16 deg of course. If you leave it at 20 deg the room will gradually continue to warm to about 22 deg where as setting it to 16 deg after it has got to 20 deg will leave the temperature between 19 and 21 deg but then this also depends on the size of the room. Setting the temp as low as 6 deg does nothing more than setting it to 16 deg, the result is the same.

The best feature for us is the timer. Being on TEMPO we have them come on at 06:30 in the morning on red days and by the time we get up the rooms are nice and warm.

Chancer, if you can get to Leroy Merlin get the one that's advertised for 189 Euros, you will get 2 years warranty and I can assure you that unless you are trying to heat a whole house with just one you will not be disappointed (imagine you can put it on timer and arrive to a nice warm workplace). Don't forget to keep some of the used containers as some of the LeClerc's and other super markets sell it at the pumps which can be cheaper than buying in containers. You find after a while you automatically keep your eyes open for deals and get it when you can. This year be bought 12 containers for 15 Euros each at Carrefour (spelling?) and now the same stuff is over 19 Euros a container. If you live near Perpignan then there is a place on the right when you take the road from the airport to the centre of down about 1km past the 'Catalan Dragons' rugby ground that sells it 'loose' at normally a very good price.