Oil Burner

Discussion in 'Burners and their construction' started by Joe Avins, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. Joe Avins

    Joe Avins Copper

    As I think I understand it, waste oil burners use waste engine oil and similar. Does this have to be traditional oils? That is, does the waste synthetic out of your car work as well? Used fry oil? (Fry oil works in diesel engines, so I don't see why it wouldn't work here.)
     
  2. I use anything that's liquid and I think will burn, that includes old stale gasoline, cooking oil, used paint thinner, water contaminated diesel, transmission fluid, gear grease, and any other drain oils I get from a local repair shop. Heavier oil does burn hotter than the lighter fuels but I can't tell while the furnace is running. I was a little concerned when I dumped five gallons of old gasoline into my 20 gallon tank but could never see any combustion difference, it was still a good hot flame. This was really stinky 20 year old gasoline I drained out of an old car. My fluids go through a filter on the way to the drip burner. If you use an atomizing burner you may have more trouble with contaminants. I have a siphon (atomizing) tip but I've never installed it because the drip burner is so simple and works so good. It just takes propane to get the furnace warm but that is not an issue for me, I really like burning cheap trash.

    Recognize when burning waste motor oil that you are burning heavy metals present in the oil from engine wear. You need good ventilation and a respirator is never overkill.
     
    joe yard likes this.
  3. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    I use waste cooking oil or diesel, and have used a mix of the two at times. If it'll burn in a hot furnace and is able to flow through my oil line, I would expect it to work.

    But using gasoline? Sounds scary. Personally, I'll stick with diesel and free wvo when I can find any.

    Jeff
     
  4. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Joe, one of the biggest things with burning oil is being mindful of your location. Keeping the oil flowing when it's cold can be an issue. I run used black nasty motor oil and thin it down with jet-A and synthetic turbine engine oil. That stuff is really runny. I start on straight jet-A with a cold furnace and a full pot of bronze. About 10mins in, I make the switch to about 90% motor oil and 10% fuel. I've learned with my oil burner, screwing with oil isn't even necessary unless I'm running multiple crucibles full of bronze. I can get plenty hot enough for bronze off jet-A and it's still free for me. Pretty much, if it burns, you can send it through a decent oil burner. Jeff tells me he really likes running liquified dead baby seal oil! Has a nice smell and leaves your hair with a shiny glow.
     
  5. Joe Avins

    Joe Avins Copper

    Yeah, I wasn't even considering gasoline. I've long told my daughter and nephews, if you're going to do stupid things with inflammable liquids, as teenagers invariably will, for goodness sake use kerosene!
     
  6. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Kerosene, Jet-A, Diesel... all cousins of each other and perfectly safe to burn.
     
  7. So what's unsafe about gasoline?:D:D:D

    I wouldn't use a full tank of good gasoline, but old vapored out gasoline will blend right in to oil and make a kerosene like mixture. The fact is any hydrocarbon will spontaneously ignite when it get shot into a hot furnace. I don't want a leak on my fuel line regardless of what I'm burning, and I have a propane hose connected to my burner. Several things about this activity could have some potential excitement.
     
  8. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Makes sense, but I'm not sure how you can know how old is 'old enough' without doing something potentially exciting in order to find out...:eek:

    Think I'll stick with waste oil and diesel for now. :D

    Jeff
     
  9. Jason

    Jason Gold

    I'll admit, I've goofed my jet-a mix with a little old stale gasoline. It wasn't much and I still have most of my eyebrows, but I try not to make a habit of it. :cool:
     
  10. Joe Avins

    Joe Avins Copper

    The issue is that gasoline is a lot more volatile. It's not the liquid that'll get you, it's the vapor. K1 (kerosene) D1 (uncommon "light diesel") and Jet-A are all basically the same thing. K2 (rare "heavy kerosene") D2 (ordinary diesel) and home heating oil are also all basically the same thing. None of these have a vapor pressure anywhere near that of gasoline. I've seen video of a sponge soaked with gas being thrown toward a flame and the vapor trail behind it burning in mid air back to the thrower. Gasoline is evil! Liquid in your burner's fuel tank: OK. Liquid in the gas can you carry it in: OK. Poured from one to the other with an ignition source nearby, or leaking a few drops into the open air during a melt: you might be on the news. Don't be on the news.
     
  11. Were you burning it in a burner in a furnace?

    My setup is pretty safe for keeping the vapors in place. But any gas that still has any volatility will get burned in one of my old tractors. They are low compression and really don't care. I generally blend old gas into 87 and have plenty of octane for them.

    I burn Jet A in kerosene lanterns.

    So does anybody burn regular unleaded in Coleman appliances? Do you know what white gas was?
     
  12. Jason

    Jason Gold

    I accidentally burned my tainted jet-A/unleaded gas mix in my furnace. I run the kwiky burner.

    Funny you ask that Andy. I have a few coleman lanterns here and one of them says "dual fuel" and claims it will burn unleaded. Never tried it. Sounds almost suicidal.
    I don't know why I didn't think of fueling my other coleman lanterns with the Jet-A. I feel dumb. :oops:
     
  13. So, did you have an uncontrolled flareup with the gasoline and a kicky burner? I doubt it, but you alluded to that.

    I don't have any Coleman appliances that I use. But in the early 90's I asked a chemist at the refinery where I worked about white gas. He said white gas was just pure gasoline with no additives. Lead in gasoline will foul burners. He said regular unleaded only has a few additives that white gas does not and there should be no difference for a gasoline burning appliance. His job was to make sure the gasoline coming out of the plant was meeting specifications and knew all the nuances of how it had to be blended based on the crude feed stocks we were running at the time. It's not as simple as just distilling crude oil. There is no reason Coleman fuel should be so expensive, nor should big box store kerosene be a expensive as Jet A which is much cleaner and more highly refined.

    Jet A is not gasoline, you know it's kerosene, and it won't work in Coleman style lanterns. It works fine in kerosene lamps and lanterns, however.
     
  14. _Jason

    _Jason Silver

    I'd try regular unleaded in my Coleman lantern, but I've never needed to. There's always been white gas available when I needed it and plus, my wife doesn't like to camp. My dad used to camp a lot and said regular unleaded will foul out a Coleman appliance. I guess that would be due to the additional additives?
     
  15. Jason

    Jason Gold

    No boom, flicker, fart or flare. I didnt realize I burned my unleaded until I went to put fuel in my riding lawn mower and I was OUT! Comes from me sharing the same red container for jet-a and unleaded. I have a turd of an old lawn mower that refuses to die. Last time it had its oil changed was in 2008!

    We dont camp anymore, wife hates it too. I always grumbled when paying up for a can of Coleman juice. What I dont get, if white gas is essentially clean unleaded, why did Coleman come out with an unleaded version. hmm.
     
  16. OK, so you're like me, you can't tell if your furnace is burning gasoline.:eek: Having most of your eyebrows was not associated with burning gasoline.:D

    I think Coleman is trying to maintain market through creative advertising.:rolleyes:
     
  17. kcb_1983

    kcb_1983 Lead

    Unleaded works quite well in Coleman lanterns. It isn't as clean though.
     

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