Oil Burner Conversion for M1941 Heater - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

LC · 12-07-2007, 18:22

I was wondering if you could burn used oil in these? A guy selling them on ebay says you can but I thought I would check before I bought one. I figured I might need to add some diesel to thin the oil out. Or if anyone here has one for sale let me know.

Thanks

acetomatoco · 12-07-2007, 19:56

the burner conversions, I believe are for gasoline... the "carb" has a return line which will clog when the oil gets cold and you will have to store the fuel in the tent... for sure...I have been there and burned several tents in 1963-66 due to drunk First Sgts..etc....

jatonka · 12-07-2007, 19:57

Hi LC, when I first opened mine up I had instructions and it said I could use gasoline, kerosene or diesel fuel. I was afraid of the gas and had plenty of diesel, so I burned diesel. It smokes a LOT LOT on diesel, I tried kerosene and it smoked less. I have a feeling used oil is going to be like a smudge pot. One way to know is try it. John T

cbvet · 12-07-2007, 21:06

In VietNam we started out burning gasoline in them, but switched to diesel because it put out more heat. I don't remember it smoking all that bad, but heck! There are a lot of things I don't remember from 40 years ago.
I too, bought one recently. Haven't set it up yet, but plan to burn used motor oil. I plan to use a 55 gallon drum for the fuel tank. I'll keep the tank inside the insulated building, well away from the heater.
Shop is a long way from the house.
Eric
CBVET

moosebgy · 12-08-2007, 01:47

I also just picked up 2 of these heaters and haven't had a chance to play with them yet. I'm looking forward to experimenting with them to see how they burn on WVO and WMO. The guy selling them said that you can burn both but we'll see.

CARNAC · 12-08-2007, 06:38

If they are the same type of heaters I had in Germany in the 80/90's, we used 60% df2 and 40% mogas. Within the past few years they began issuing new guts for these that are for burning just DF2/JP8. I also recall them smoking alot with straight df2 but that subsided after they got broken in.

Be careful with these heaters. We always had to maintain a fire watch. I've seen tents catch fire because the chimney pipe got red hot (too much mogas) and torched the tent. Ensure the rubber area for your chimney plate is in good shape.

We use a propare heater in our gp medium for hunting season. It's not military but I think it's safer.

cbvet · 12-29-2007, 23:40

Well, I finally decided to get my heater going. Cut the bottom out of a 55 gallon drum to set over the oil burner. Made 2 holes in the top. One for a 4" chimney pipe & another for lighting. Put it together outside to burn the paint off the barrel.
Not knowing what is correct, I made some guesses.
I raised the burner pot 1" above the ground so that air could come up the center tube. Raised the barrel 1.5" so air could get in.
Lit alright. Smoked a lot on diesel, but that did get quite a bit better after about 20 minutes. Burned for 2 hours with regulator wide open. Barrel never got hot enough to burn off paint.
Shut off fuel completely. Kept burning for over an hour on excess fuel in burner.

Good part?
Will burn 3 hours on about a gallon of fuel.
Bad parts?
Doesn't get very hot. Doubt it will heat very well.
Apparently the burner pot is getting fuel faster than it can be burned. Some danger of excess fuel overflowing through air holes in side of pot.

The lack of heat output & the excess fuel building-up make me think there is a lack of combustion air. But I sure don't see how thats possible the way I set it up.

Your thoughts please?
Eric
CBVET

Ferroequinologist · 12-30-2007, 10:22

I have used one in a M1941 stove in my 20X20 cinder block garage for about 4 years now. I save all flammables over the summer in a drum behind the garage. Old oil, diesel, paint thinner, old gasoline. Come winter I pull the burner out and put the grate in, and burn all my pallets I built up. That doesn't take long, that pine burns fast! Then I put the burner in and burn that soup. Set it on about 2-3, and it will run you out of that garage in a few hours! I let it run then shut it off after the garage heats up, it holds it pretty well unless I have the door open. I have had the whole stove red hot, but it was set up outside, I was burning the cosmoline off of it.

Had great success with mine, I like it alot.

cbvet · 12-30-2007, 11:30

Adam,
I'm getting way more waste motor oil than I can possibly use in my Deuce, so I'd really like to use it for heating my shop.
My 55 gallon drum stove is a lot bigger in diameter & height than the 1941 stove. I wonder if that's part of the problem.
Maybe you can answer some questions:
1. Does the oil burner pot sit directly on the bottom of the stove?
2. Or is it somehow raised off the bottom to allow air to come up thru the flame spreader?
3. As it does fill in the space between the stove wall & the burner pot, do you think the adapter ring is necessary for correct air flow?
4. I'm wondering if my larger diameter barrel doesn't heat as well, because there is no direct contact between the flame & the stove sides. What do you think?
5. Should I use a smaller barrel, or buy a regular GI stove?
Any suggestions appreciated.
Looks like there may be several members here contemplating a similar setup, so input can help us all.

Thanks,
Eric
CBVET

cbvet · 01-04-2008, 20:36

Okay,
I built a stove using a 15 gallon drum. This throws quite a bit of heat.
I ran it on diesel first. It worked fine up to about #5 on the dial. If I turned it up higher, it would flood & smoke a lot.
Set it up last night with waste motor oil filtered to 100 microns. Due to the thicker oil, setting #5 only gives me a flame the size of a beer can. There isn't enough fuel to even cover the bottom of the burner pot. Probably used a gallon in 24 hours, & put out no heat.
I'll be in the shop tomorrow, & I'll try higher settings.
It may be necessary to enlarge the orifice or something for waste oil.
Eric