problems with paraffin burner

[rocket]

Hello,

I'm having some problems with a new paraffin burner I bought to keep my lean-to greenhouse warm overnight.

I haven't used one of these heaters before, and I can't seem to get it right. Its either too strong a flame which causes soot to build up on the mesh of the cowl and the flame eventually goes out, or the flame is too small and just goes out on its own. The instructions that came with it aren't all that easy to understand. They say I need a 'fan-shaped' flame (whatever that is!) but the cowl mesh is only a few centimeters above the wick, so unless I have it on the very lowestr setting the top of the flame always touches the cowl mesh causing these sooty deposits.

I am using paraffin bought from B&Q (in their gardening section) and although it is not the same brand as the heater it does conform to the required standard. Could it be that I have a dodgy batch of paraffin as it does seem to smoke quite a bit?

Any advice appreciated - particularly on what kind of setting/flame size I should be aiming for.

Cheers
TOm

[poohpouri]

Hi I use B&Q parrafin and have no probelms, what I done with my heater was light it and then wind the wick down a bit so you can see the flame in the little viewer(if ur heater has one) leave it running for 20 mins and check to see if wick needs winding in more(to stop black smoke) It worked for me, when you filled it did you give parrafin achance to wick up the wick|?

[malcolmx]

i have always found parrafin heaters to be a nightmare and if you can put a small electric heater controlled by a stat i know it may seem to be expensive but you only need to keep it at about 4c to stop frost damage .one day the parrafin will fail a coat your green house and plants with soot .cover the lean to with bubble wrap and put in piles of bricks or tubs of water if you have room they act like storage heaters

[polytunnels]

We've just started selling a polytunnel heater. It's very good quality and might solve your problem.

Polytunnel Heater - Polytunnel Accessories | Haygrove | Garden Polytunnels

It's only £84.95 inc Vat & Del.

Hope this helps

Cheers

[smeagal]

Originally Posted by rocket

Hello,

I'm having some problems with a new paraffin burner I bought to keep my lean-to greenhouse warm overnight.

I haven't used one of these heaters before, and I can't seem to get it right. Its either too strong a flame which causes soot to build up on the mesh of the cowl and the flame eventually goes out, or the flame is too small and just goes out on its own. The instructions that came with it aren't all that easy to understand. They say I need a 'fan-shaped' flame (whatever that is!) but the cowl mesh is only a few centimeters above the wick, so unless I have it on the very lowestr setting the top of the flame always touches the cowl mesh causing these sooty deposits.

I am using paraffin bought from B&Q (in their gardening section) and although it is not the same brand as the heater it does conform to the required standard. Could it be that I have a dodgy batch of paraffin as it does seem to smoke quite a bit?

Any advice appreciated - particularly on what kind of setting/flame size I should be aiming for.

Cheers
TOm

Is it proper paraffin or the one the use in lamps?
If it is sooty it sound like the oil lamp type I bought last year for the Patio table lamps.
They suffered the same sort of problems so they went in the bin.
It was marked paraffin but had some sort of additive to it to ake it burn longer.
Jon

[wendyh]

Hi. I've used a paraffin heater in my greenhouse for a number of years, often to supplement the electric heater as my greenhouse is quite large. They do take some time to get used too. Try all the advice given it is really trial and error. I have in the past found the greenhouse covered in soot but checking the flame a short while after it's lit it a good idea. Once i've got it right I just leave it alone.

My cowl burnt through very quickly so now I rest it on the metal arm there to raise or lower the wick so i is higher above the flame.

Once I've filled the heater it lasts about a week if left on full time.

good luck