kabola regulator height

[markb]

Hi All,

 

Maybe someone can help me out? (I suspect I will have to wait until monday to talk to Kuranda, but any help in the mean time will be apprecitated...)

 

I installed a Kabola E3 in my NB a while ago and havn't been able to have it running properly until now. I was having diesel feed issues due to me trying to take the line up to gunwhale level to enter the boat (amongst other small issues!) Right now I've bodged a rubber hose through the door and it's working reliably. However another problem has now come to light.

 

The stove is over-fuelling. Even with the regulator set to minimum the flame was virtually up the chimney and yellow. I got the instructions for this regulator from a link I found on this forum somewhere and tried to adjust the "high fire" adjustment and have taken this down to its minimum setting with no change. While I was doing this however, I noticed the regulator assembly was loose (i.e. could move up and down) i pushed it to the bottom of its "adjustment" which had a small effect but still didn't cure the problem. Right now I have taken the screw out totally (it virtually was anyway!) and have lowered the regulator further. The flame is now pretty good (blue with some yellow tips flicking occasionally) but it's still on its minimum setting.

 

The height of the regulator is obviously crucial as the height difference between the oil level and inlet to burner pot will change the rate of delivery, but as mine appears to have been moved before I got it, how do I set the height appropriately? Once I've done that I'll obviously have to go and adjust the high-fire adjustment again.

 

Thanks for reading, any help appreciated!

 

Now I'm off to enjoy some heating in what will hopefully soon be non-damp boat!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[markb]

ETA:

 

Right, quick follow up to this. I've just noticed, on the manual I mentioned earlier, there is a diagram stating min/max heights! Unfortunately, the minimum height between oil level (in reg) and bottom of burner pot inlet is 12.5mm but there is no maximum height. On my stove at the moment there is only ~6mm but if I have it higher it starts to over-fuel. Could this point to a problem with the regulator??

 

I'm confused

[LEO]

ETA:

 

Right, quick follow up to this. I've just noticed, on the manual I mentioned earlier, there is a diagram stating min/max heights! Unfortunately, the minimum height between oil level (in reg) and bottom of burner pot inlet is 12.5mm but there is no maximum height. On my stove at the moment there is only ~6mm but if I have it higher it starts to over-fuel. Could this point to a problem with the regulator??

 

I'm confused

 

Hi,

 

I shall follow this with interest, I have a Kabola Old Dutch.

 

The problem I see with these fires is the same design of fuel reservoir seems to be fitted to several brands of fires and different sizes of fire seem to be covered by the same set of instructions.

 

Really only settings 1 to 3 can be used on the 'Old Dutch'- higher settings than this causes over fuelling and a large yellow flame.

 

This means that care needs to be taken when lighting the fire as it's easy to over fuel it, I normally run the unit on about 1,5 setting until it has warmed up and mostly run it just under 1 setting. It seems happy at this and generates enough heat.

 

Others who have big Lockgate units can use higher settings as they have a bigger burner pot.

 

I hope this helps, the man you want is KK and he may respond in a few days.

 

The fires take a bit of time to change flame sizes after adjustment, properly set up they run for days with little attention.

 

Best of Luck, most of the problems which crop up on this site with these fires seem to be with over fuelling, after 6 years of use I am using a different lighting technique this year - it seems to produce better results.

 

Leo

[markb]

OK, a quick update on the situation.

 

I was using a little diaphragm pump to feed the stove but I yesterday morning I was having problems with it sucking air instead of diesel. I have now hooked up a small tank and am using it purely gravity fed.

 

Using the gravity feed I had to put the regulator back to its initial height (~18mm from oil level in reg to inlet of burner) and de-adjust the High-Fire screw as it was now under-fuelling.

 

I can't understand why, but it appears that the inlet pressure to the regulator is having an effect on the output. The pump pressure was ~4psi. The top of the fuel tank is now ~2 1/2 feet above the regulator oil level which is considerably less than 4psi head pressure.

[rjasmith]

OK, a quick update on the situation.

 

I was using a little diaphragm pump to feed the stove but I yesterday morning I was having problems with it sucking air instead of diesel. I have now hooked up a small tank and am using it purely gravity fed.

 

Using the gravity feed I had to put the regulator back to its initial height (~18mm from oil level in reg to inlet of burner) and de-adjust the High-Fire screw as it was now under-fuelling.

 

I can't understand why, but it appears that the inlet pressure to the regulator is having an effect on the output. The pump pressure was ~4psi. The top of the fuel tank is now ~2 1/2 feet above the regulator oil level which is considerably less than 4psi head pressure.

 

Mark,

 

I'm sure you must know this but the OCI regulator on your Kabola has two critical elements in its mechanism. The first is a float valve that should accept a fuel supply having a fairly wide gravity derived pressure range. Its function is to set up a fixed level of fuel in the regulator chamber (whatever the input pressure might be).

 

The second is the metering stem which has a precision small slot cut in it. The metering stem is raised and lowered inside a tube, thus exposing more or less of the slot to the level of fuel in the chamber. The up and down movement of the stem is controlled by the control knob and the adjusting screws (high fire and low fire) set the range limits of the movement. The fuel dribbles through the metering stem slot at a rate proportional to the length of exposed slot and exits the regulator down the feed pipe to the burner pot.

 

I wonder if your float valve is leaking slightly which means that the fuel level is not remaining constant as it should do, especially if you change the input pressure as you have been.

 

Might it be worth checking that the float valve seat is clean and undamaged?

 

Richard

Edited October 16, 2011 by rjasmith

[koukouvagia]

 

I wonder if your float valve is leaking slightly which means that the fuel level is not remaining constant as it should do, especially if you change the input pressure as you have been.

 

Might it be worth checking that the float valve seat is clean and undamaged?

 

 

Richard's explanation is spot on. However, if the problem is over-fueling, it would suggest that the outlet valve is sticking open. The very weak spring (part 8 on the Refleks diagram) can get gummed up so that the valve never properly cuts out.

[pmms]

Mark,

 

dont get fixated with which No (on the valve) your boiler runs on. With these drip feed fires the quality of the flame is the thing that determines the efficiency of the fires and the quality of the flame is determined by the draw your flue system can deliver. A blue flame with little yellow in the tips and no yellow in the catalyst is the most efficient and with a good flue should be achievable over a range of settings. The key to a good draw is the above deck part of the flue, we use a "narrowboat" roof collar and chimney, cruising one is 12" and static is 28" both are twin wall with the void between the walls stuffed with as much fibreglass insulation as I can get in.

 

I think that kuranda are able to set up control valves on a rig, it does sound as if the hi and low settings are out.

 

As a matter of interest you should not a need a pump if you have a fuel head of 2 1/2 feet.

 

We use a pump, (cant remember the make its the german interrupter pump that midland sell) as our diesel tank is below the level of the fire, it does one pump stroke every 25 secs (ish)

 

We have found our old dutch OD4 to be ultra reliable, in 10 years the valve has remained untouched. I keep a spare window on board and a spare thermocouple. If you have trouble with inconsistent fuel feed then the short pipe from the valve to the scraper tube may be blocked with a lump of carbon, the scraper tube can be removed in situ and the pipe removed for blowing out. If the scraper is loose and the seal is shot then just wind some PTFE tape around to create a new seal.

 

Hope this helps

 

Paul M