Mikuni fuel consumption

[charles123]

I have a Mikuni MX40 water heater. I have searched to find out what the fuel consumption is without success so I asked Mikuni.

 

This is what it is

 

Output is 4.6kW on high and 2.3kW on low settings

 

The MX40 Fuel consumption is 0.58 litres per hour on high and 0.29 litres per

hour on low

 

Based on fuel costing say £0.75 PPL this equates to

 

At £0.75 PPL = £0.43 pence per hr high power

At £0.75 PPL = £0.22 pence per hr low power

 

Mikuni owners now you know!!

 

Charles

[Gibbo]

I have a Mikuni MX40 water heater. I have searched to find out what the fuel consumption is without success so I asked Mikuni.

 

This is what it is

 

Output is 4.6kW on high and 2.3kW on low settings

 

The MX40 Fuel consumption is 0.58 litres per hour on high and 0.29 litres per

hour on low

 

Based on fuel costing say £0.75 PPL this equates to

 

At £0.75 PPL = £0.43 pence per hr high power

At £0.75 PPL = £0.22 pence per hr low power

 

Mikuni owners now you know!!

 

Charles

 

 

Thankyou

 

If mine is anything to go by you also need to add in....

 

3 glow plugs per year. 1 glow plug housing per year, 1 water pump every 3 years, 20 hours of maintenance per year, 1 flame sensor every 2 years, about 10 gaskets per year, etc etc etc

 

Could have bought a proper heater for that amount.

 

Gibbo

[Theo]

Thankyou

 

If mine is anything to go by you also need to add in....

 

3 glow plugs per year. 1 glow plug housing per year, 1 water pump every 3 years, 20 hours of maintenance per year, 1 flame sensor every 2 years, about 10 gaskets per year, etc etc etc

 

Could have bought a proper heater for that amount.

 

Gibbo

 

What would you count as a proper heater, Gibbo?

 

Nick

[Gibbo]

What would you count as a proper heater, Gibbo?

 

Nick

 

I dunno. I don't know enough about them.

 

But what I do know is the people who have those drip feed diesel fires (Kabola? Bubble?) don't seem to have any problems. But Mikunis and Eberspachers (the ones like the Mikuni, not the new one) seem to last about 25 hours between each part breaking, wearing out, burning out or falling off.

 

Gibbo

[scottessery]

blimy guys

 

sounds a bit stressful if you havent got a lot of cash and/or a teachnically hamfisted chap like me

 

is there an 'idiots guide to' survicing, fixing and maintaining Mikunis that you know of?

[steelaway]

blimy guys

 

sounds a bit stressful if you havent got a lot of cash and/or a teachnically hamfisted chap like me

 

is there an 'idiots guide to' survicing, fixing and maintaining Mikunis that you know of?

 

 

Hi There

 

Try Youtube there is one on servicing modern Eberspacher.

- And, I dont understand why so many people curse them - mine is an old type "Ratty and Tatty and gives no trouble - at all - except starting - sometimes!

I suspect its because no one changes the filters

 

Alex

[Kristian]

Ive just had a MX40 serviced and they want £347.00, new plug and water pump inc, its was only done last year, if id have known i would not have bothered but got

a new webasto instead.

Dont surpose anybody has a Mikuni mx40 there breaking for spares? I need the bottom air intake, the black plastic thing at the bottom with the hole in it.

Kristian.

[Roger Gunkel]

Ive just had a MX40 serviced and they want £347.00, new plug and water pump inc, its was only done last year, if id have known i would not have bothered but got

a new webasto instead.

 

Its probably just as well that you didn't, as you would probably have hung yourself by now!

 

Roger

[chris w]

Going back to the original post where Mikuni quoted 4.6KW output and a fuel consumption of 0.58 litres per hour, it is possible to calculate exactly the efficiency of the unit.

 

The density of diesel is 840g/litre so 0.58 litres weighs 0.49 kg. The calorific value of diesel is 43 x 10⁶ Joules/kg

 

So, 0.49kg per hour will produce 43 x 10⁶ x 0.49 Joules per hour = 21.07 x 10⁶ joules per hour

 

Since Joules = watt.secs, we can divide the answer above by 3600 (secs in an hour) to get the watts INPUT to the unit

 

This is : 21.07 x 10⁶ / 3600 = 5.85KW

 

Since the OUTPUT is quoted as 4.6KW, this means the unit is 4.6/5.85 % efficient = 79% efficient. So 21% of your diesel is wasted in the heater inefficiency. I have no idea if this is better or worse than other similar heaters like Webasto or Eberspacher.

 

My Webasto claims 5KW for 0.5 litres per hour. Running the maths, as above, this gives a figure of 100% efficiency (!!!) , so the 5KW has to be the INPUT power not the OUTPUT power. They don't state the OUTPUT power, they just lead you to think it's 5KW whereas it will be around 4.5KW based on the Mikuni efficiency.

 

Chris

[Travis]

£347 would keep my Kabola going for about three winter months. It's over four years old and doesn't break down, but it does need decoking every couple of months to keep it utterly reliable. No electricity, no noise and it uses the worlds cheapest fuel filters.

[scottessery]

looks like the mikuni i inherited from the previous owner doesnt seem the 'best bet' for a reliable cheep form of heating

 

 

chris

 

you made me feel like i was doing GCSE physics again ..... some well impressive calculations

 

 

 

kristian

 

Im SCARED to send my Mikuni off for a service now! had mine serviced 2 yrs ago and since then its gone through 3 glow plugs 2 gaskets and i think the gause in the inner assembly has come off or coked up or something .... for a total of about 20 hrs running!!!!

 

is there ANY cheep easy and convenient way to keep the bleeding thing running without always breaking down?!

 

 

charles123

 

how do you set the MX40 from high to low and how do you know what setting it is on?

[charles123]

looks like the mikuni i inherited from the previous owner doesnt seem the 'best bet' for a reliable cheep form of heating

 

 

chris

 

you made me feel like i was doing GCSE physics again ..... some well impressive calculations

 

 

 

kristian

 

Im SCARED to send my Mikuni off for a service now! had mine serviced 2 yrs ago and since then its gone through 3 glow plugs 2 gaskets and i think the gause in the inner assembly has come off or coked up or something .... for a total of about 20 hrs running!!!!

 

is there ANY cheep easy and convenient way to keep the bleeding thing running without always breaking down?!

 

 

charles123

 

how do you set the MX40 from high to low and how do you know what setting it is on?

 

Scott

 

The way you tell if its on high or low is by the sound it makes, its much quieter on half power, there is a thermostat in the unit that senses the water temperature. To get it to kick down to the lower setting you can close off a radiator or if you have thermostatic valves set them to a lower setting

 

To save fuel and electric once the water is hot or the radiators are hot I turn the valves down so the unit goes to half power, this works quite well but its an art rather than a science

I have had mine 3 years and has never let me down nor needed any servicing or repair so far

 

Charles

[Iron-Dutchess]

What would you count as a proper heater, Gibbo?

 

Nick

 

http://www.itrheat.com/Hurricane.html is a proper heater.

 

They are a bit pricey but they just Work & work & work & work & work & work & work. . . . .

 

Also servicing is a doddle!

Edited January 24, 2009 by Iron-Dutchess

[LEO]

£347 would keep my Kabola going for about three winter months. It's over four years old and doesn't break down, but it does need decoking every couple of months to keep it utterly reliable. No electricity, no noise and it uses the worlds cheapest fuel filters.

 

I find that my Kabola uses about 0.8/0.9 of a gallon (4.46litres) per day on a low setting, last filled up with diesel (17/01/09) @ 64ppl heater cost £2.80 pday over a 14 day period. Only spare needed was a new thermo coupling, (broken due to over vigourous cleaning, replacement cost about £9.00) over a 3 year period.

 

Space/water and radiator heating helped by 'Eco' fan

 

Clean out about once very 21 days and regular use of cleaning tablets from Lockgate stoves following re-lighting helps.

 

Filter change once a year - very reliable but a little susceptible to down draughts at times.

 

Leo

Edited January 24, 2009 by LEO

[Phil Ambrose]

blimy guys

 

sounds a bit stressful if you havent got a lot of cash and/or a teachnically hamfisted chap like me

 

is there an 'idiots guide to' survicing, fixing and maintaining Mikunis that you know of?

Try Mikuni website, I downloaded exploded view, parts list, and fault finding flowchart which helped a lot. Oh and as for glow plugs check out www.spark-plugs.co.uk they supply themat £15 pound against the £27 that yards charge round here(The Broads)