| Author |
Message |
gerald lancaster (216.236.164.7)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 3:59 pm: | |
I just replaced my old RV water heater with a "home style" one from Home Depot and now I have a space under my sink for either an RV furnace or a catalytic heater. I'm not familiar with the cat heaters, but do they run on propane and do they require venting? I can vent it out the side where the old water heater was if I have to. I need a source of heat for the front of the bus.
Gerald |
Lin (65.184.0.189)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 4:47 pm: | |
The Olympia Catalytic heaters run on propane and are not vented. They are very effecient and do not produce carbon monoxide. They do however use oxygen and release carbon dioxide into the living space. For this reason, a window must be cracked a bit to allow for more oxygen to enter. They have low oxygen sensors and automatically shut down if the oxygen levels drop. This feature can effect how they operate at high altitudes. The other issue is that they release water vapor into the air also. This may or may not be noticable depending upon the climate factors.
Another company made one called the Platinum Cat. It was more advanced. It was vented through a small hose so it did not have the above concerns. It even had a wall mounted thermostat. They are out of business I believe. You may be able to find a used one, but I have not had much luck with that.
Lin |
Cory Danes RTS N/E Illinois (198.29.191.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 7:09 pm: | |
Also look at some of the marine propane heaters. My experience with some forced air heaters is if you are booning, the fan pulls your battery voltage down real fast, when the voltage gets low, the heater wont fire up again. Gets cold on those nights.... The marine units are vented and use no power what so ever. I saw some in a West Marine catalog (I mention this as these are a really different type of heater not normal to the conversionist). I am going to get a couple for my bus - no more cold nights. One of the units is a low output but only has a 1" flue, easy to hide, and can be used while traveling. They also have low oxygen sensors, might find something at a marine salvage too. Hope this was helpful - cd |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 10:54 pm: | |
I was lucky enough to find a Platimun Cat for $20 by scouring my local classifieds regularly. It is a vented, homestyle unit. I have not hooked it up yet. I did have to change out the orifice from NG to propane. It was a five minute job. The small fan that operates the vent is 120v. Don't know how much power it will use, but looks a really efficient motor. Apparently the company did make an RV unit that was 12v, but they have, indeed, gone belly up. Maybe check out eBay for a used one or go with an unvented one.
Scott |
jmaxwell (66.42.92.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 12:30 am: | |
I would not recommend any of the unvented types; catalytic pad, ceramic brick, or blue flame as a primary source of heat if u plan to frequent colder climates. I had an Olympia and traded it out for a ceramic brick type. Both produce fumes under certain atmospheric conditions, especially when the air is heavy or damp. I have a fresh air inlet right below the heater just for safety sake. Others have mentioned the condensation problem, which I have not noticed, but I do notice the odor on a cold, damp evening. I also have a Suburban fa. |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 1:12 am: | |
Jmaxwell makes a good point. I don't intend to use the catalytic heater as my primary heat source. I have a regular Suburban furnace I will install for in the front of the bus. My thought with the Platinum Cat is to put it in the bedroom, aimed at the bed, for efficient heating all night long. I'd probably turn the furnace in the living room off at night in all but the coldest environments.
Scott |
FAST FRED (209.26.87.25)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 6:08 am: | |
Unless the cat heater is vented you are releasing 1.3 pounds of water/ sulfuros acid into the air , for every pound of propane consumed.
The acid will condense somewhere in the skin of the coach.
Window open or closed you get to breath the combustion by products , and your coach , electrical sustem ect , gets bathed in it.
Vented , is the only way to go with any fuel heater.
FAST FRED |
Lightn Steve (166.102.22.44)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 10:30 am: | |
Why did Platinum Cat go belly up, was it the product or money problems???? I had intended on using one in my bus and then they quit advertising the heater. Seemed that they had a good product with the vent system.
Steve |
FAST FRED (209.26.87.34)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 3:44 pm: | |
Talked to the folks that still own Cat , and they were trying to restart with an offshore mfg.
Might get it off the ground , hope so, the heaters were vented , consumed tiny DC .
Might search for them again?
FAST FRED |
Chuck Harris - PD4104 (207.172.11.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 5:55 pm: | |
Ok Fred, I'll bite! I know where the water vapor comes from, but where does the sulfur for your "sulfuros acid" come from?
Not a usual component of the air, and not propane (C3H8) either. The odorant is in the parts per million range. So where?
-Chuck |
FAST FRED (209.26.87.20)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 01, 2002 - 5:27 am: | |
You will have to get a chemist to diagram the combo of the combustion of the propane ,
But just as sulphorous acid is a by product of combustion in any gas or diesel , , it is also a psrt of the combustion of propane.
The switch to low sulphor fuel was an attempt to get rid of this.
The acid neutralizers in the oil package attempts to keep the inside of the enginge from disolving.
Another reason for short oil change intervals.
Any one a Chemist?
FAST FRED |
Chuck Harris PD4104 (207.172.11.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 01, 2002 - 7:45 pm: | |
Hi Fred,
I had 5 years of Chemistry in College, and that is why I asked.
C3H8 + 5(O2) -> 3(CO2) + 4(H2O)
Diesel and Gasoline have elemental sulfur in solution, which is why you get SO2, SO3,H2S, H2SO3 and H2SO4 from burning it in oxygen, but AFIK not propane.
-Chuck |
FAST FRED (209.26.87.79)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 5:15 am: | |
I always understood that the sulfur was very expensive to remove when creating the propane and IS in , as its in gas & diesel.
That there is loads more in fuel than just hydrogen & carbon.
Eg your formula does not show any nitrous oxides output , yet we have a huge complexity attempting to clean that up.
(Exhaust gas recirc ect.)
FAST FRED |
Jim 4905 (209.240.222.32)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 11:47 am: | |
Hi everyone,
I bought a cat brand vented heater for my coach. I had it hooked up temp. to test it out. It worked great. Used very little propane, and milli amp 12v power.
By the time i finished my conversion, i had no place to mount it! Changed my ideas so much. Sound familiar?? I had it hooked up for a few days. So basically new. In original box. If someone would like to discuss it. email me off line. |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 1:31 pm: | |
Hi Jim,
If you get any takers, which I am sure you will, I'd also like to throw out an additional possibility. . .
My Platinum Cat is also in very good condition (I did buy it used, though) but is the 120v vented model. If anyone would prefer 120v to 12v, let me know. Maybe we could swap fan assemblies. I have not looked at it in awhile, but it probably is not that difficult. I'd prefer 12v over 120v for boondocking. But I had just planned to buy a dedicated 50W (about $10) inverter to run it all night long if I can't switch it over to 12v.
Scott |
Lin (65.184.0.189)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 4:20 pm: | |
I was interested n getting a 120volt, natural gas Cat. I assume yours is propane, but maybe it can be converted. |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 12:33 am: | |
It can be converted. I was lucky in that the people I bought mine from were meticulous and kept the propane orifice (shipped with the unit) in an envelope in the proverbial kitchen 'junk drawer'. When I asked about it, they produced it, to my surprise and pleasure.
I have a phone number of a guy in Oregon or Washington who may be able to get the part if you need it. (It is just a little brass widget with a slightly different size hole) His name is Arnie and the number is (509) 299-6090. Or you can try arnie@omnicast.net. Last year when I made an inquiry he had them for $10.00
BTW, I have the manual and installation guide for this bugger if anyone wants a copy.
Scott |
Chuck Harris - PD4104 (207.172.11.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 05, 2002 - 6:42 pm: | |
Hi Fred,
The Nitrous oxides (NOx) result from burning the nitrogen that is in our atmosphere. Remember, air is about 20% oxygen, and 80% nitrogen. When you burn anything in air, at a very high temperature, you will get some NOx resulting.
Sulfur, on the other hand is NOT a very large component of our atmosphere. It lives there as H2S, H2S03, H2SO4, SO2, SO3, among others. But in very small concentrations.
I strongly doubt that any significant amount of sulfur exists in LP. But I stand ready to be corrected on this.
-Chuck |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (12.146.33.55)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 05, 2002 - 11:07 pm: | |
Hi Scott, one trouble with a dedicated low power inverter is that you can't usually buy them with a search mode.
Larger inverters use a search mode, so they use very little power, a couple of watts, on standby, when they are not powering anything.
The cheaper inverters take as much power when idling as the fan you are interested in running.
One solution is to use a thermostat and relay so that the inverter is turned on only when the fan is needed, if the fan runs infrequently.
If it needs to run steady, then you need to know the draw on the inverter with the fan running. It may well double the power consumption.
FWIW
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 |