Kerosene for cleaning burner?

Pat Norman

Pat Norman

New member
A local tech told me about every fifth tank to burn kerosene in the burner to clean the soot. Is that good or bad advice? Would straight kerosene burn too hot or harm anything? I know on my Cummins Diesel it is okay to burn 50% kerosene in winter to remedy fuel gelling but I know kero burns hotter.
 
Squirtgun said:
I run diesel clean through mine....beening doing it for about 4yrs and rarely have soot problems anymore unless I burn old famr diesel.
Click to expand...
+10
It's been my experience that kerosene burns cleaner, and may help clean your nozzle, but if you've been running diesel through the burner for any period of time, you may want to clean the coils with a good soot remover and then hope the kerosene helps it stay clean. It's unlikely that kerosene is going to clean your dirty coils, just not dirty them anymore(or as fast).
 
Kerosesne won't "clean" the burner but it won't get it any dirtier than it allready is. Soot remover is a good call. About every 4-6 months I low pressure wash the coil. You would be amazed at how much soot collects in a coil. A good de-scale to the interior and you are good to go.
 
Diesel vs Kerosene.. and the Soot-Monster

Here's the detail..
Diesel is higher in BTU's, so you should be getting a little better heat-per-gallon with the diesel fuel.
Adding DieselPro fuel conditioner, or similar additive to diesel will totally remove and control the soot issues.
follow dilution instructions on the can, ..as insurance on a good running system.
at least every other tank or 3.

Double the dose if there are more than just traces of soot on yer coil ..looking down the stack.
The trick is, it MUST have enough air to burn correctly.
Example..
Employee didn't report the heater acting up, so..
.. soot has inundated your coil, and it won't burn right at all..
Not only do you have to "triple-dose" the Diesel-Pro, or add Soot Remover,
but you might have to reduce the Fuel nozzle size in half, just to get a fire that burns right..
in that case.. go to kerosene, as it does not require quite as much air to breathe..
Then when the soot has burned away, you can change the nozzle back to the bigger fire,
and you didn't have to "rinse the coil manually"..
.. aka.. the BIGgest, NASTiest MESS that could EVER happen around a cleaning machine. :shocked2:

If you don't know how to adjust the air-bands for the "perfect fire"..
the idea is.. close the air 'til you see a little smoke,
then open them just enough to get a clean exhaust out the stack.
..no more air than that, cuz it can "blow-out" the spark, giving intermittant fire 'n smoke 'n oily-leaks.
..no less than that, cuz the SootMonster will come back. :grin-devilish:
 
Great Info Jerry
Sirocco Jerry said:
Here's the detail..
Diesel is higher in BTU's, so you should be getting a little better heat-per-gallon with the diesel fuel.
Adding DieselPro fuel conditioner, or similar additive to diesel will totally remove and control the soot issues.
follow dilution instructions on the can, ..as insurance on a good running system.
at least every other tank or 3.

Double the dose if there are more than just traces of soot on yer coil ..looking down the stack.
The trick is, it MUST have enough air to burn correctly.
Example..
Employee didn't report the heater acting up, so..
.. soot has inundated your coil, and it won't burn right at all..
Not only do you have to "triple-dose" the Diesel-Pro, or add Soot Remover,
but you might have to reduce the Fuel nozzle size in half, just to get a fire that burns right..
in that case.. go to kerosene, as it does not require quite as much air to breathe..
Then when the soot has burned away, you can change the nozzle back to the bigger fire,
and you didn't have to "rinse the coil manually"..
.. aka.. the BIGgest, NASTiest MESS that could EVER happen around a cleaning machine. :shocked2:

If you don't know how to adjust the air-bands for the "perfect fire"..
the idea is.. close the air 'til you see a little smoke,
then open them just enough to get a clean exhaust out the stack.
..no more air than that, cuz it can "blow-out" the spark, giving intermittant fire 'n smoke 'n oily-leaks.
..no less than that, cuz the SootMonster will come back. :grin-devilish:
Click to expand...
 
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