Rayburn Problem

[Mike2007]

My friend has an oil conversion (vapouriser) on their old Rayburn MF cooker. They have no second floor and want to install the appliance to run on solid fuel not oil!
My question is, can it be changed back without much fuss and can it be ran "dry" as there is no facility for heat dump?
Would it crack or warp the heat exchanger?
cheers
Mike

 

[Agile]

Oh Dear! Sounds like the blind leading the blind!

Suppose some anonymous person on a forum tells you thats fine and you go and do it for him and it overheats, cracks the range and sets the house on fire.

Who will the owner blame?

I expect it can be changed back ( although most would see that as a retrograde step ).

I also expect that it MUST stay wet with a heat dump.

BUT I am responsible enough to tell you that ONLY the manufacturer should advise you on what is possible as then if anything goes wrong you can blame them and seek compensation.

Web forum anonymous posters dont take any responsibility and sometimes give wrong advice as it gives them vicarious pleasure seeing things go wrong.

Tony

 

[Mike2007]

Thanks for that Tony ( I think)
I can only asume from your reply that you are fully knoledgeable on this subject and are correct in your advice.
I am sure if something is designed in a certain way that one would think it should be installed that way. Are you endorsing the running of this appliance in a wet (as per manuel) manner and running on oil?
As at this time Rayburn/AGA don't want to know appliance that has be modified MF to oil. Surely an engineer that did this oil conversion must have been a "cowboy" because Rayburn are against such alterations?

Mike

 

[moliver34]

In further reply;

is the person installing this appliance OFTEC registered..and have they passed the Oft 102 qualification?

Indeed if the house does burn down, whos going to take the blame?

Vapourising appliances can be very tricky if not set up correctly.

 

[Mike2007]

Vapourisers are quite awkward to set up correctly and the question was to remove the vapouriser not commission it.
We are talking back to basics here!

 

[Agile]

Rayburn/Aga have mostly produced oil burning versions. Are you sugggesting thet your friend's conversion was not an Aga approved conversion?

Even if your friends conversion was a kit produced by another firm and used on a lot of conversions then I expect it is quite acceptable. Its a bit like LPG conversions for cars.

The only advice I will give you is that whatever is done it should be in accordance with the manufacturer's advice/agreement.

Tony

 

[oilman]

Rayburn/Aga have mostly produced oil burning versions. Are you sugggesting thet your friend's conversion was not an Aga approved conversion?

Since Aga only approve their own stuff, and not other peoples', then it won't be Aga approved. But it's not relevant as the OP wants to run on solid not oil.

Even if your friends conversion was a kit produced by another firm and used on a lot of conversions then I expect it is quite acceptable. Its a bit like LPG conversions for cars.

It's most likely a Don burner, possibly not, however, it's not relevant.

The only advice I will give you is that whatever is done it should be in accordance with the manufacturer's advice/agreement.

Tony

Since you wont get any approval from Aga as they would like to sell you a new one, try reading here about changing back to solid fuel.

The original conversion involved throwing out some of the original parts, so you'll have to replace them, and by the time you've done that you'll wish you hadn't bothered. It's also a couple of days work. May as well swap it for a solid fuel model. You could ask the question here.

Running a wet cooker dry is possible with oil as the heat input isnt high, but with solid fuel, a purpose designed model is better.

 

[Agile]

Running a wet cooker dry is possible with oil as the heat input isnt high, but with solid fuel, a purpose designed model is better.

I think the reason why its can be acceptable with oil is because oil can be switched off by a thermostat.

A solid fuel source once ignited and burning will not "turn off" and continues to produce heat however elevated the temperature of the range. Hence a heat dump is essential !

Tony

 

[Mike2007]

Oilman wrote:

Running a wet cooker dry is possible with oil as the heat input isnt high, but with solid fuel, a purpose designed model is better.

The cooker was designed to run on solid fuel (thats really the point), not oil. So I would have thought changing it back to its original purpose would be fine, taking into consideration there may be small holes for piping the vapouriser with kerosene.
There still have a big bag of MF parts to put back inside, so thats a relief.
No worries, if a job can not be done to safe standard I would not entertain it!

 

[Balenza]

My neighbour diy designed and built his own solid fuel boiler/incinerator which provides all the heat to his home and incinerates all the waste from his engineering business.
I dont know what the output is but its big. Real big. A four foot log can be placed inside.
The flow pipe leads off from the top and then vertically down. (22mm) An electric failure or pump failure and the thing overheats.

He has an automatic air damper control fitted and would not reveal how this works. As the heat builds up the damper closes. Any ideas ?.
He sold one to a neighbour who then diyed the flue up through the roof of their garage and it caught fire and burnt down the garage.

Another guy he sold one to cleared ashes from the inside,put them in a bucket with hot cinders inside and placed them in his log shed. This burnt down also along with a caravan sitting beside it.
This is not part of his business but he has enough orders from his neighbours to build dozens of them but cant be ar@sed.

 

[oilman]

I think the reason why its can be acceptable with oil is because oil can be switched off by a thermostat.

It's acceptable with an oil conversion because the max heat input is much less than solid fuel. It's often difficult to get the heat input HIGH enough with a vapouriser.

A solid fuel source once ignited and burning will not "turn off" and continues to produce heat however elevated the temperature of the range. Hence a heat dump is essential !

Tony

A heat dump is only essential if it's essential. There are solid fuel cookers of this type without heatsinks, designed that way.

 

[oilman]

The cooker was designed to run on solid fuel (thats really the point), not oil. So I would have thought changing it back to its original purpose would be fine, taking into consideration there may be small holes for piping the vapouriser with kerosene.
There still have a big bag of MF parts to put back inside, so thats a relief.
No worries, if a job can not be done to safe standard I would not entertain it!

This may be useful.

 

[oilman]

My neighbour diy designed and built his own solid fuel boiler/incinerator which provides all the heat to his home and incinerates all the waste from his engineering business.
I dont know what the output is but its big. Real big. A four foot log can be placed inside.
The flow pipe leads off from the top and then vertically down. (22mm) An electric failure or pump failure and the thing overheats.

He has an automatic air damper control fitted and would not reveal how this works. As the heat builds up the damper closes. Any ideas ?.
He sold one to a neighbour who then diyed the flue up through the roof of their garage and it caught fire and burnt down the garage.

Another guy he sold one to cleared ashes from the inside,put them in a bucket with hot cinders inside and placed them in his log shed. This burnt down also along with a caravan sitting beside it.
This is not part of his business but he has enough orders from his neighbours to build dozens of them but cant be ar@sed.

Thank you for sharing that with us. What use was it to the OP?

 

[Balenza]

oilman wrote

What use was it to the OP?

Just stating my findings oilman. Flues are DANGEROUS or hadn't you realised ?

 

[Balenza]

Oilman wrote

A heat dump is only essential if it's essential.

So when is it not essential then.?