Help!! 422 Not Heating Properly

[FordMan59]

My 422 is doing something it's never done before in 22 years of service. For the last few days it's been running on high continuously. Yesterday's high was about 32* and it's currently 27*. Even running on high the indoor temperature is never getting above 69* in the house, According to Monitor if the heater is running on high the capsule tank should only last 8 hours, I filled it yesterday morning about 6:30 and filled it again last night around 8:00 and there was still probably about 1-1.5 pints of kerosene in it at the time, this makes me think it's not getting the correct amount of fuel to the burner but what would cause this? This weekend we're supposed to see lows in the single digits so I need to get this thing running right. Any suggestions of what to look for are appreciated.

[hawkins111]

What about the circulating fan and cover? Are they spotlessly clean? Then I would look at the louvers to make sure they are fully open. If you use the Economy Plus feature the stove will step down to Low and run until the temp is 12 degrees over the set temp. If set too high the unit will never get to the set temp if it is cold outside.

If the heater is running at all it is getting the right amount of fuel. Your problem is something other than fuel flow, cold house, thermistor set a too low a height, dirty fan and cover. I wish you a Happy New Years eve. Tom

[FordMan59]

Thanks for your reply Tom. I just got back home from getting some kerosene and am going to try to start checking out the heater after while. I know the fan can probably use some cleaning but there's good air flow out the front louvers. The heater has been used in this house for the last 7 winters and has never run on high continuously even in sub zero weather. The thermistor is located where it's been for the last 7 years. The current outdoor temperature is 39* the thermostat on the heater is set at 72*, it's still running on high. The temperature according to the heater is 70* and 69* according to another thermometer approximately 15' from the heater. Usually at these temperatures the heater is running on low, running less than 50% of the time and cycling on/off. My son has a 422 he's not using and said I could borrow it either later today or tomorrow if needed while I check mine out and figure out the problem.

[FordMan59]

I got the 422 from my son this afternoon. It's currently 22* outside with a forecast low tonight of 10*. This heater is acting exactly as it should and running on low. Over the next few days I plan to disassemble mine. I've already took the fan and louvers off and cleaned them, but plan to remove the fuel line spray carb cleaner through it, remove the burn chamber, inspect the flame ring, clean any sediment/soot in the pot/heat exchanger and clean all the air holes in the pot good with a torch tip cleaner. While I have it disassembled if the burn mat is questionable I'll go ahead and replace it rather than have to tear into it again in the next couple years to replace it.

[hawkins111]

Fordman, Everything is the same for the new heater, i.e. thermistor same height, Temp set at same, Economy Plus same as other heater?

[FordMan59]

Everything is the same as with the other heater. The thermistor on my son's heater had a broken wire so I just unplugged it and plugged the one off my heater into it. I wasn't using economy mode on mine nor am I on my son's. I have chronic back pain and huge swings in temperature make the pain worse. The low here this morning was about 10*. I was awake and up a few times throughout the night last night and I think the heat was running on med/low each time I was up and was when I got up this morning. It's currently 22* outside and the heater is running back and forth between low and med/low. I'll go through the heater good over the next few days and report back after giving everything a good cleaning and anything else that it may need.

[FordMan59]

Finally got around to tearing into the heater today. A few days ago I cleaned the circulation fan. Today I started out by oiling the combustion fan and cleaning it. The combustion fan was really dirty. Next I pulled the burn chamber out. The burn ring is still in pretty good condition at 6 years old next month. There was a lot of carbon build up right at the fuel nozzle, the mat was lifting and was brittle so I cleaned the pot and put a new mat in. I think my initial assessment was probably correct that there was enough fuel getting to the pot to burn a flame but not enough to put out the amount of heat it was calling for. It's all back together with the exception of putting the circulation fan back on. I'll try to take the other heater out and put this one back in in a few days. Right now they're still calling for temperatures near zero for the next few days so I'll probably wait for the temperatures to warm up some before hooking it back up for testing. I don't want to wake up some morning and it be as cold in the house as it is outside.