Anyone know much about older kerosene heaters??

[91stranger]

I have a Toyostove DR-86 kerosene heater that works great but has some issues. This kerosene heater has 2 fuel tanks. The main tank sits at the bottom of unit and then there is a secondary fuel tank that slides in and out for easy filling. The issue seems to be the secondary tank doesn't like to fill the main tank as it uses fuel. I have to manually pick the secondary tank up about an inch and slowly let it down and I can hear the fuel coming out of the second tank but it stops as soon as I drop the tank all the way. If I hold it 1/8" from touching I can hear the tank bubbling as if it is filling the main tank. Part diagram doesn't show anything missing so I don't know why it won't fill the main tank. Lately I've been picking the tank up and down and getting the main tank filled, light the heater and just keep lifting the tank every 30-40 minutes to make sure there's fuel in the main tank which works but is a hassle that shouldn't have to be done since gravity should handle that. Anyone have any ideas? The manual doesn't mention this issue in troubleshooting and I can't find anything online. Seems to be plenty of old timers on here that have tinkered with just about everything so hopefully someone knows what is happening. I've tried having the cap really tight, not so tight and nothing makes a difference. Its a great heater when it works. Got it for free and only had to buy a wick so I got $15 in it other than fuel..... Damn kerosene is $3.99/gallon here but a heck of a lot cheaper than small electric heaters which I despise. Here's a pic of it I found online to get an idea what I mean by it having 2 fuel tanks.

 

[97RangerXLT]

we used to have one of those when I was a kid 30+ years ago.... sounds to me like you have a plugged line that lets air into the second tank as it fills the main tank. if you lift it up, it is letting air in as the fuel goes out. take apart all the lines in the bottom tank and make sure you can blow air through them. if air can't go in to displace fuel going out, it doesn't go out.

AJ

 

[adsm08]

We had one like that too when I was a kid, roughly the same time frame as AJ.

I agree, it does sound like you have a plugged vent somewhere.

 

[91stranger]

It only has a screen filter between the 2 tanks. The second tank literally sits upside down onto the main tank and there is a small shaft sticking up from the screen that opens the valve on the second tank. Screen was clean too. I've had it all apart and it seems good now that I replaced the wick.