Ugh, found a pretty critical area of unpreparedness in my life!

[1stimestar]

I can't get the filter off my heating fuel tank so have no heater tonight and it is -30F. I ran out of fuel overnight last night. I had a couple of gallons set aside for just this purpose so climbed up the ladder and put them in. Normally by the time I get inside, wait a few minutes for the fuel to settle, I just hit the on button and it comes back on automatically. Well guess I got too much crap in the filter and it froze up. Since this is the first time I have had this type of stove, and this is a rental, I don't know much about them. So I turned on the oven so it can keep my kids warmish, blocked off the bedroom with a curtain (it's only a two room cabin) and headed off to town to find a filter. I got more fuel while there too. I got all bundled up and waded out through the snow, brushed off the filter and fittings, only to find that it is frozen on. We recently lost the snow load off the roof due to that freak warm spell last month and it all fell on the tank, which includs on the filter as well. I never even thought about it. I twisted, I turned, I hammered on it, I cussed. It would not turn. It's just like a car oil filter that hangs down off the end of the tank. So tomorrow I'll go back into town and buy some deicer and a filter wrench. I mean, I'm no wilting lilly, I consider myself pretty strong as far as women go, stronger then many actually. I could see the ice around the edge breaking up when I hammerd on it, but apparently it is frozen all the way down on the inside. After several trips out, I came in and cooked dinner. Heater 1, Me 0.

I drug the mattresses off the beds and put them on the living room floor (floor is way too cold to sleep on), sealed off the bedroom more completly, made the bed with 4 comfortors and put my kids to bed to watch a movie and now seem warm enough. I'll crawl in between them here in a bit and we'll have some snuggle time. It's warm enough now that we aren't seeing our breath at least. I just hope to whoever that the heating element in the oven doesn't burn out over night.

Live and learn...

[Sourdough]

I can't get the filter off my heating fuel tank so have no heater tonight and it is -30F. I ran out of fuel overnight last night. I had a couple of gallons set aside for just this purpose so climbed up the ladder and put them in. Normally by the time I get inside, wait a few minutes for the fuel to settle, I just hit the on button and it comes back on automatically. Well guess I got too much crap in the filter and it froze up. Since this is the first time I have had this type of stove, and this is a rental, I don't know much about them. So I turned on the oven so it can keep my kids warmish, blocked off the bedroom with a curtain (it's only a two room cabin) and headed off to town to find a filter. I got more fuel while there too. I got all bundled up and waded out through the snow, brushed off the filter and fittings, only to find that it is frozen on. We recently lost the snow load off the roof due to that freak warm spell last month and it all fell on the tank, which includs on the filter as well. I never even thought about it. I twisted, I turned, I hammered on it, I cussed. It would not turn. It's just like a car oil filter that hangs down off the end of the tank. So tomorrow I'll go back into town and buy some deicer and a filter wrench. I mean, I'm no wilting lilly, I consider myself pretty strong as far as women go, stronger then many actually. I could see the ice around the edge breaking up when I hammerd on it, but apparently it is frozen all the way down on the inside. After several trips out, I came in and cooked dinner. Heater 1, Me 0.

I drug the mattresses off the beds and put them on the living room floor (floor is way too cold to sleep on), sealed off the bedroom more completely, made the bed with 4 comfortors and put my kids to bed to watch a movie and now seem warm enough. I'll crawl in between them here in a bit and we'll have some snuggle time. It's warm enough now that we aren't seeing our breath at least. I just hope to whoever that the heating element in the oven doesn't burn out over night.

Live and learn...

What you have is AIR Lock, You need to "Bleed the line". When it ran out of fuel, all that was in the line was AIR. You put fuel in, but the air is in front of the fuel, You need to bleed the line. It is a gravity feed system. You need to Disconnect the line right at the Heater & bleed the air out......till just fuel is coming out of the line then reconnect.

[Pal334]

Good point SD.
On some there is also an actually "bleed" fitting, on many it almost looks like a grease fitting.
If it is that bleed fitting , loosen it, hit the start button, then it will as SD said eventually feed out the air an fuel will flow. Then quickly tighten the bleeder.

Either way, will be a good lesson for the future. Sometimes the best lessons are learned through hard knocks.

[randyt]

what kind of oil heater do you have? gun style burner or carburetor? sounds like the gun style. gun styles have a primary relay with a 40 second time out on ignition failure. I've had to thaw out oil lines and filters many times over the years. I like having the oil filter inside the conditioned space this keeps it from freezing up. I'm not sure what filter you have but some can act as a water trap. even so the unit will usually need to be bled as the others have posted. sometimes too I've had nozzles get full of debris upon running out of oil. this can distort the flame pattern and effect operation. your filter probably caught all that. good luck

[1stimestar]

It's a Toyo 2200. Thanks for the bleeding the line info. I didn't think of that.

[crashdive123]

Keep us posted. Sending some warm Florida thoughts your way.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

The TOYO has a reset on the stove itself that releases float. Bleeding line is often needed but you should open valves slowly or float will stick and need to be realeased again. Be sure you are using #1 diesel and not #2. Adding a can of heat to fuel tank will generally end any freezing or water problems. I heat my house with a TOYO but have wood, electric and propane for backup. My TOYO broke down this year after 17 years of faithful service but the service available is not near as good as the stove and if you have no other option repairmen will take advantage of your dire situation. The repairman I called wanted 700 dollars to fix mine and because I had wood heat I was able to tell him where to go and just removed mine from the wall and took it in to be repaired by another shop that took 2 weeks to repair but only cost 200 dollars. The motto of heating repairman seems to be "When you got them by the balls....SQEEZE".

[rebel]

We used to have a Toyo. A model 73 I think. What a great machine. 10 years and no problems.

Sorry I can't help with your problem because it's been too long ago. I would agree with the air bubble scenario.

[1stimestar]

Got it working, finally. After a few hours, a trip to town for wrenches (guess ex took them all), bleeding the lines, twice, reset button, bending the line from the tank to the house to take out an uphill curve (then bleeding again) I finally am warm and cozy. Good stuff to learn.
The guys at The Woodway shop were very helpful in talking me through all this. I can't speak of them highly enough.

[Rick]

Glad all is toasty warm again.

[crashdive123]

Good deal. Now - you may want to formulate a back-up plan.

[Rick]

You might want to pick up a backup heat source. If something did go wrong with the Toyo and it took days to fixed you'd be up ice creek without crampons. I have a kerosene heater, a couple of Coleman catalytic heaters and a larger propane trashcan convection heater along with the fireplace. I'd think a kerosene heater or a trash can heater would make a pretty big difference in the cabin if the primary heater went out.

I bought this one from Northern Tool. It's 80k BTU and doesn't require electicity. It will heat 1900 sq. feet.

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[your_comforting_company]

The little blue bottles of propane and one of those small heaters that looks like a shower nozzle, would make a good backup. Something similar to this one http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CDAQ8gIwAw#
I know a couple carpenters that use them in cold weather, and they do okay. Should do really well in the confined space of that little cabin, and one or two of the little bottles will last overnight. Just an idea.

[1stimestar]

I have a tent heater but of course, it is in storage with the camping gear. I don't think it is big enough to heat this place even though it's small. How is the safety for those other ones in an enclosed area?

[Rick]

From the trash can operation manual.

"Direct-fired means that all of the combustion products enter the heated space. Even though this heater operates very close to 100 percent combustion efficiency, it still produces small amounts of carbon monoxide."

Kerosene heaters are okay for short term use as well. Obviously, if you have a respiratory problem then you'll want to find something else.

As to the Coleman catalytic heaters, they are made for enclosed spaces.

I have a CO alarm in the house and whatever I use I'm cognizant that if it's faulty or otherwise not operating correctly then there is a safety issue. They are meant for short term use until the primary heat unit can be brought back on line.

[kyratshooter]

I had the heat pump go down mid winter a couple of years back. My Mr Heater did the job for the top floor with no problem. Small living room, kitchen two bed rooms.

I hook it to a 20# tank for nearly a week of burn time. It does a good job in the big wall tent too.

I don't know what it would do at -30, but down to zero it kept the ouse warm.

I am glad the people at the shop were helpful. In my area I find the service people at the counters rude and obnoxious. It seems to be a requirement for employment here.