This was a good one. What an Easter egg hunt. For the past several days, I have been having low water temp on my El Diablo. While cleaning it would maintain 190 degrees w/ the thermostat set at 260. Everything appeared to work correctly so I performed the basic checks. Good fuel supply, water flow switch working, the ignitor working & good fuel spray from the jet. I descaled & flushed the system. I ran the machine & got the same result 190 degrees. I call my local dealer & explain my problem. The tech laughs & tells me he has another El D in the shop w/ the same problem. The tech indicated that these two El D's were installed about the same time. The tech had gone through the same tests I did w/ the same results. He tells me he is going to call Master Blend. The tech calls me & tells me to get in the truck and look at the fan on the heater unit. He asked me where the adjustable flap on the fan was positioned. I asked him "What adjustable flap?" He replied "There is your problem." Get some duct tape & tape over a portion of the fan opening. Leaving about 60% open then see if the heat is back to normal. I did as instructed & what a difference. Water temp is back to 250+. The other El D was also missing the flap. So all of you El D guys, keep an eye on the adjustable flap on the fan motor of the heater. It obviously will fall off.
Wait a minute, so you're telling me you have to do something that isn't apart of the manual????? Where's Red Carpet???
Where is the flap and what does it do. To my knowledge I did not think that mine had a moving part on the fan.
I'm here, I don't have any concerns with low water temperature. I only like the good stuff...you know...electrocution or explosions. Everything else makes for a slow news day.
I'm in the shop today, so its dark, hope you can see it. It swivels on the side and can easily pop off from vibrations.
The flue is used to adjust airflow in the burner. Adjustments need to made occationally in different weather conditions, seasons or changes in barometric pressure or even electrode conditions. Getting the right airflow is fairly easy. Open the flue while the burner is active and slowly close the flue. When no more smoke out the stack is visible the adjustment is set. Lock it in place securely and the airflow is set. The sound and pitch may change from day to day. As long as there is no smoke coming out you are burning clean. Kerosene and diesel burn differently. Kerosene is much much cleaner to burn, where as diesel does not burn as efficiently and has a tendency to show more smoke. flue settings with diesel fuel can be more challenging or not as precise as kerosene. That flue you show in your picture looks like a flimsy piece of junk. Sorry but no disrespect to you. You can get a much better one from a power washing supplier or Steamway. Sorry to say, but the more I see this el diablo, the more I see how cheaply made and lack of engineering it has. JMHO
My ED never said anything about that in the owners manual. I am pretty sure mine is just like that but with no vent cover. Also when I bought mine 5 years ago the told us to only burn kerosene. I think that they added that for diesel use.
I dont agree with that. My ED is made very well and simple. It is 5 + years old and still kickin' a$$ and takin' names.
Cheap is when TM builders use aluminum for tanks and such, Diablo is Stainless steel waste tank, iron framed ANIMAL! Aluminum Pits with corrosion from salts and chems. I have been a commercial fisherman for 29 years and I've seen the rot on cheap metals. So a plastic air adjust? IMO it saves from sratching and rattlin', Really not an issue to me. Cat pump, roots blower, kohler engine, industy standards!
195 gauge marine aluminum is alot better than stainless steel. If its not marine grade it will corrode. I hate to tell you but marine aluminum is less suseptible to corrosion than stainless.
I have yet to adjust mine. It remains fully open. I have no smoke residue from the stack. Course it could be that I'm @ 6035ft. above sea level and it needs to breathe. It is nothing more than a piece of plastic. Could it me better....sure. And if you want, modified it, shouldn't be all that difficult. Thats one reason were all in here, lots of modifications going on. I run kero, for the reasons Ara mentioned. I could care less about the few imprefections, the El works for me, which includes the "frame" 5yr warranty, wipe it down, besides that I'll be more than likely to have other parts used up long before that frame faulters. (and Ara's right, the thing to do is use the proper material under certain conditions its put under-ie. aluminum-water) I've seen all kinds of materials eaten up by, water, and chemicals including aluminum when its not taken care of. It doesn't matter what you run/use, take care of it and it'll take care of you nothing last forever.
For the record...I'm happy for the people that like their el diablo. I really am. I just don't like how they send bypass water back to the pump. No need for a water box when you do that. There are little things here and there that could be improved upon.
I don't think adjusting the flap on the heater fan had anything to do with fixing the water temp problem (Master Blend did confirm that the flap adjusts the air/fuel ratio for the heater). I ran the machine for 2 days and I have the problem back. Maintaining 150 degrees with all systems appearing to function correctly. I increased the water pressure to 700 psi and the temp increased to 190. I replaced the water flow switch (finding the missing plastic flap in the process) and ran the machine at 450 psi and got consistent 260 water temps. I will post again in few days.
Baby got heat now. New water flow switch fixed the heat problem. You know its hot when the parflex feels like a limp rubber band. New question, can the small parflex hose on the Evolution wand handle the heat? I have not bad this much heat while using the Evo.
