16 year old 422

[FordMan59]

Since I had the 422 I bought for my son hooked up in the house and it seems to running fine, I decided to tear into my 422 this afternoon and do the chamber rebuild. When I got inside the chamber I found the flame ring in pretty bad condition, mushroomed around the edges and several broken welds. The pot was relatively clean and most of the burn mat was still attached, which I thought was pretty good considering the heater had been in use for 16 heating seasons. There was a small amount of carbon build up in the bottom of the pot and some at the fuel inlet, but nothing extreme. All the air holes in the pot were still clear. I cleaned the bottom and sides of the pot, put a new burn mat in made from the material I bought at McMaster-Carr and glued it in using the Rutland 77 cement. Most of the gaskets were still intact so I only had to replace the gaskets for the igniter and igniter cover. I'm currently taking a break to give my back a rest (chronic back pain), but I have everything back together except putting the front and top back on. The job was kind of time consuming, but I tried to clean everything up good, including removing 16 years worth of dust from some areas that I'd never been able to get to before. All in all I'm satisfied with the amount of time it took considering I'd never taken the chamber out of one before. I also want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed in helping me find materials at McMaster-Carr for a fraction of the price monitor sells them for and helping instruct me though the process. Without the help and reading though many of the threads on this site, I'm sure it would have been more time consuming and more aggravating. I don't consider myself an expert, but at least I know more about my heater now than I did a few hours ago. I'll still be dropping in to the site regularly, who knows I might even be able to answer some of the simple questions people have.

[HayZee518]

Thank You for your input. Like you, when I started the sub-directory, I didn't know whoots about a Monitor heater. With diligence and careful thoughts I found the heater is really no mystery. It's pretty much like any furnace that burns a fuel to create usable heat either through convection or fan forced. Safety devices are installed for a reason. NEVER run without them!

[FordMan59]

Thank You for your input. Like you, when I started the sub-directory, I didn't know whoots about a Monitor heater. With diligence and careful thoughts I found the heater is really no mystery. It's pretty much like any furnace that burns a fuel to create usable heat either through convection or fan forced. Safety devices are installed for a reason. NEVER run without them!

I think this was only the fourth heater of any type I'd worked on. I had replaced the wick in a couple portable kerosene units probably about 20 years ago and removed and cleaned the gas nozzle on my mom's wall mounted natural gas unit last year. Starting the sub forum on Monitor's was a great contribution to the site and to anyone who is lucky enough to find it. I don't even know how I happened to find it, but I'm glad I did. I think I just searched the web for Monitor heater repair and it happened to come up. I'm very thankful for everyone's input, but HayZee518 you're the greatest. Keep up the good work. Hopefully I can quit bothering you for awhile now. I was well pleased that I was able to finish the job in less than a day and save myself a few hundred dollars. I'm not even sure I could have found anyone in the area that would have tackled the Monitor since there are no Monitor dealers or service facilities for them in the area I'm now living in. I think I'll go ahead and order a couple more flame rings to have on hand for my 422 and the one I bought for my son in case parts start getting harder to find in the next few years.

[HayZee518]

FYI, Monitor stopped production of their kerosene heaters last year, but guaranteed availability of replacement parts. Heaters of the vintage variety will have parts until the present inventory runs out then who knows. Toyostove and Rinnai would be the next viable choice. I haven't heard anything of them curtailing their production of the vented heater.

[FordMan59]

FYI, Monitor stopped production of their kerosene heaters last year, but guaranteed availability of replacement parts. Heaters of the vintage variety will have parts until the present inventory runs out then who knows. Toyostove and Rinnai would be the next viable choice. I haven't heard anything of them curtailing their production of the vented heater.

I knew Monitor had stopped production on the kerosene units, but thought the parts for the older units might start getting scarce. Do you know which units they agreed to continue to make service parts for and for how long? I bought a new 2200 in 2010 before I moved from NC-KY to use for a back up in case the 422 ever wears out, but so far it hasn't been fired up.

[HayZee518]

I have a 2400 unit at my house and I know they still have parts for these. the earliest M-20 - hmmm good question. Hawkins111 said they still use the 20 in Alaska! Next would be the 30, then 41, then they made the jump to the 441 and 422. Ebay has some stuff. There is other suppliers too but you got to look for them. There's references for them elsewhere in this forum on monitors. If I get the time, I'll back track and list them as I find them.

[FordMan59]

Found this article on the net, it says they will produce parts for Monitor heaters through 2014. Of course parts will probably be available for years after production ceases.

No reason to worry as Monitor retires heaters, sellers say | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

[shoreshot]

Hawkins; Any suggestions for removing the pot on the 441? I'm tryin' to be thorough, (anal?) and figure I've come this far, might as well...it seems to be OK, but I think removal might enable a more complete inspection and cleaning.... this thing has been real dependable for 17 yrs with pretty much routine care and feeding, I feel I owe it a decent job.....thanks!

[shoreshot]

In southern Maine, Frederick Bros. Rt.1 in Scarborough. (207) 883-2551...sales & service, parts..etc.

[hawkins111]

cleaning the pot

Shoreshot,

You will need to flip the combustion chamber over and remove the pot from the bottom. Four screws hold it in. This is the only way to really be able to clean the pot thoroughly. With the pot out, the chamber and heat exchanger are a little lighter. Bang the heat exchanger around to loosen the carbon. Remove the outlet and vacuum out the carbon. You can remove the heat exchanger from the chamber if necessary.

Tom

[shoreshot]

Tom; Thanks... I'm glad I didn't pass that by.. soot had built up in the bottom of the outlet side of the exchanger, to about 1 1/2" below the pipe...also in the elbow...I'm sure that would have bit me on the butt before another year or two. I am finding that the more I get into this rig, the more I appreciate its engineering.

[HayZee518]

for those of you that have a propane monitor model GF 3800, I noticed the other day that a column of ice had built up below the discharge pipe. Propane when it burns exhausts carbon monoxide and water vapor. This water vapor condensed on the outlet pipe which extends beyond the inlet pipe and dripped down forming a stalactite type of column. it is almost touching the outlet pipe, so check the through the wall piping for obstructions if your heater starts to act funny. temperatures here in northern ny have been in the minus single digits at night.