Monitor 2400 Maintenance

[bbraden01]

Hi, my girlfriend has a Monitor 2400 heater that was installed about 10 years ago. Recently she has been having issues with E13 and E14 error codes (off an on for 2-3 heating season). Through reading this forum I have found numerous suggestions for the reason this is occurring and through my detective efforts I have found this...the fuel line from the tank was almost completely shut off at the valve as well as in the house near the stove. The fuel filter (at the fuel tank) seems to not be plugged as there is still strong flow through the fuel filter. I have removed the heater fuel filter and cleaned it out, but it did not seem to be exceedingly dirty and the problems almost seem worse now (used Gumout). The burn window is completely blackened so it is impossible to see the flame. Also, after the unit has been turned off for a while (several hours) it usually can be restarted and it will warm the house to temperature which is working ok now that it is spring and not as cold. However, after the initial warming it is a luck of the draw on how many more burns it will do before it gives an error code. The local Monitor dealer recommends a complete rebuild after 8-10 years. Because of this, I am thinking that a rebuild might be in order. I am mechanically inclined and do a lot of my own repairs provided I have the tools and time.

My question (finally) is what is recommended for replacement/cleaning if I do this refurbishment myself? The local dealer wants $650-$750 to do this, where they remove the heater from the home and do the complete rebuild in their shop. My girlfriend and I are both poor graduate students (cue sympathy) however and if I can do this job myself for free (minus parts) that would be a big help to both of us.

I have found a complete burn chamber rebuild kit on eBay for $200 as well as a "Deluxe tune up kit" for $300 which includes all the parts from the first kit plus new bearings and some additional gaskets. Is it hard to replace these items or is there by chance an even less expensive alternative to buying completely new parts?

P.S. Everything I have read on here has been extremely helpful! What I am looking for is a "clear", "concise", list of things that I should do over the summer before next fall rolls around.

[bbraden01]

I might also add that when this started 1-2 years ago (before I was around) apparently her father just kept telling her to dump more Diesel 911 in the system.

[hawkins111]

fuel additives

First of all the Diesel 911 has to go. You will have more trouble with fuel additives than they are worth. Additives do not clean the fuel and they do not remove the water. If you have added more than the recommended amount, the excess will more than likely be at the bottom of the tank and blocking the filter. Remove the filter and drain some fuel from the bottom of the tank. If there is too much 911 additive it will be separate from the fuel and be easy to see. Change the filter regardless of its appearance. You will need to do the above before you do anything to the rest of the heater.

The fact the window is covered with soot tells me the burner is not burning cleanly. Because of the use of 911 you may get away with cleaning the flame sensor and window to start with. This is easy to do and will only cost a bit for the gaskets. From there you can view the flame and determine if you need to go further. You will need a flame sensor gasket # 6119, $7.00, and a window frame gasket # 6125, $10.00. Wipe off the flame sensor with a paper towel and be sure it is pointed down into the burner when it goes back in. Use 409 or windex and clean the window. Test the heater and look into the window to see the flame. A large leaping yellow flame is an indication of a combustion chamber overhaul. A soft blue flame is what you are looking for.

If you do an overhaul I don’t think you need to mess with the motor bearing unless the motor is making noise. This is a plus as a Monitor 2400 motor is put together with rivets and not screws. I have never replaced bearings in a M2400 motor so I’m of little help with that job.

Tom

[bbraden01]

Thanks for the information Hawkins. I'll give that a try and see how things look. It's been at least a year since any Diesel 911 was added to the system and the heater apparently worked fine most of the winter up until about February.

[FordMan59]

Maintenace

Unless the burn pot is cracked or warped you can clean it up (mine was 16 years old and still in good condition) and probably all you'd need to do the rebuild would be the flame ring, possibly gaskets and a new burn mat. You can buy sylica cloth which can be used to make your own burn mats for $9.54 for a 1' x 3' piece, part number 8799K3 at McMaster-Carr and fiberglass insulation paper for making gaskets a roll 16" x 10' x 1/8", part number 9323K21 at www.mcmaster.com and costs $26.10 per roll or if you don't want to buy a whole roll send me a PM with how much you need or the gasket sizes you need and I can cut them and sell you just what you need. The gasket material is a little thinner than original Monitor gaskets, but is much stronger and you could double the gasket if necessary. You can also glue the burn mat down using Rutland 77 Stove Cement which is available at many hardware stores for $5-6 per tube. I just rebuilt my 422 in February using the materials from McMaster-Carr, new burn ring from Hickory Home and Garden and Rutland cement from the local hardware and it's working fine.

The cheapest place I was able to find Monitor parts was Hickory Home and Garden in Hickory, NC, their ebay user name is hhgconline or their toll free phone number is 1-800-607-0452. They shipped my parts by USPS priority mail and I had them in about 3-4 days. The materials I bought from McMaster-Carr were shipped by UPS and I had them in about a week.

Using materials from McMaster-Carr, Rutland 77 Stove Cement, and a flame ring from HHG you should be able to do the rebuild for $100-$125.

HayZee 518 is a very important member on this forum and especially the Monitor heater section that uses McMaster-Carr materials and is the one who recommended I try them, he says each burn mat he's made from McMaster-Carr material has lasted him 6 years or longer. The 1' x 3' piece I bought is enough to make 27 burn mats for my 422 so considering a 6 year life span for each mat I won't need another foot for 162 years or when I'm 214 years old, so I'd say I have a lifetime's worth of mat and gasket material on hand.

[bbraden01]

Thanks FordMan, that really put a lot of what I needed in one place. I've been all over the forum looking at fixes to this and that, but I was still unsure as to what a general rebuild should consist of. Hopefully that small amount of stuff will do the trick!

[FordMan59]

I searched the threads and asked questions when I was going to do the rebuild on mine too and these guys are a wealth of knowledge. This was the first rebuild I'd needed on mine and it's 16 years old. The worst part of the job was getting the burn chamber out of the heater and cleaning the old pot. I started working on mine one afternoon not knowing a thing about what I was doing other than what I'd read on this forum and had it torn apart, cleaned the old pot, put in a new burn mat/burn ring and had it ready to go again late that night. When you clean the old pot there will probably be some carbon build up in the pot and the old burn mat will need replacing. I used a straight blade screwdriver to scrape it out then cleaned the bottom of the pot good using steel wool before gluing in the new mat. Also be sure to check all the air holes in the pot to be sure they're clear before putting everything back together. Now that I know what needs to be done I could probably do everything in 2-3 hours. I don't remember what all information is in the thread I started, but it may have additional information that would be helpful. The name of the thread I started was "16 year old 422". I do know I tried to compile all the information I needed into that thread so if I needed to refer to it while I was working on the heater. If you have the money available you might want to buy an extra pot and burn ring or two. I read on the internet that production on service parts for the Monitor kerosene units was scheduled to end in 2014 so I bought an extra pot and four extra burn rings for mine and my son's 422's, and an extra burn pot for the 2200 and two extra burn rings. I'm sure parts will be available for several years, but I expect the prices to go up when production stops. I figured if something happened to the heaters and they stopped working I could always resell the extra parts. Good luck with the rebuild and if you have other questions this is the place to come for answers. Without the help of the members here I'm sure it would've been much more of a headache when I did mine.

One thing I forgot to mention, if the 2400 is like the 422 some of the screws that hold the burn chamber to the floor of the heater can't be got to without removing the cabinet or using a long #2 phillips screwdriver. The screwdrivers I bought were just the right length at 22" long. Harbor Freight sells a set of 22" screwdrivers which includes a straight blade and a #2 phillips for $4.99 a set. I placed a magnet on the screwdriver so I could lift the screw out when it was loosened, when I went to put it back I put the magnet on the screwdriver to hold screw onto the screwdriver while getting it back into place. This may or may not be the case with the 2400 since it's a larger heater and probably has more working room than the 422, but someone else can probably tell you whether you need the long screwdrivers of not. I think HayZee 518 has a 2400 and can probably tell you.

I also have a pdf copy of the service manual for the older models. If you'd like a copy either send me a PM with your email address or post it in this thread and I'll gladly send you a copy.

[HayZee518]

Monitor Heat

I started this thread about Monitor heat because I had an M41 back in the year 2000 and found one service supplier local to me. I spent $146 for a blower motor and vowed to myself to get to the bottom of this heater and see what makes it tick! I asked my supplier to get me a service manual. At first he said ok, but when I went back to purchase it, his co-worker said you'll never get a service manual. So I started to do some poking around. I found several other people who had a Monitor, and the inquiry took off like a shot. More and more people came forward and wanted to know stuff about different heaters. I guess what started me is the cost of Monitor parts. I had worked for Western Mass Electric Company and we did business with McMaster-Carr Industrial supply. So I inquired of them for burn mat material. Then I broke the viewing window. Monitor wanted $55 for a square of glass for the window. I found some boro-silicate glass for way less than Monitor wanted, and so, ordered it. It came in about a week, cut it and put it in. Worked like a charm, plus the heat rating of the borosilicate is about 400 degrees higher than monitor's glass. Next was gasket material. I found a woven ceramic fiber mat and got a piece three feet long and a foot wide for ten bucks. Monitor wanted just $17.50 for the viewing cover gasket and of infererior material. My ceramic fiber's temperature rating is 1800 degrees and it won't get friable like the other stuff.

[bbraden01]

New Issue

Hayzee and Fordman thanks for the additional information! Hayzee, I'm lucky enough to have a Monitor dealer within 30 minutes of where this heater is and they are more than happy to do the work, but I'm still trying to figure out if they will sell me the parts or not. I'm also hoping to ask them about a service manual, but I have a feeling that I'm going to get the same response you did.

New issue though. It was "really" cold last night for the end of April so we went to turn the heater on but it wouldn't work. To be more specific, it would "start up" where the burn light would come on and I could here the combustion fan working, but the circulation fan never turned on. After a minute or so with the burn light on, the light would start to blink on and off randomly until it finally stayed off and gave the dreaded E13 code. We tried this a few times with the same result. I unplugged the unit for about 40 minutes to see if it would clear the computer but it continued to do the same thing. So after a rather cool night of sleep with the heated mattress pad, I went to turn it on this morning and it worked just fine. It did this one other time about a month ago with the same series of events...wouldn't work at night but ran just fine in the morning? The heater had been turned completely off for about 3-4 days before we turned it back on last night, but I can't remember if this was the same for when it did the same thing a month ago.

[HayZee518]

heater

Oh I'm sure the dealer would be very happy to do the work, but who wants to spend $350 just to open it up? E-13 means no flame due to no fuel or a very slow fuel fill. shut off the fuel flow. use a phillips screwdriver and an aluminum foil trough and open up the bleeder screw to empty the sump tank. then remove the two screws, plate and rubber gasket and pull out the stainless filter. clean the filter with gumout and shake it dry then replace it. put the gasket and plate back on and tighten the bleeder screw. restore fuel flow. press the red button once. this will reset the constant level control. pressing it repeatedly doesn't do anything. remove the 120 volt plug, then plug it back in. the computer resets immediately. you don't need to wait for as long as you did. press the on button, hit clear, then temp and adjust temp up to a set point you are comfortable with, then the set button. the combustion blower should come on and stay on. this blower is always the first to come on and the last to shut off. after a few minutes the pump should come on and you'll hear some clicks until the pump primes. then the fuel should ignite. after about two minutes you should be able to see a blue flame around the burner ring through the viewer window. if the heater shuts down again, the sump may be filled with kerosene water crap and the sump will need cleaning. for this, shut off the heater and unplug it. shut off the fuel flow. take the front cover off, two screws left and right of the cabinet. six screws hold the grill in place, remove these. cover comes out and up. remove the spade terminals from the pump. use a 13mm open end wrench on the brass gland nut in back of the sump tank. turn it clockwise to remove it. four screws hold the tank in the heater. remove and take out the tank. two screws hold the pump plate on the sump top. take out the pump with plate. empty out the remaining kero and spray gumout all over the inside. you may need some q tips to swish around the gumout. rinse with gumout and blow it dry. reverse the procedure and try again.

[bbraden01]

Hayzee, I will have to give the latter a try as I did the filter clean out with gum out about a month ago when it did that for the first time and after I cleaned the filter the heater started to actually give us more issues. Looks like I need to go a little deeper to fix this one...

[HayZee518]

heater

I tried to access your regular email and it came back as bogus - no such address.

[bbraden01]

E-Mail

Hayzee, not sure what happened with the e-mail, but I PMed you with the proper e-mail address.

[hawkins111]

keep us posted

BBraden,

Have you gotten around to cleaning the flame sensor and window. This will allow you to see your flame if you have any. Keep us posted so we know the solution to your stove trouble.

Thanks,

Tom

[bbraden01]

Hawkins, I have not gotten around to the flame sensor or window yet. I have elected not to open up the burn pot until I have my replacement gasket material as I am afraid once I take it apart that the current gaskets will be no good anymore after looking at what others have posted. I have taken out the sump and gave it a good cleaning, but it really did not have any build up in it and unfortunately it did not seem to help any. My semester is winding down here in Maine and I leave for Iowa to do research in 2 weeks (with lots of prep still to do) so I have a feeling I won't be able to get around to the complete tear down until mid-summer, but this thing is definitely getting torn apart and given a good cleaning before next winter! From what I have read, I have a feeling that there may be carbon deposits inside the burn chamber or that the flame pad needs replaced. After cleaning out the sump yesterday, it only took 10-15 seconds once I tripped the float for the sump to completely refill with kerosene to the "oil line" mark so I'm guessing the E13 error should not be coming from anything on the supply side? The other possibility is something with the combustion motor but I do not have the tools here in Maine to drill out the rivets to replace the bearings so that will have to wait until summer also when I have my cordless drill back. I'm unfortunately running light on tools at the moment because I only had my truck to move with from Ohio to Maine and I didn't even have room to throw in my fishing gear let alone my "extra" tools which has really been hurting! Thanks for all the help everyone and I'm sure I may be asking for more over the summer!