converting wood too oil

[peterjd89]

I'm thinking about going from wood to oil. The question is can I get away with installing an oil burner in the wood box any suggestions or good oil burners wood be appreciated thanks.

[madmapler]

I have an oil burner I took off an arch I converted to wood. It was one of 2 used in a 4x12. Its cheap if you want it.

[brookledge]

yes you can do it and many have. However the air chamber will not operate as efficiently as an arch that was designed for oil.
most will take the doors off and get a large thick sheet of steel and cut a hole in it for the burner to go through and mount it to that
Keith

[Brian]

also remove the grates or put ceramic blanket over them.

[Brian]

I should of said put a plate across were the grates go because the space isn't needed. The ceramic blanket is needed instead of brick because the brick holds the heat after the burner is off. It will cause problems with the burner

[mellondome]

Visit some sugarhouse with oil arches. Take a good look at the firebox area. If you can get a look under the front pan on a same size setup, make some measurements.... it isn't hard to modify the shape of the firebox area with blanket and vermiculite. Also take note of the nozzle they are using... flame shape makes a big difference .

[morningstarfarm]

Having just done this step a couple years ago, I will tell you that your arch will be about half As efficient as it was with wood...the reason is that an oil burner is like a jet engine...the hottest point is directly in front of the flame..you won't get the heat transfer to the back half of your flu pan like with wood...if you look in most oil arches it is wide open with no ramp...my 5x12 would boil about 220 gph with wood and we were getting approx 125gph on oil..reverse fire the arch and she would have gotten 290ish...replacing her next month with a 4x12 with super flus and reverse fired and steam away...should be up to 490 on low and 590 on high..