Anyone know about Gray & Dudley Co Oil Burning stoves?

[alivetoo]

I have one. The metal label has the words "Down FROGIL [?] Draft Hot Blast Oil Space Heater" then serial numbers. It also has an Underwriter's Laboratories, INC label, listing it as an oil burning stove. I don't know anything else about it. I haven't been able to find any similar stoves on the internet or any info. If you know something, I would really appreciate your help.

[Mister Fixit]

  Yes I have one of these, and I still use it! I have converted it to burn used motor oil. I burn appx 250 gal of used oil a yr. The "down draft" refers to the air tube in the top where it draws additional air for combustion in addition to the air pulled in from underneath. The oil is heated to "boil" in the pot. As a gas, it burns and heats the cast fire ring where secondary combustion takes place above the ring with the air coming down the draft tube hence the name "down draft".
   This is a great little stove. It is all mechanical control, no electric required which is great when the power is off for a heat backup. Metering is done with a carburetor which, with well filtered oil, is practically maintenance free. I've used it over 25 yrs and never had a problem. Just do routine maintenance as with anything.
   Even burning the used oil, all that comes out the pipe is clear heat, no smoke.

[mart]

Even though this post was from May,,this is interesting !! Can`t see the original pics so perhaps you could post pics of yours Mr Fixit ??  Amwondering where you get the used oil ? We have 4 tractors and 5 cars and trucks but still wouldn`t have enough to make a dent in that amount of oil !!  Welcome to the group btw !! Maybe you can stick around and help on a few other stoves, heaters ect !!  We have questions pretty regularly !!

[Mister Fixit]

I've forgotten about this column so here is an update "mart" may find helpful. I'd forgot my p.w. and just got it reset! I get most of my oil where I work as a heavy equipment mechanic, some from a friend who has excavating equipment. I burn only oil drained from a gas engine, transmission fluid, or hydraulic oil. Trans fluid and hyd oil burn very well. I do not like diesel engine oil as it has soot in it, is messy and thicker. Definitely no heavy gear oil. I am burning my stove now. The pot in the stove does need to be cleaned out after 7-10 gal of oil is burned. It gets an ash deposit in it that must be broken up and removed, similar to a "clinker". I use an old shop vac with a truck air filter in it to vacuum it out after breaking up the ash, wire-brushing the burner. Only takes about 10 minutes to clean it, pour in a 1/3 cup fuel oil, throw in a piece of paper towel that wicks up the fuel oil and light it. Adjust the flow control as desired and enjoy free heat! I did have to slightly modify the metering rod for the heavier oil. This set-up works well for me as I have used it almost 30 yrs now. It has its finical things to fuss with but is not difficult if you understand how it works. If anyone is interested I could try and include some pics if I can figure out how to post them as I'm not real computer savvy. I also used a "Siegler" oil heater that I modified a little. It had an electric blower on it. I had it set up with two oil controls, one for fuel oil and one for used oil. I probably like the Frogil stove better as it needs no electric.

[Rauville]

This reminds of visiting our local John Deere dealership some 60 years ago. Their repair shop was heated with a barrel stove that utilized used oil. The oil was in a raised tank from which it slowly ran into a container that had a thumb operated oil can pump attached to it. Through a series of Rube Goldberg cams, gears and belts running off an electric motor, about every 10 seconds it would pump a squirt of oil through a copper line into the stove. I must have been easily entertained, because I can still remember being mesmerized in watching the operation of that little make-do mechanical wonder.

[Mister Fixit]

Kutrieb Co. built a stove similar to this in the 70's. It or one similar may still be available. It had a removable pot through the top that you cleaned once a day. One was used at a truck dealer I worked at back then. It had a small motor that turned a small blower and a piston pump that pumped the oil in the manner you saw. A valve controlled oil flow and thus heat output. The way these pot stoves work is by boiling a puddle of oil, turning it into a vapor (gas) where it burns. It has to be a vapor to burn, you can't burn a liquid. Gasoline has to be a vapor to burn. In an oil stove, the secondary burn that happens above the fire ring completes the combustion process and is what lets it burn efficiently without smoking. It is interesting!

[mart]

Good to see you back Mister Fixit !! Posting pictures is easy here Just click on "reply" like you were answering a post, then right under this square you will see "attachments and other options",,Click on that and then look below at "attach" below that click on "choose file",,that will open your pictures.  When you find the one you want to post click on it then at the bottom click on "open",, that should put the pic file number in the right place to load,, then just click "post" !!  Give it plenty of time to load !! It should return to the Q&A forum when loaded and done !!  This site has a size limit of 4000kb per post so if posting more than one pic reduce the size so you keep the total kb below that !!