RIDGID 100,000 BTU portable kerosene heater question

[JME BD]

Hello, all and PLEASE forgive me for asking this in this forum but it "seemed" the most correct one to utilize at the moment.

I've recently come to possess a 100,000 BTU portable kerosene heater (aka Salamander heater) that I cannot figure out what is wrong with. The fan runs fine and fuel expells correctly from the nozzle. Problem is that it does not ever ignite. I'm wondering if there is something that I can do to fix this or someone might point me in the right direction to follow as I have not had any luck finding a manual for it or a listing on RIDGID's website pertaining to kerosene heaters sooo...I'm pretty lost. I've noticed that there is a "newer" ignition transformer on the side of it (evidently the old one died) and am not sure as to the proper testing procedures for testing it. I've taken an ohm meter to the high voltage tap (states 6,000 volts output) and checked it against the housing and it shows 14.88 kOhms but have not checked the primary leads as of yet.

Can someone or ANYONE please help me out and give me some insight as to what to do. Thank you very much for taking time to read all this as I really appreciate any/all help/effort.


Jamie

[dietz]

Jamie,
Cant really say that I know to much about salamander heaters, ..... BUT..... The way we used to test oil burner transformers was plug in the primary side (this would be the 110v side) and then take a screwdriver and touch one of the post of the secondary side and then bring the screwdriver close to the other post (but do not touch it) let the spark jump and pull the screwdriver back to the post that you started with and if the arch jumps to it then the transformer is good.
Im not sure if your transformer is like this or not but its a possibility.
Again this is how an 'ol timer taught me how to test and i know that they make modern testers to do the job, but oil is a dieing bread in my area.

Hope this helps
Ted