How To Add Oil To The Trimmer

In recent years, a new theme has been added to the piggy bank of automobile holders. Whether it is necessary to fill oil in the filter when replacing oil in the engine. It would seem that for a question, our fathers and children on the Zhiguli and Muscovites have been pouring for decades and we have been taught this, but in recent years this practical ritual has been called into question. The reason is in the official instructions for servicing modern car models. If you look there, you will not find requirements in one when filling the oil to the brim to fill the filter. Lubricate the gum before installation. Yes, fill the entire volume of the filter. No. This is where the theme for the holivar is built. On the one hand experience, on the other hand modern instructions, which, however, are far from always aimed at increasing the resource or the convenience of the car owner.

We listen to the arguments of the supporters of both versions, just like in some kind of rap battle.

It is necessary to fill in!

Those who flood and recommend to others usually give two reasons to do so.

Firstly, it is believed that if the filter element is dry, then it can break during a sharp supply of oil, and if it is soaked beforehand, the risk of this will be significantly reduced.Secondly, if you do not fill it, the oil will go longer to the engine at the first start-up, because you first need to fill the filter capacity, but it is not so small. It turns out that the motor will work for some time (albeit relatively small) without lubrication, and this is harmful.

By modern standards, the arguments, I must admit, are so-so. Earlier filters may have been torn by the wind, but now if you do not buy a frank marriage, it is difficult to imagine something like that.

In addition, from the point of view of physics, the version at “soaking” sounds a little strange. You can’t argue about the flow of oil into the engine, but here it is. Oil pumps on modern cars are very productive, they pump a huge amount of liquid and filling the filter for them is a matter of a second, while the engine does not start dry. As you do not drain the old oil, anyway, the film remains on the walls. It is she who will save the rubbing parts of the engine for that second until fresh liquid ripens.

Probably, in those days when the filters were made of something incomprehensible, and the performance of the oil pumps was like that of a water pistol, these arguments were significant, but today they do not carry anything wrong.

No need to fill!

Supporters of an oil change without filling the filter cite their scary arguments.

Firstly, when pouring oil into the filter, you can inadvertently bring air or dirt into it, which then goes into the motor, and this is fraught with problems.

Secondly, this filling the oil into the filter is simply inconvenient, the extra operation increases the time and laboriousness of the work, and it’s a little more convenient to spin the dry filter than filling it with oil.

Arguments, of course, are also like themselves. You can bring in garbage, if you wish, but you just have to try it hard. Work in a very dirty place or be megabags. Well, in addition, the filter, as it were, exists in order to protect the motor from dirt in oil. If you do not drop something openly piercing and cutting into him, then he must stop any “byaku”. Words about the laboriousness of pouring oil into the filter also cause a smile, if it is difficult, then maybe you should not change the oil yourself?

The only reasonable argument is the twist issue. Indeed, for some motors, the filter is installed at such an angle that when installing a “full” filter, some of the oil can be spilled. This is unpleasant, but not fatal either.

Commentary by the “judges”

It seems to us that the debate about pouring oil is sucked from the finger. If earlier there were technical reasons to screw the filled filter, then for modern technologies they are no longer relevant. However, to say that following traditions will lead to some problems is also strange. With the exception of old cars and models with a distorted arrangement of the oil filter, there is no difference, and what to think about whether to fill the oil with a filter or not, it is better to carefully monitor the replacement interval and the choice of oil itself. But with this, if you do not inspect, real, not far-fetched problems may arise.

A household oil-filled electric heater is a unit long known to the consumer, the device of which allows you to independently perform many operations for its repair and maintenance.

Damage to the unit body is a frequent occurrence, therefore, we will consider measures to eliminate this malfunction and its consequences, including the question of which oil in the oil heater is safe to operate.

General arrangement of oil heaters

The design of oil-filled heaters is a sealed metal heat exchanger-radiator filled with 80% of the volume of oil. A tubular electric heater (or several heating elements) is mounted in the lower part of the radiator, and on the outside there is a block with control devices (switch, power mode switch, temperature regulator flywheel) and devices that ensure safe operation (circuit breakers during overheating, rollover or aggregate leakage).

Oil-filled electric heaters of industrial production: on the left. Ribbed, on the right. Flat.

The equipment of oil heaters, depending on the type and class of the unit, is different, but an oil-filled radiator with a heating element is present in all devices.

After being connected to the network, the tubular heater raises the oil temperature in the lower part of the radiator, which initiates the formation of convective flows in this liquid medium. Thanks to convection, the device heats up evenly over the entire surface area and gives off heat to the air, which as a result of this also starts convection movement.

Homemade oil heaters

Heating the contents of the radiator is accompanied by expansion of the liquid and, accordingly, an increase in pressure in the tank. Part of this effect is suppressed by an air “cushion”, which occupies 20% of the volume in the radiator, but its remainder still presses on the walls of the tank from the inside. The radiator of the new oil heater is designed for such a load, but due to a number of factors, sooner or later it may lose its tightness. Consider ways to resolve this malfunction in relation to various types of oil-filled heaters.

Fin heater

The radiators of such heaters with a configuration resemble cast-iron heat exchangers for central heating. Separate sections of such heaters are made from billets, cut with high precision by a laser from sheet steel 0.5 mm thick, molded by pressing and then assembled again using laser welding.

The small thickness of the radiator walls makes the heater vulnerable to corrosion, therefore, outside the casing of such oil heaters, protective painting is performed according to powder technology. Mechanical damage to the protective layer, frequent in everyday life, entails first surface pitting, and then through corrosion of the tank with loss of tightness.

Progressive corrosion of the rib of the oil-filled heater section

When depressurizing a finned oil cooler, three problems have to be addressed:

• Repair damage to the case;
• Filling the tank with oil;
• Restoration of tightness of the tank.

The possibility of repairing a radiator is determined primarily by the design of its heater.

If the tubular heater is removable, then its dismantling allows you to drain the remaining oil after leakage, repair the damage, then refill the radiator, and reinstall the heater.

The control unit is removed from the heater, after which the unit is installed on its side, the wires from the heating element are disconnected (having previously drawn their position), and the heater is unscrewed using a gas key.

Dismantling the tube heater with a gas wrench

After fixing the damage on the case, clean transformer oil is poured into the heater. To determine the required volume, fill the tank completely, then empty the radiator, and return 4/5 of its full volume to the heater. For filling, you can use the remains of the old oil from the radiator, adding the necessary amount of new to it.

Evaporation of transformer oil is carried out for 20-30 minutes at a temperature of 90 degrees. Further heating initiates oxidation reactions in the liquid with a change in the characteristics of the substance.

Transformer oil, being a dielectric, has good thermal conductivity and retains these properties at ambient temperatures up to 45 degrees. This substance is made from oil by distillation and, depending on the properties of the initial product, may not have significantly different characteristics. Regardless of the field and type of oil, various transformer oils can be mixed with each other without prejudice to their characteristics.

Samples of transformer oil suitable for oil-filled heaters

For pouring into an oil heater, you can also use mineral oil for vehicle transmissions. It is close to transformer in viscosity, which ensures the normal movement of convective flows in the tank during heating. Pouring synthetic gear oil into the heater due to its lower viscosity will result in noise of the unit due to the higher intensity of convective flows.

Mineral oils for automobile transmissions, possible for use in oil-filled radiators

The use of motor vehicle oils in oil heaters is not recommended for the following reasons:

• Their viscosity is different and for an oil-filled heater may be too high, which will lead to overheating of the heater;
• Higher cost of these materials (due to the presence of technological additives that are effective when used in an engine, but not in demand in a heater), especially of synthetic origin.

The use of used engine oil in finned radiators is not allowed. The presence of metal suspension and fuel combustion products in the liquid will adversely affect the quality of heat transfer and the operation of the heating element, the replacement of which in units of this design is a time-consuming operation.

Flat Heater Heater

Oil filling in flat heaters is also carried out depending on whether their design allows it.

In oil heaters with a flat case of domestic production, oil filling was provided for by the design. In order to add liquid, their radiators in the lower part were equipped with a drain plug.

Flat oil heating electric appliances of domestic production

Modern oil-filled flat-case heaters, offered by foreign manufacturers, are not designed to top up the oil with the forces of the consumer. However, with the removable design of the heater, the technology for repairing the radiator with its subsequent filling will not differ from the restoration of the finned heater. The rules for using different types of oils in oil heaters with a flat body are also identical to those listed above.

Flat oil heaters of modern design: on the left. Floor, on the right. Wall.

Homemade heater

Hand-made oil heaters are heating units, the aesthetics of which are not high, since they are most often used in utility or technical rooms. But at the same time, the durability of such devices exceeds the operating potential of industrial heaters by several times, since materials with a large margin of safety — steel pipes, cast-iron radiators — are used for their manufacture.

Oil-filled hand-made radiators: on the left. From pipes, on the right. From a cast-iron convector of the central heating system

Accordingly, the requirements for the oil used in such units are also democratic.

In addition to the types of oils listed, in the radiators of home-made pipe heaters, used motor can be used. A significant internal volume of the heat exchanger provides normal conditions for convection of lubricating fluids of even high viscosity.

The only condition remains the inadmissibility of mixing oils of various origins. There can be many options for the outcome, from completely favorable to failure of the heater.

Conclusion

Today’s market is saturated with oil heaters, the design of which uses the latest technical developments. However, such units are rarely designed for self-service by the user. At the same time, domestic appliances have not lost their relevance. Reliable and durable, the operation of which gives the skills to make repairs with their own hands. The article will help those who, having figured out the prospect of repairing the heater, decided to independently extend its life.