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Old 12-03-2019, 04:32 PM
abefromen's Avatar
abefromen abefromen is offline
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Default Garage heater

My 40 year old Modine 50,000 BTU natural gas heater took a dump and instead of calling a tech to come look at it I was thinking to replace it.....fan runs but burners don't light.

I can buy Modine and Mr. Heater units on Amazon and want to keep it to $500 max....only have a two car garage around 20x20ish....the Mr. Heater reviews are sketchy.

Any help is appreciated either recommendations for new or what to look at on my old unit which is a Modine PA50AB

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Old 12-03-2019, 05:19 PM
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Rocky Rotella Rocky Rotella is offline
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I have a Modine Hot Dawg (100,000 BTU) in my attached garage and absolutely love it. The garage measures 22 x 44 with 16-foot ceilings and the 100,000 BTU size may be overkill, but I'd rather it be oversized than undersized from an efficiency standpoint. It's power vented and relatively quiet. They have various sizes, so they should have one that best fits your application and budget.

https://www.modinehvac.com/web/produ...-vented-hd.htm

  #3  
Old 12-04-2019, 01:00 AM
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jwcfbd jwcfbd is offline
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what are the chances it's just your igniter that when bad?

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Old 12-04-2019, 01:30 AM
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Jack Gifford Jack Gifford is offline
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Or the thermocouple.

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Old 12-04-2019, 01:41 AM
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dataway dataway is offline
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I see parts are still available for the modine PD50 and most Modine heaters. I'd check the parts diagrams for some prices and see what it would cost to fix. Like stated above, most of the time it's the ignitor module or thermocouple.

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Old 12-04-2019, 02:10 AM
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Jack Gifford Jack Gifford is offline
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Default "They don't make 'em like they used to..."

It's not likely that you would take my approach of using time-proven stuff even though it's antiquated- but anyhow...

My "Warm Morning" natural gas heater (Locke Stove Co., Kansas City MO) is still working perfectly. Mother-in-law bought it new in 1951 and gave it to me when I built this house in '75. All I've ever done to it is tweak the pilot burner bracket for better aim at the thermocouple. It's only 30kbtu but keeps my 32x26 well-insulated garage above 60 degrees all winter. I'm just starting a 28x24 addition, so I'll move the heater into the addition, and replace it with a 40kbtu "Warm Morning" unit found on eBay (yeah, I'm crazy enough to ship it from 5 states away).

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  #7  
Old 12-04-2019, 03:32 PM
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abefromen abefromen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Gifford View Post
It's not likely that you would take my approach of using time-proven stuff even though it's antiquated- but anyhow...

My "Warm Morning" natural gas heater (Locke Stove Co., Kansas City MO) is still working perfectly. Mother-in-law bought it new in 1951 and gave it to me when I built this house in '75. All I've ever done to it is tweak the pilot burner bracket for better aim at the thermocouple. It's only 30kbtu but keeps my 32x26 well-insulated garage above 60 degrees all winter. I'm just starting a 28x24 addition, so I'll move the heater into the addition, and replace it with a 40kbtu "Warm Morning" unit found on eBay (yeah, I'm crazy enough to ship it from 5 states away).

It has a standing pilot that I can light and it always remains lit so I am assuming the thermocouple is ok but what do I know.

I'm all for trying to fix this old unit because the heat exchanger is in great shape but the last thing I want to do is throw parts at it that don't fix it.

There are some parts still available for this old model but not a lot, or maybe I am not looking in the right places idk.

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Old 12-04-2019, 06:22 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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I have a Mr. Heater 80,000 BTU, natural gas/Propane model. It's in it's 4th year. I got a great deal on it, $350.00 new. The quality is fair in my judgement. I will be amazed if it lasts 10 years. It works fine and makes lots of heat. My primary complaint is the little safety flu fan that blows before it lights is very low quality steel and not treated in anyway. Little flakes of rust come off the housing and block the tiny orifice that trips a switch and keeps it from lighting. It happens at least once every few weeks in the heating season. I have to climb up 10 ft. on a ladder, remove the hose and clean out the tiny orifice and blow out with compressed air. Then it's fine for another few weeks until another flake plugs it up. If they would have simply used galvanized steel or treated it in some way, no problem. Just an example of the marginal construction. I would have to think better quality equipment is out there.

  #9  
Old 12-08-2019, 12:43 AM
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Pontiyak Pontiyak is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abefromen View Post
It has a standing pilot that I can light and it always remains lit so I am assuming the thermocouple is ok but what do I know.

I'm all for trying to fix this old unit because the heat exchanger is in great shape but the last thing I want to do is throw parts at it that don't fix it.

There are some parts still available for this old model but not a lot, or maybe I am not looking in the right places idk.
Can you PM me and I will give you my phone number. You can call me and I will try to help you over phone to determine problem with it.

You will be very hard pressed to find a unit heater that well built and trouble free in today's offerings.

Thanx Dave

  #10  
Old 12-08-2019, 01:27 AM
Jack Gifford's Avatar
Jack Gifford Jack Gifford is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Gifford View Post
... All I've ever done to it is tweak the pilot burner bracket for better aim at the thermocouple...
Oops! Ain't no thermocouple in this ancient non-electric heater. Just a capillary tube to the safety shutoff valve. Actually I like the fact that power outages don't stop it from heating.

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