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NE KS | I was looking for a cheaper Val 6 style heater. Like the way the Val 6 works, but dont like the price very good. Thanks. B |
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central - east central Minnesota - | About any hardware store, big box store or northern tools, that handle keroseen / diesel heaters, can get the MiTM - Val6 knock off - you need to ask for them to order one for you . . .. Northern tools has their own version, which is a bit cheaper (constrution/materials) then the MiTM ~
Here is the parrent company that markets them ~ http://www.pinnacleint.com/products.html
http://www.mitm.com/
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200395538_200395538
and another new comer - http://www.v40heater.com/ |
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Panhandle of Ne. | I bought 2 of the radiant diesel heaters from Northern Tool last year. I believe they were a little under a grand apiece. One of them quit, can't find anybody to work on it. They worked OK, but got a Val 6 about 2 months ago from my local NAPA and really love it. If it quits, will take it back to them. I didn't like the price either, but service was the deciding factor. If you can find someone local to work on the generic's, I would probably try one. |
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central - east central Minnesota - | kagen - 11/28/2011 08:00 I bought 2 of the radiant diesel heaters from Northern Tool last year. I believe they were a little under a grand apiece. One of them quit, can't find anybody to work on it. They worked OK, but got a Val 6 about 2 months ago from my local NAPA and really love it. If it quits, will take it back to them. I didn't like the price either, but service was the deciding factor. If you can find someone local to work on the generic's, I would probably try one.
MiTM's have service centers around the country that work on their products . . .
The heaters are not that hard to work on your self. They are pretty streight forward - high pressure pump and electrical boards . . ... not cheap to repair if one of them is bad. |
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East Central Nebraska | I bought a Val 6 a couple months ago and love it. I put up a new shop and was going to put in the overhead infrared heater. At Husker Harvest Days, a Val 6 salesman talked me into one and glad I purchased it. I have a 40x60 with 17 ft sidewalls and insulated. It goes from 50 degress to 75 in about 1/2 hour. I put up a couple ceiling fans to push the heat back down. Best is no smoke or smell with it. |
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west Nebraska northeast Colorado | Gregor,
How air tight is your shop? Do you have to ventlate it at all with the Val6? How many BTU's is your heater? Are you just using this one Val6? Does moisture ever start to condense?
If you were at HHD, assume you are in NE, KS, or SD so you do heat during some fairly cold weather.
Thanks for any info you can provide. |
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Mankato Minnesota | I would like to know about "wheat fallow" questions also. |
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central - east central Minnesota - | wheat fallow - 11/28/2011 10:13 Gregor, How air tight is your shop? Do you have to ventlate it at all with the Val6? How many BTU's is your heater? Are you just using this one Val6? Does moisture ever start to condense? If you were at HHD, assume you are in NE, KS, or SD so you do heat during some fairly cold weather. Thanks for any info you can provide.
It doesn't matter how tight the shop is, from a safety/health stand point - the Val6's are very, very effecient. They do burn 99% clean.
I would supposed, that if you have a new shop and it's foamed completely air tight - I would have a small make up air supply running . . . . .
There is no moisture given off of the radiant heater - very little if any moisture in diesel/keroseen. Propane gives off lots and lots of moisture, when it burns.
I've had tools "frost" up, when below freezing, untill they come up to temp - but no moisture dripping off metal ceiling or metal walls . . . .
The Val6's that are demo'd in closed expo hall's, wouldn't be allowed by fire marshels, if they were not safe. |
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Central Kansas | I have a Val6 EPX, and a MITM 125k. The MITM was less than half the price of the Val6. The MITM uses a little more fuel while putting out a little less heat (the Val6 is a 144k). The MITM does not have a thermostat. Them Val6 can be switched from hi to low while running, while the MITM can not really be switched from hi to low without shutting it off and restarting. The MITM will smoke a little more when first lighting but I have not been able to tell a difference in fumes once they are running. I have been running #2 diesel in them. The MITM is a little louder but nothing like a torpedo style heater. As far as dependability I have had them both right at a year and no problems yet. I have had to clean the fuel filter on both once or twice. Hope I answered some of your questions, if you have any more just ask. |
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Mankato Minnesota | How much did you have to pay for the EPX?....if you don't mind saying. |
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Central Kansas | The one I bought had been a demo at a farm show and was around $2400. The MITM was $929. |
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Mankato Minnesota | Thanks for the reply,Andy. |
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west Nebraska northeast Colorado | isedit,
Thanks for the info. I did not realize the difference in moisture between propane and diesel.
Doug |
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| Hi Folks,
I was directed to this thread by cattlefeeder ( http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=186971&pos... ) so I thought I'd weigh in here as well. Please remember: I am the distributor for the VAL6 heaters for Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma - So, take everything I say with a grain of salt ;-). I DO prefer the VAL6, but I'm not afraid to give praise where it's due. You're all farmers, and I grew up a farmer. So, I know you're all clever enough to make up your minds with enough good information. That's what I'm trying to give you by weighing in...
First, on wheat fallow's questions regarding moisture condensation, I want to concur with iseedit. In fact, there is a device called the EconoDri which, evidently, only works with the VAL6. You hook it up to the ventilation fan on your grain bin and run the heat into it to dry your grain. The EconoDri isn't manufactured by the manufacturer of the VAL6, so it's 3rd-party, and you'll need to do your own research on that. However, on the moisture question, the EconoDri wouldn't work too well if it was pumping moisture-laden air into the bin.
Next, I want to address cattlefeeder's comments, as he brought me to this thread in the first place: He's got a Mi-T-M 125 ( http://bit.ly/rZD4WM )  as well as a VAL6 EPX ( http://bit.ly/vE3Mg4 ) or ( http://bit.ly/vGAQaw )  . He said that the Mi-T-M heater was about half that of the EPX, and that can't be disputed. The Mi-T-M/Pinnacle heaters are definitely made to be the lowest price diesel-fired, portable, radiant heaters. He quoted $929 for the Mi-T-M, and $2400 for the EPX (used). The problem there is that the Mi-T-M, just from looking at it, isn't made to compare with the EPX. I know cattlefeeder was giving his experience based upon what he had, but the Mi-T-M is more in the line of the VAL6 KBE5L (premium)  or KBE5S (economy)  models in the range, which are our mid-size units. The Mi-T-M is still going to be cheaper, but there won't be such a large difference when you compare them that way. It's a bit like comparing a Ford Ranger to a a Silverado, or a Colorado to a Super-Duty. They're not really made to compete with one another.
As for the noise disparity between the two, there isn't much, like cattlefeeder said, and thank God for that. I'm so glad to be nearly out of the torpedo/salamander era. I remember my old man out in the open-front, aluminum-panel wall and ceiling tractor shed in winter working with one of those trying to keep him warm. As a kid, the noise was incredible! But, I'm getting sidetracked, here...
The last point I want to touch on is the fumes. As for "telling the difference," like the VAL6 series, the Mi-T-M does pretty well with the smell factor, which also used to be a huge issue with the torpedo heaters. However, as for the poisonous carbon monoxide emissions, those you can't even tell if they're there. (The fumes mentioned are exhaust fumes, which cause the headaches, burning eyes, and nausea.) I haven't seen any documentation, so maybe cattlefeeder can help me out. Do they tell you what their CO ppm is? I know the VAL6 range is 0-2ppm right across the board, where a typical torpedo heater used to be 10-20ppm, which is why you had to keep a door or window cracked. I can't find the Mi-T-M rating on their site. Cattlefeeder, can you help out?
Thanks for letting me ramble guys. I had originally planned to do a fair and balanced (thank you, Fox News) comparison between the VAL6, the Pinnacle/Mi-T-M and the new entrant: The Italia V40, and this has given me a really good platform to kick around the pros and cons. If you check out those links above, one of them goes to our new website, which is where the final comparison will be posted. I'm still selling the VAL6, so unless I switch it up, you'll know my recommendation based upon quality.
Thanks!
Danny
Edited by Danny.Zoucha 12/8/2011 22:24
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Central Kansas | I do not no the CO on the MI-T-M. I can say I have ran both individually as well as together in the shop and no one ever complained about headaches or felling sick. But with all that said I should probably be running a CO detector in there aswell.
You are right on the two models not really being in the same class as far as size. I should have stated that in my review but I was trying to not be biased at all.
Since my orignal review we have had some problems with the MI-T-M. It is not always lighting almost like it is sucking air. I have not yet worked on it but should mention it since I said I have not had problems with either one. |
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| Okay, we'll, given that I'm a VAL6 dealer, I can't say I know too much about troubleshooting the Mi-T-M heater, but I'll give it a whirl as if I'm troubleshooting one of ours...
Basically, as with any fire, three things are needed: Fuel, Spark and Air. Now, to address your concern first, about you thinking maybe it's sucking air, I know that when the VAL6 is sucking air, the connections might be a little loose. I know it's not the same heater, but checking the lines on ours is pretty straight forward... you just make sure they're all tight. One way to make sure, on a VAL6 anyway, if it's sucking air, is it SOUNDS like it's sucking air. When we fire ours up, there will be kind of a loud buzzing sound, which goes away as soon as the fire is lit. Is the Mi-T-M the same? If so, and it's not making that noise, that might not be the problem.
To jump to the most common reason why a VAL6 wouldn't be firing reliably would be on account of dirty fuel possibly blocking the nozzle. That's a pretty easy nozzle replacement. Anyone viewing this thread in search of an answer to this problem can see our YouTube video tutorials, and hopefully, that will help you out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH0urA7XC7k and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4aLAiiDbQE. The fact is, 99% of problems arising with a VAL6 heater come from the fuel source. Make sure you're putting in clean fuel, and you should be alright. If you suspect you have dirty fuel, clean out the tank, then disconnect all of the fuel lines, one at a time, blow them out, and try to kick it on after each line to see if that's where the problem was. (Oh, and don't forget the filter. Replace that, and clean out the bowl.) The last thing to replace is your nozzle. If you do it in reverse order, you might replace your nozzle, only to send more dirty fuel up and clog the new one. Then you have to replace it again.
On that note, there is a stark contrast between the Pinnacle/Mi-T-M heater and the VAL6 series. Here's a fact: The fuel nozzles that BOTH brands of heaters use have such small output holes that it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be made error free. It's simply too pinpoint to get it 100% correct. The VAL6 is DESIGNED and BUILT to handle these deficiencies and variations in the fuel nozzle. Based on our research, the Pinnacle/Mi-T-M heater is not. Some folks will buy a Mi-T-M/Pinnacle heater, and be totally fine with it. No problems. What that says is that they were one of the lucky ones that got a decent fuel nozzle in theirs. Then, there are the buyers who have nothing but troubles. They're the unfortunate ones who have bad nozzles. Each of these buyers heaters might change personalities each time they change fuel nozzles. With a VAL6, you don't have to worry about that. That's not to say that fuel nozzles don't get clogged from dirty fuel. That's common with both heaters. However, with the clog, once you change the nozzle, you don't have to worry about your VAL6 becoming cranky and dysfunctional. ;-)
Back to your problem, cattlefeeder: The final thing to worry about is spark. Make sure your electrodes are sparking properly so that you can rule that out. This is where my knowledge of the Pinnacle/Mi-T-M falls apart, so you're on your own! (However, in general, this isn't the problem, at least with the VAL6. Like I said, 99% of problems come down to fuel with us. So, try that first.)
Hope it works out for you!
Danny
Midwest Best Equipment |
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Generic Val-6 heaters?
