Seen one of these?? "Junkers" water heater.

[Chaz]

Hey Guys,
  Ever seen one of these? It's called a "Junkers".    Seriously.
 

I hope it isn't! 
  A buddy gave it to me a few years ago and I found it while cleaning out a portion of my storage shop. Anybody know anything about it? It says 32,000 btu, .45gal. recovery time, and 100* rise.
  I was kinda thinking about putting it in the bus if it was worth it. I'm not even sure it works yet. But if its not worth it, I'll put it on the "bay".
  can ya tell me anything?
    Chaz

[Dallas]

Yup, it was invented by Hugo Junkers in 1894 or 1895.

Bosch took over Junkers in the Pre WWII era at Dessau, sometime around 1937.

Junkers water heaters are popular, or were, all across Eastern Europe, especially in the old Iron Curtain countries.

By the by, Hugo Junkers was also the fella that brought us the Ju87 and Ju88 bombers. some of the most successful bombers in history.

For more information on your little heater, which by the way should be pretty efficient, even by todays standards, you might want to contact Bosch Gmbh. some of those things have been in service for decades with no problems.


Gee, and I didn't even have to Google for the info! lol

[Len Silva]

It's probably set up for natural gas, may need a different orifice for propane.

Len

[brojcol]

How old is that thing???

[TomCat]

Chaz,

Most of the world actually pronounces the German Junkers name as 'Yunkers'. That way it doesn't sound nearly as bad!

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[Chaz]

I'll remember that Jay!!   

I'm not sure, Brojcol. The little "squarish" knob on the bottom is porclein. I would think it has some years on it. I guess I might give it a try to see if it works. Do any of you guys know if what it says it can put out is good enough for in a coach??

Len, it is set up for propane. It was actually taken out of an "old" camper of sorts. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I suppose I can figure it out. I may see if I can find a little info on it when I get a chance. (teaching the 8th grade for the next two weeks).

How did you know all that stuff Dallas?? It seems like a little bit of an obscure little device. Were they used allot in their day? I'll see if I can find a date on it somewhere. Thanx buddy.

  Thanx for the input guys!!
     Chaz

[Dallas]

I'll remember that Jay!!   

I'm not sure, Brojcol. The little "squarish" knob on the bottom is porclein. I would think it has some years on it. I guess I might give it a try to see if it works. Do any of you guys know if what it says it can put out is good enough for in a coach??

Len, it is set up for propane. It was actually taken out of an "old" camper of sorts. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I suppose I can figure it out. I may see if I can find a little info on it when I get a chance. (teaching the 8th grade for the next two weeks).

How did you know all that stuff Dallas?? It seems like a little bit of an obscure little device. Were they used allot in their day? I'll see if I can find a date on it somewhere. Thanx buddy.

  Thanx for the input guys!!
     Chaz

Ummm, Last question first...

I probably hold the worlds record for really esoteric, unusable, worthless trivia.

A few decades back, I had a really good friend that had been one of only 2 pilots that made it off the airfield at Schofield Barracks...
No, you don't see them on all the famous movies.  Later he had a fist fight over who got the last beer with Pappy Boyington, of Black Sheep and Flying Tigers fame. (by the way, between the two of them, they didn't equal the weight of Cassius Clay!). Bruce lived in Spokane, Wa. at the time I knew him and Boyington lived in Sand Point, Id.--- my little brother was his paper boy for years.
Bruce's flying had always been with military planes, German in particular. Since his last name was German, and my family is German in descent, we had a few things in common, one of which was his Ju87D basket case that he bought at auction shortly after WWII. (By the way, it's a bit closer if you pronounce it, You-nkerz. We ended up reserching more than building, and even met another friend of mine, Milt Longmire of Vantage, Wa. --- one of the few people in the world that was still alive that actually worked on the zepplin, Hindenburg. He also worked on the some of the R series Navy Zeppelins.
Even though I have never flown solo, and never in my life held an A&P ticket or a pilots license, I have had a great time learning a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff.

Next question.. Len Silva's answer... It may or may not be set up for propane... if you hook it up and it has a nasty, yellow flame, and has serious smoke.. and isn't real efficient.... it's probably set up for butane, not NG or LPG. which leads us to the last question....

If you could get a better photo of the information on the front of it, it would help a lot. The logo in the upper RH corner leads me to believe that it's from pre- cold war Europe. That is, probably somewhere around 1937-8 since Junkers quit using the double bar cross at that time. If you don't want it, I would be glad to trade you an SW-Southwind "Hotbox" that was popular in the 80's and 90'sfor it. These are stone cold simple gasoline powered systems that were used to preheat engines and keep sleepers and cabs warm while the engine in the trucks was off. Might work great for a hydronic system.

Dallas

PS: I actually got to fly in a Ju87 (Stuka {Sturzkampfflugzeug})(trainer), but I don't remember the last letter in the version.
I do know that it was capable of doing a 90° dive and pulling out at well over 500mph.. thank you, I like my pizza and beer to stay where it was meant to be... in my tummytum. It didn't that day.

[Fred Mc]

It looks similar to the "demand" hot water heater I have. It consists of a massive burner to heat the water as it passes through coils.

Hookup is simple. Hook up the propane and hook up the water. It should have a pilot light. They work by sensing a drop in water pressure which turns on the gas. As the water flows though the coils it get heated. The 100 degree rating indicates it will add 100 deg to the temp of the incoming water. So the colder the incoming water the less hot the exiting water will be.

These units are sensitive to water pressure so if you use a water saver shower head it will probably have enough restriction to drive you crazy. I took the water saver stuff out of my shower.

At the top is the "chimney" I mounted mine in the bay and ran a 4 inch metal air duct to the outside though the bay door with a small grill on the outside of the door.

I have had mine for 20 years and have not had a problem with it(except the year I didn't drain it properly for winter).


Fred Mc.

[Chaz]

Ok, here is a close up. I'm not sure if it will be HUGE or not as my photoshop isn't working so I can shrink it. But either way, hopefully you can see it. It does say L.P.


That's some kinda brain ya got there Dallas!! I forgot what I had for dinner last night.

Thanx Fred. Does this one look like yours?? If so, would you consider it effecient as Dallas thought it may be? I would kinda like to use it as I REALLY like old stuff. (It's why I like you guys on this board!  :Dlololol  Just kiddin, just kiddin. )

  Chaz

[Stan]

You may not find that adequate for showers. .45 gals/min at 100 degree rise is less than 25 degree rise at 2 gals/min (water saving shower head). It is OK where incoming water is above 80 degrees but otherwise you have to reduce the flow. If incoming water is below 50 degrees, you are down to a trickle.

[Dreamscape]

I like old stuff too, but I also like the newer technology and I also like my long showers.

Let know if you use it and how you like it.

Paul

[ktmossman]

A few decades back, I had a really good friend that had been one of only 2 pilots that made it off the airfield at Schofield Barracks...
No, you don't see them on all the famous movies.  Later he had a fist fight over who got the last beer with Pappy Boyington, of Black Sheep and Flying Tigers fame. (by the way, between the two of them, they didn't equal the weight of Cassius Clay!). Bruce lived in Spokane, Wa. at the time I knew him and Boyington lived in Sand Point, Id.--- my little brother was his paper boy for years.

Not to hijack this thread completely...oh what the hell...  Dallas, your comment reminded me of a conversation I had the other day with a friend.  I was wishing that I could give my kids the opportunities I had to meet some bonafide heroes.  I remember having the opportunity to spend little bits of time with men like Col. Jack McGuckin (highly decorated Marine pilot who spent some time with the Black Sheep squadron) or Edgar Whitcomb (survived the Bataan Death March and escaped from a POW camp on Corregidor.)  Being the pre-teen or early teen I was, I had hundreds of questions, but my Dad told me just to shut up and listen...  Comparing those men to the "heroes" served up by today's media is almost laughable.