Best Oil for Antique Cast Iron Radiator Heater Conversion and Gasket Materials?

I have an old antique cast iron heater (radiator) and I want to make an oil heater out of it. I already have a 2000W heater with a 5/4 thread. The oil issue remained.
I know I should fill it with oil. Only what?
Does it have to be transformer oil? If so, what material should I use for gaskets (so they don't melt).
How much should I fill the radiator? or full?
What is its coefficient of thermal expansion? And in general, how is the issue of thermal expansion in such radiators resolved?
What regulator with a thermostat could I use (preferably ready-made)?

A lot of questions, but if anyone has dismantled such a radiator or knows about it
and could help me that's a huge THANK YOU

You do not necessarily need to use oil, because you can fill the heater with anhydrous glycol, especially propylene glycol, which has a sufficiently high boiling point and is completely non-flammable. If you limit the possibility of heating below 80 degrees, you can even pour car radiator fluid, but you should install a pressure valve in case of overheating. Rubber seals will be completely resistant to this type of filling.

I bought such a heater 20 years ago from a craftsman in Pruszcz Gdański, it smelled very bad from the very beginning and it turned out that the smart guy poured ordinary diesel oil

Regarding oil!!!
Where can you buy transformer oil?
What company distributes it?
And how much does such oil cost?

heh.. I see that you are determined.. but you do it only for your own satisfaction and expanding knowledge
Naprwadę, it won't pay off, count the parts, the cost of oil,
The effect will be miserable, not to mention the aesthetics.
I think you can buy a complete, functional one (because it doesn't break down) for PLN 20 at every junk market.
It's too bad you live so far away or I'd sell it to you for that price

I know that making the whole radiator will cost a bit and certainly more than buying a used one (and maybe a new one).
However, the radiator (radiator) that I want to convert is really original (cast iron in retro style) and fits the decor of the apartment, so I'm going to implement my idea. I think I will succeed.

and... that of course changes things
When it comes to transformer oil, you won't get it retail,
for a simple reason, no one plays with liters, if potential customers in Poland can be counted on the fingers. Preferably from recycling from some energy company or simply from used old radiators.
Here is the distributor's address: SILESIA
However, there are a lot of colleagues on the electrode who have such oil or work in ZE.
They often sell such oil, you have a few links here, enchant on PM and ask,
HERE HERE HERE

Hello.
A few years ago I was involved in the production of such radiators.
For such radiators, rather only oil should be used (the name itself says that they are "oil" . oil has a large "heat capacity" and after the heater is turned off, the radiator stays warm for a relatively long time.
In principle, it should be transformer oil because its properties are specially adapted to work in contact with electrical devices.
Unfortunately, where you can get it, I do not know ... probably, as already written here in the power plants.
We selected the amount of oil to be poured in experimentally and poured so much that after setting the radiator "holes up", the last rib was not flooded.
After flooding the oil and screwing in the heater, the heater should be provisionally connected to the power supply and the heater should be heated to about 50 degrees.
Turn off, put back in the "holes up" position, and loosen the plug or heater.
This is to vent the radiator.
Do not use rubber seals!!!!
There are commercially available gaskets for cast iron CO radiators ..... (I don't know what the name of this material is now, ... kiddys it was plastic).
Any thermostat can be used with a range of up to 70-80 degrees.
It remains a matter of attaching it, the sensor should touch directly to the rib.
It just so happens that I just put up a thermostat for radiators on Allegro .... I have a few left ))..... http://www.allegro.pl/show_item.php?item=41406013
That's it for now ... in case it says something, the address: micho2103(_at_)poczta.onet.pl .... I will answer any question in the field of "oil radiator "... ))
Regards

The problem with buying oil is quite big, they usually want to sell the whole barrel, but you have to look. Once I had to repair a dozen or so panel radiators in which there were oil losses. After great hardships, I was bought 5 liters of this drug somewhere for PLN 20 per liter. I will not find out where, because I live a bit far from Łódź. You can look for energy companies.

Hello. And what do you think about filling this radiator simply with ethylene glycol - cheap, available even in supermarkets (car coolant). Greetings [/syntax][/code]

Transformer oil is available online. e.g. on "AlleDrogo"
The radiator is not completely filled with oil, after heating it should be filled in such a way that the free volume is equal to the double increment of the oil volume for the maximum temperature that the radiator can reach.
This can be done in such a way as to fill the radiator to the top, but leave an overflow at the highest point (e.g. a manual air vent screwed into the plug), place a vessel with a scale under the overflow, switch on the heater to the highest allowable temperature. As it heats up, some of the oil will flow out due to its expansion.
Measure the volume of oil that has flowed out and pour the same volume out of the radiator.
After draining the oil, turn on the heater with the thermoregulator set to the maximum temperature, when the heater heats up, screw in the plug at the highest point in the place of the air vent.
Seals must be oil-resistant! If it is a bolted cast iron radiator, all gaskets should be replaced with new ones, the inside of the radiator should be cleaned (preferably dismantled into individual ribs - sandblasted, washed with extraction gasoline, dried)
Not every electric heater will fit - the holes in the nipples connecting the ribs are smaller and, moreover, there are protrusions in them - the heater must have a smaller diameter of the circle described on it than the internal distance between the tops of the protrusions in the nipples, otherwise the heater will be damaged during its operation screwing into the radiator.
The heater should be approved for operation in oil - not every heater is suitable (heaters that are metal on the liquid side are suitable, the gasket should be replaced with an oil-resistant one)
DO NOT USE transformer and capacitor oils of unknown origin, especially oils recovered from used devices. Such oils may contain polychlorinated biphenyls which are carcinogens! In addition, used oils can be corrosive to heater materials - especially oils that have worked in circuit breakers and oils that come from equipment that has failed. Such oils contain degradation products that are aggressive and corrosive, and impurities from damaged parts of the device that has failed, e.g. degradation products of insulating materials.

Hello everyone. How much oil will go into a classic portable oil heater straight from the communist era?

These radiators were produced in many types, of various sizes and volumes.
The volume distribution is considerable, from about 2l to over 10l.
Very old radiators manufactured on the basis of ordinary sheet metal finned radiators could contain up to 20 liters of oil.