Doing your own heat (oil burner heaters)

[Rex in OTZ]

I live in a out the way corner of Alaska, there used to be a fella in our town that had a business fixing plumbing and heaters (oil fired boilers and Hotwater heaters) he retired six years ago.

Im stuck doing my own repairs at home and work.
At home I heat my home with 3 toyo stove heaters 2ea model 56G's and a older model 55
and a Boch oil fired hotwater heater (41gal)
Have operated Toyo stoves since since 1997, Ive done my own work as they dont have a toyo repairman lurking round the Alaskan bush like a Maytag repairman. its all on you to make it happen and nothing is as great a motivator as -30F & no heat. (your dread is froze pipes, busted toilets)

Work has 4 monitors 41's 441's and a 422 (torn down in the shop for repairs right now)
have six oil fired boilers a mix of Burnhams and Weil McLain's

Some days I have it pretty good and some its like decent into the third ring of hell.

Do you go through yours or have it done?

[Rex in OTZ]

Last night was music night at the Episcipal Church Annex, a old steel building with oil fired force air heat a few of use play together what instruments we have, as the evening progressed it grew noticeably cooler the furnace dident cycle on, a couple of us went in the boiler room & checked the old oil fired furnace, saw the red button popped on the oil primary control, hit reset and it wouldent relight, first tried bleeding air from the pump (no-go) wanted to see whats wrong so pulled the nozzle assy, It was very dirty but the igniter rods were totally shot, lucky the music leader (nice grandmother) had at one time ran a heat business recalled the igniter gap was 1/8" appart-1/8" above the nozzle center line-1/4" out front for this particular type furnace, We tweaked the worn tips to some semblance of a gap useing my leatherman and left a message with the pastor to buy a new nozzle and igniter (Beckett 'A')

[Rex in OTZ]

Found the church annex problem, saturday afternoon they had me replace the dirty nozzle and igniter electrodes, went outside to look at the fuel tank, there is a single top draw tube(1/2" pipe) comes out and 90degree elbow to a 24" long pipe that was slightly cracked by being struck from over head by snow sluffing of the metal roof, Replaced the pipe and its been running so far.

This am a co-worker came by wanting some more help his boiler had been low so I showed him haow to pump up the glycol, he stated his system pressure has dropped off to zero and he hears air in the system
there was no obviouse leaks found when we looked before (he had replaced a bad Over temp/press valve) that had allot of glycol sugar in the opening (been leaking for awhile)
Im thinking mabe his boiler may have been damaged by low glycol and cracked it inside the burner box (hadent looked there yet) may be a canadate forsome crack seal goo for now.

[Glanceblamm]

No oil burner heaters here Rex, but you sure do bring back memories as I can remember many of the fuel tanks that could be seen around town when I was a boy.

Actually helped (supervised?) my Dad get a great Aunts unit going on brutally cold Saturday morning...this turned out to be some quick work as the fuel would not flow and an additive corrected it.

House that I moved out of last year used to run on on fuel oil...found this out quickly on year 1 of 18 when the mower blade got into a leaf covered, capped off pipe just a few inches above ground. Blade hit it hard enough that it damaged the deck bearing on the rider which i ended up changing

The furnace was still original though and ran like a rolex wrist watch over those 18yrs, Well, almost. I had to change one electric motor with the replacement that i got for free being as old as the original. Some more years passed and I ended up changing the pump and motor with the replacement being brand new. Times are changing (read changed) and the Plumbing\Heating shops wont sell you even a coupling unless you have a contractors liesense.

My furnace was a White Rogers Sunray model. The thing was a beast being nearly 4' wide an 5' long and it sat right in the middle of the basement. We are talking water heating of course and that old house had 9 of them old cast radiators distributed through out. The main headers were 3" with the take-off's to the registers being 3/4"

I bet that the system held 55gal of water!...I think that a modern file cabinet size unit just holds a couple three quarts and uses the baseboard heaters. I would drain out my beast each spring then refill it in the fall. I had four kids and the wife and myself and I would station them at the various vents to shut them down when the air was gone and the water started to spray. In the early day's, we had a lot to learn on the attention span of a six or an eight yr old when it came to monitoring a vent

The White Rogers fuel supply had been converted from fuel oil to natural gas. Even that gas unit was very obsolete but I believe that a lot are still in use. They look like a small salamander and all of them are orange and have a 3" open end output tube that ends in the firebox of course. Very ineffecient as it is comparable to a flame thrower when called on for heat...also very trouble free as the only thing that I ever did to it was to change the thermocouple once.

We broke even on our heating bills as compared to neighboors with the modern furnace. This was because the convection, or constant heat of a hot water system did not really allow for the rooms to get that chill like a forced air furnace will. We pulled well ahead on the heating bills with the installation of three wall mount ventless gas heaters.

Sorry for the wind...No point to these ramblings other than to say that you bring back memories and that one cannot purchase parts anymore unless one has a contractor liesense or knows a contractor.

[Rex in OTZ]

Our Alaskan town has a population of approx 3400, we are located way off the beaten path, on a coast, and above the arctic circle, we do have a local ACE Hardware store they also do NAPA auto parts
They have allot of TACO and Honneywell parts, like transformers, igniter control bozes and aquastats zone valves and Nozzles and NYLO FLEX coupler kits, seen a 14yro boy buying a Nozzle and coupler last Monday.
I was noseing through the parts bin at a local convience store they had 14 boxes of fuel Nozzles, the smallest ones I'd seen were rated for 1.65gph the most were 7gph.

[Glanceblamm]

Please feel free to correct my math Rex but I figured a three day burn with a 500 gal tank and one of those 7 gph nozzles?

The furnace does not run 100% of course but you do have a cold climate. Say 50% run time with a 250 gal tank (much more reasonable tank size) which would come out the same?

The fuel delivery guy must be busy in a town of 3400...am I in the ballpark with my figures?

[Rex in OTZ]

The one place Ive seen has a commercial size Weil Mclain 476 Boiler that is rated 400,000Btu and has a 2.75gph rated fuel nozzle to heat a 70'x80' hanger with in-floor heat and side fin tube spaces.
To grasp the concept of what a 7gph nozzle would feed should be for a very industrial size boiler with a burner box about the size of a 8'x20' connex.

We have two fuel delivery companies, both have a callout Fee for after hours & weekends, minimum amount is 53gallons which is $28 cheaper than going to the diesel pump and getting it yourself.....In Kotzebue the heating oil and diesel fuel is last seasons unsold Jet A aviation kerocene they transfer to the heating fuel tanks at the fuel farm, I believe Jet A jells in the lower -60F range.
Still important to to keep a clean fuel system, consensation and any snow that may seep into the tank vent during Blizzards (40-70mph winds) collecting inside the tank can get bad enough to totally clog the filters and pipes, we install Mud legs at the tank valve to  trap as much water in the fuel as possible, people that run out of fuel useally have contamination problems, the last dreggs of fuel entering the fuel system bring in a slurry of rust and slush clogging filters and pipes, best to drain out your tank every 2-3 years in our country and flush out that junk, tanks useally have a 2x4 block of wood on the draw end of gravety fed fuel tanks so the contaminants collect at the opposite end the draw port, if you run out of fuel "DO NOT REMOVE THE 2x4 WOOD BLOCK!" to get that extra 1" or so of contaminated fuel that will slosh over into the fuel sustem clogging everything, no fun cleaning clogged fuel systems at
-36F which is what happened last year when a friend asked me to look after his duplex while he was away for Holiday, His renter was nickle & dimeing the fuel a few gallons at a time and ran out one Sunday morning (2am) stumbled out doors and pulled the block of wood contaminateing the system.....seems my friend hadent cleaned his rental fuel tank in the 8 years he had the place, cleaned out 17 gallons of mud/rust/slush from that tank before we got the heat back on.

[leather5to1]

I'm an oil burner tech, can't imagine an outside oil tank in your climate.  We have a handful here, most are in basements.  The trailers have outside tanks and on a cold night, you know like 0 I get really busy.  I guess that wouldn't be cold for you though.  We bring our oil lines in from the top and leave them hovering off the bottom of the tank about an inch or two.    7 gallon nozzle is huge.  In fact most units that would have a need for that much oil would have two or three smaller nozzles running together.  Our average nozzle size for a residence is about .85 to 1.00 gallon.

[Glanceblamm]

Sorry Rex  I knew that a 7 gph would be massive, might even suck a residential tank into a vacuum

What I was going off of was this line..

I was noseing through the parts bin at a local convience store they had 14 boxes of fuel Nozzles, the smallest ones I'd seen were rated for 1.65gph the most were 7gph

Yours now makes good sense on the largest being for industrial. It may have been a mistake for you to get that church boiler going along with the other jobs you have done. People are going to start calling you now,
Could be quite lucrative!

[Rex in OTZ]

Its April27th and its now starting to burn off some the snow, streets turn to slush during the day and freeze over at night....still heating season, the sun sets at 11pm and one can still read a news paper outdoors a hour later.
Next month is a great time to crack open a couple boilers and use that long wire brush on those exchangers, during the winter we had 68mph winds the gusts tugged/ripped off the rain cap so will have some laddar work when the soil is clear and stable....roof pitch too steep.

Ive seen some the remanants of the past still round when temps dropped cold enuff to jell Jet A one still see's 1/2" black pipe systems wrapped with heat tape and insulation so the oil would flow. Ive never seen cold jelld jet A yet but am told it looks just like toothpaste.
Ive only seen it drop into the -50's before during some of our coldest months (jan, feb, mar)

[Rex in OTZ]

Its important to open up your boiler and clean the carbon from the flue spaces using special wire brushes to clean the waffle iron exchanger spaces between the boiler sections.
(Carbon build up insulates the exchangers which leads to inefficent heat exchange, making for longer run time to heat hyronic fluid/ Propylene glycol)
some boilers require removing a the hood and the side ports to gain access to get to these places you will have the tricky job of removing the sheetmatal panes covering the boiler sections (individual sections sandwitched together)  the bottom, sides and back useally have a white cast paper looking material (spun ceramic wool) that is called a refractory this stuff must be in pretty good shape otherwise damage can occure to your boiler, some use a material looks like a white fiberglass batt insulation (its not) that is glued in place useing waterglass, beshure to wire brush the innards too and remove all black or gray combustion nasty (wear gloves and mask its nasty stuff on skin and lung irritatent) use shop vac with a drywall filter (fine dust particles).
rector seal sells a aerosol spray soot remover, you spray this on the exchanger after removing the heavy accumilation and wire brush off till only the stubborn deposits remain.
 
http://www.rectorseal.com/index.php?site_id=1&product_id=147
 
 
My photos show a oil fired boiler dissasembled to replace a damaged section, as a home owner you should never have to unstack a boiler.
 

[Rex in OTZ]

I woke 04:30am Tuesday to the smell of smoke, I checked the room my oil fired water heater was in, I found smoke too thick to see the hand in front my face, smelld like incomplete combustion so I turned off the 15+ year old Boch oil fired hotwater heater, and opened a couple doors to air it out.
After a minuet or so of standing there I could hear water running some place, investigating I soon found in another part the house a hot water line had froze and broke, returning to the water heater room to isolate the water supply, I found smoke still coming from the water heater, upon inspection I'd thought mabe the bottom had burnt out and caused a fire, the sub floor was definately on fire, Long story short I shut off water supply and saw'd off the water lines to it, shut off the thermal oil valve and disconnected the oil line from the heater, then the electrical and was able to wrastle the water laden heater off the smouldering floor and using a skill saw was able to cut a hole in the floor, then dump a bucket of water on the burning subfloor, fire out the doors finally closed (I live 30 miles above the arctic circle) I was able to access the damage.
When I bought the place 15 years ago the water heater was already been in service mabe 3 years, was sitting on 3/4" piece of plywood coverd with vinyl flooring, the heater had scorched its way through that and into the underlayent, in past they they revinyled the floor they just lay'd plywood over old and lay'd new on that (twice?) that old vinyl flooring was what was smouldering before I doused it with water.
I later saw the bottom of the water heater looked fine (no hole burned through) still as a safety precaution I placed a phone order to a anchorage vender to air freight out another oil fired water heater, the idea of buying a electrical one was considerd but getting a electrican to rought 220 and wire one in was ruled out due to time and cost, I repaird the floor and lay'd a new metal coverd base for the new heater to sit on, as I had no concrete or bricks I used 3 thicknesses of 5/8' sheetrock and wrapped it with some 20 guage tin I had.
The 3 smoke alarm's never chirped (Kids robbed the AA batteries for a game they had) and the 2 mutz were no help in letting me to a fire insident happening in the House.

[Alaska islander]

I live on an island in S.E. Alaska. I have multiple ways to heat my 2,800 single story house. I have gone through many ways to heat the house in the 40 years we have lived in it. I started with oil fired forced air but it was sixty feet from the furnace to the back bedroom. By the time the air was forced through the insulated ducts it was about 80F. Just not enough. I went to a wood/oil furnace. It was less expensive but the results was about the same and a LOT of work to gather enough wood. Next came the Blaze King. With a well placed wall fan we had good circulation and the house was warm all year. We needed ten cords of wood a year. Now that's a lot of work even with a splitter and two kids. As I grew older I decided I would move on. I tried the largest Earth Stove pellet system. Cleaning became a pain and the pellets became too expensive. I removed the old unused forced air duct work and installed an oil fired hydronic system with the wood stove as a backup. That worked well but over the years fuel went through the roof in price even with a .65 noozle. I next went to a Toyo Laser 56. That was great. If it got really cold I could supliment the heat with wood or the oil boiler and life was good. After eight years my Toyo gave me the message E2. I called the Toyo repair guy and he told me he no longer did work on Toyo stoves. He only does heat pumps. We were friends so he agreed to help me a little. Well after an hour's work he got it to fire, left and I had an E6 message when it tried to fire again. E2 & E6 are very similar. Pondering the problem for days while the boiler burnt my money and the Blaze King was eating away at my wood pile my Toyo friend returned (to sell me a heat pump) and we pondered the Toyo. We got it going but there was a thumping sound from the oil pump inside the stove. That means it is starving for fuel on a Toyo. Kind of a thumping, clicking sound. Fuel was not getting to the burner. It was decided the lift pump in the furnace room needed to be placed farther up the wall to give the oil a greater head pressure. Then my friend said as he was about to leave there is a little screen filter on the Toyo just inside the little door. The filter plate is about the size of a quarter and you have very easy access. Take a look at it paying VERY close attention to how it comes apart. Watch that you do not loose the clip on the back of the slide out filter. Remove the very small filter and clean it with starting fluid. Do not use compressed air. It will blow apart. Even though I had a Golden Rod filter in the line this little filter was full of a brownish jelly. Cleaned it, put it in and I was golden.The retainer screws are different than others so be sure to use the same screws when putting it all back together. It is a fifteen minute job. Now I'm awaiting my new heat pump. I then will have four ways to heat the house not to mention space heaters.

[Rex in OTZ]

My Toyo 56G is already showing signs of needing overhaul, The Toyo 56 as a primary heat source lasts me 3-4 years before the burner needs overhauling, the first to go is the burner mat that acts as a wick to atomize the heating oil (blue flame when its new/ yellow flames when its shot), the heat exchanger is pretty much shot by the 4th year, I purchased my parts from The Woodway in Fairbanks AK, a new circuit board and exchanger and related gaskets and burner ring, ran me about $850 in parts, Im thinking of replacing the exhaust blower fan as well, its been squalling as of late, This new batch of parts will go on another heater chassis I'd picked up to build up.
 
That Brown jelly like goo is what I think the aircraft mechanics call Microbile sludge, it grows in water found in fuel tanks, esp kerocene/diesel/heating oil, its best to drain your fuel tank (if you can) I useally try to keep my tank full through the winter.
 
I tend to avoid useing GoldenRod filters on Toyo stoves, I like the GR filter housing just not the GR filters, the best are the felt waffer filters and replace them each fall.
 

[Rex in OTZ]

rex was having trouble with a 422 monitor heater, kept cycling off, it was in its 4th year as a primary heater, It was pulled out 4 years ago for overhaul, this time we did it ourselves, the burner ring had warped and was grounding the flame sensor rod and thats why the heat wouldnt stay on, on opening it up the burner mat was hardly any left, this is a consumable item and I guess you can figure after 3 years of primary heat service it needs replacing, the same for that burnt up & warped flame diffuser ring, that is a consummable item as well, the fuel delivery tube and igniter rod were in fine shape so they were re-used, the gaskets we destroyd to get at the burner were replaced with new, they are very delicate and easily broken (spun ceramic wool) and new window , knock out any carbon in the heat exchanger and use a vaccume to clear it, where I made the mistake was not replacing the berometric damper switch o-ring inside the inlet fan shrowd, its very important that the o-ring get changed at 3 years, if you do that Your golden.
 I was cheap and did not eplace the through wall flu pipe and I was in for troubel because of that decision, on the outside It looked new. what I didnt know was that 15" pipe was kinked inside the wall, it wasnt till I'd pulled the heater off and looked through the pipe was the kinked pipe eveident, so when placing a fresh overhauled heater check your flu pipe and replace it if its even remotely corroded, it is stainless steel but they do start to pin hole on the inside, the flu gasses soon are redirected back in the inlet roasting your inlet microswitch o-ring (air damper switch) when that o-ring goes bad it could either directly jamb the switch or allows corrosive exhaust gasses from the corrowded flu pipe to mess up that microswitch, the micro switch on the back the heater that is attached inside the inlet fan shorud is preset and is very important not to reinstall it incorrectly if its incorrect your flame in the window will look yellow or worse, you can loosen the fastners and gradually adjust the switch till a nice blue flame (or as close as you can get to it) that shows efficent combustion.
Monitor does make a gauge to properly set this air switch adjustment, but they can be spendy, I had one Anchorage Alaska Parts house quote me it was $320 for the gauge and I found one for sale on Ebay for $180 + $20 shipping from Maine to NW Alaska.
The heater went in and the complaining started soon after of a strong stove oil smell soon after startup.
 
 
 
 
 
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MONITOR-HEATER-WINDOW-GLASS-KIT-/290357382455?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439aa60d37

[Rex in OTZ]

After reinstalling the Monitor 422 heater we discoverd a slight raw oil smell in the house a few hours after installing, we couldnt see leaks but the next day a oily sheen could be seen under the heater (6"-8"area), we checked the inlet lines and heater fuel system gaskets & thread joints thinking we may have disturbed somthing or forgotten to tighten somthing, everything checked out but the stink remained, we thought maybe since we used the optional internal fuel tank to run the heater on the Shops workbench, mabe it was somehow causing the stink, I found that under the internal fuel tank(removable day tank) is a resivour that holds around a pint of oil that feeds oil to the oil pump resivor, in the end that was not the problem, the problem was the oil pump resivor has a float and needle arrangement that when the resivor is full enuf fuel it stops supply to it, in our case it was just a tad out of adjustment (rubber tip on float needle had taken a set) and the tiniest bit of heating oil would weep up over the side of the resivor (it has no gasket & vented) the weeping fuel would eventually seep down enuf to wet inside the heater frame and seep down the leveling foot to wet the drip pan below the heater and the house would stink of unburnt heating/raw oil, that took awhile to find!
it didnt take more than 10 minuets to figure out how to adjust the float with no manual (screw adjusts the length of the float valve) so I gave the float needle valve a 1/2 turn (In) to lengthen the travel so the float didnt need to lift near as much to shut off fuel flow into the pump resivor.

[clum sum]

Live in SW Fl its 7:45 PM and 70 deg. no problem.

[clum sum]

I,m sorry the Devel made Me do it.