Nozzles keep plugging--filter good

Saggs

Tank is in a warm basement- one pipe. pump screen looks good. I did see some water / sludge in the bottom of the filter can.

Saggs

I've been back to the same house and have replaced 2 plugged nozzles in the last 4 days. .75gph. I replaced the filter the first time but had plenty of oil at the nozzle. Tank is 3yrs old as is furnace. Filter is an FB-4 with gear tooth filter. I know..... I should have a garber, but it's run fine till now. Any suggestions, fuel treatment maybe. Nozzle filter looks fine but somthing is plugging or filming it over?

Ken_40

How about...

The screen filter in the oil unit/pump?

How'd that look?

Techman

Plugged nozzles

Can you collect a quart or so of oil and examine it?The smaller the nozzle,the more easily fouled they get. Where is the tank located?One or two pipe?

John@Reliable_13

Over the years I've found that Del.... nozzles seem to do that more than Hag.

Jim Davis_7

Oil filter

Best bet is the filter. Changes in the oil could now have silica in it that the FB-4 won't take out. Need paper type Filter or the Garber filter.

Unknown

2 Filters,

most company info I`ve read recommends 2 filters for small nozzles, 1 at the tank, and another (spin-on type), at the burner.

Dave

tommyoil

Try clearing the fuel supply line with a hand pump and pump out any and all sludge in the line/tank bottom(if bottom feed).You'd be surprised what comes out of a "clear" fuel line. Change(dont check) the pump strainer, filter and nozzle. Double check noz. specs for the unit/air band settings ect. Check fuel supply vac readings and fuel pump psi.and take it for a test drive. Good luck.

Bill Nye_2

FB4?

Is there an indentation or impression on top of the old filter catridge when you remove it?

Sometimes [ok,often] on a B4 cannister the metal washer on the bottom will rot away or slip down and the filter does not come in contact with top of the filter housing.

That, or is the arrow on top of the filter installed backwards?

Weezbo

next time you are down on oil...

drain down the tank into some clean plastic buckets...

clean everything...

maube you have condensation in the tank...

check the oil pump screen...

put a gerber filter in line after the general

remove the general filter and all the oil in the canister clean with some white rags ...

maybe there is sediment or the old filter has been installedwith some dirt in the bowl...

maybe the oil line got dirt in it...

use a blow out gun from the tank line to the empty general canister...clean with a white rag...

Buster

You should treat the oil as it has become a problem over the last few years w/the way it is being produced. Also a nozzle line filter works very well with smaller nozzles.

dana_3

fouled nozzles

is the boiler now going positive in the chamber, causing the nozzle to varnish over. check the overfire draftm should be negative

Al Gregory

Is the nozzle clogged or just fowled? Is there excess oil in the firebox when you replace it?

Unknown

Generally, I don't allow myself to blame the nozzle unless I prove it.

In extreme cases I have a long, flexible jet line that I use to point the nozzle assembly into a 5 gallon bucket, I watch the spay to see if I am getting the cone I want.

Others have suggested some great things to check.

When troubleshooting a reset issue I feed a paper towel through the blast tube and end cone and light it with a match. I'm watching to see if there is any oil in the combustion chamber that ignites by the paper towel.

Taking into account any oil in the chamber, the look of the old nozzle, the electrode positioning, and the condition of the end cone I'll make the decision to pursue an ignition/combustion issue, or a control/motor issue.



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Saggs

The last time I went back, you could blow thru the nozzle line but it was hard. After changing the nozzle, it fired up and rumbled a bit, so I think it was passing oil but not in a decent spray pattern. I like the tips, esp checking for indentation on top of the fb4 cartridge. Also adding a garber and cleaning out sediment. How many times have the oil companies pumped out an old tank then gone down the street and filled up the neighbor w/ all that crud? Some deliveries lately look pretty scary!

Dan Goodridge

don't be an ****

Saggs wrote


"How many times have the oil companies pumped out an old tank then gone down the street and filled up the neighbor w/ all that crud? "


How about zero!! NO oil company is going to pump out an old oil tank and deliver to another customer. Unless they insist, we would not even pump it back into THAT customer's new tank.

Saggs

Dan, youre joking right? I worked for an oil company that pumped out a few tanks back into the bulk truck and went on their way delivering in the area. I know we wern't the only ones doing it back then and I'm sure it goes on today.

Ken_40

He is not

joking.

He is merely naive. True, the vast majority of oil dealers only pump new product. I know for a fact some large players in north Jersey, that "recycle." To their credit, they sell at major discounts to large facailities that KNOW what they're buying.

Having said that, also be aware that even the best dealers have piss-poor tank/storage/treatment/analysis/decanting track records! We also found the price/gallon has nothing to do with the quality of the fuel. Perhaps the best quality oil comes from the smaller guys who have no "on-site" storage facility. They go to the refinery, top off the truck, deliver until out, then go back and get another load.

In this kind of weather here in the northeast, very few are making two runs a day to the refinery. They're lucky they get one.

oil-2-4-6-gas

ohh how i love these comments --that an oil company would never do that --i have worked with a few guys at the Environmental companies --pump out here --deliver there --its a specific problem in commercial the amount delivered -there's no way to tell -when the oil prices go up -the dilution does too --heavy oil -#4 and #6 is black --and can be mixed with -used motor oil,dirty #2 oil ---//#2 i've seen mixed with used tranny fluid --//it has happened i had 1 customer -who we sent it out and had it tested ---- i had another account --boilers were running fine for months -they were down to 2,000 gallons -7,500 tanks -2 seperate buildings #4 oil -got a delivery both burners were going out --1/2 hour after --took some samples ---before the company was made to remove it --it was 80% water ---THere are a lot of great oil companies --BUT there are a few that aren't

Dave_4

nozzel problems

What I have been running into this fall is heat techs last year where down sizing boiler nozzles without changing heads or other settings.

The owner of two buildings thought he had a problem with his oil. The boilers would run fine for a week and fowl the nozzel , He would change it and it would work fien for a week.

We installed the right nozzel for the size of the boiler and checked the settings . That was in October . They run fine now.........

Weezbo

2-4-6-gas, That Is a Ringer! bad boy . *~/:)

i trust your word. it is good with me. That is a ringer ...

Ken D.

Oil

We had a simiar problem. The oil distributor swore up and down it was not his oil. We never had a problem before. When the nozzle as removed and the oil in the drawer assy, poured out, there were tiny particles of black grit. It was fine enough to blow through the filters and strainers. It was not only one customer. The supplier got his oil from barges and where it originally came from, who knows? When we changed suppliers, the problem went away, after a while.

Mellow_2

are you sure it is the nozzle?

The rumble from the unit suggests the oil is being sprayed in and not lighting. You could have one nozzle plug so the spray would spray away from the electrodes but 4???? In my exp. the .75 can take a lot of abuse....... how is the spark and electrode settings? The air setting can blow it out too. I agree that the oil could be cleaner but how do we know that is whats happening. I have had bad nozzles right out of the box.I see alot of probems are the way the unit is set up at the time. I have done this myself.......I have had mystery problems and found things like........ .75 nozzle with an f-6 ret head with an 11 co2, this unit blew the flame out I found it needed the 1.00 nozzle anyway and the problem was solved. With the 1.00 the co2 was 12.6 and the unit ran much cleaner and smoother.