no touch oil nozzle

steve_25

i was told that i couldnt touch a new oil nozzle with my hands it may clog i think this is dumb because of the pressures used

Pughie1

don't touch

It's the strainer or filter you're not supposed to touch

Burnerboy2

I never touch

The screen part of a nozzle, I touch only the bass head,  maybe it's an ole wife's tale" BUT the less touching, to me the cleaner it stays.....I also ALWAYS flush out the oil line after replacing tank filter... I take no chance, of having that nozzle contaminated with anything!!

pipeking

oil line clean out..

  i'm sure u prolly use a co2 gun, but what do u use to catch the oil so it doesn't blow every where. i would think a soda bottle. somthing so it don't blow out the bottle.

Burnerboy2

nozzle line

NO NEVER use a co2 gun, way too powerful......you can blow an oil line under the concrete, If I have to blow out a clogged oil line I always use my trusty push/pull pump.... disconnect the line from the oil filer side and also the pump side, connect your push pump and always blow towards the tank.........

BUT what I was talking about, in my post is that after I replace the nozzle and tank  filter, I alway prime out all the dirty oil in the line, using the pumps 3/8" bleed valve, just placed a plastic tube on the bleeder, and pump into a small jug..NOW no more dirty oil in line...CLEAN nozzle, CLEAN oil...........

Ronnie

heatpro02920

I was taught not to touch

Just what I was taught by someone who was fixing heating systems before oil nozzles came out, and I teach the same thing to my new techs... If it is a wives tail, I would probably not be able to train myself to touch them after all these years being careful not to...



I always try the push pull pump first, but sometimes the clog wont move with the pump so I use my nitrogen tank, I start the psi at low and slowly turn up the regulator until the clog moves normally around 50psi is what I notice.. I also notice tapping on the line helps... But the only thing I risk blowing up is the oil line, I disconnect the oil line at both ends, and I have a bucket I made for blowing out oil lines, I actually keep all the blowout tools and pump in the bucket., I put a 3gallon bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket, but there is sand in the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket and the 3 gallon is glued in, this helps it from falling over and makes it easier to deal with, then I have a rubber hose that I install on the other end of the copper line that is fastened into the bucket, Ive been doing it this way for decades and never spilt a drop... I have spilt oil but not with that bucket...

Burnerboy2

Hmmmm good idea

I like your idea! I have not had too many blocked out oil lines in a while...I did have just last night, a bad oil pump, that I had to replace....I used my push/pull pump again to pull oil to the pump, but it still wouldn't work so I had to replace the actual pump...



Ronnie

icesailor

Touchy Feely:

I guess I never considered not touching the nozzle or filter. I just avoid dropping them in the dirt. With the beaded strainers, they plug up from microscopic particles anyway. Because every install I have, has a spin on at the tank and another at the burner, I never get sludge in the between oil line, and there are no underground lines in my customer base. They have all been eliminated. They are all envirotube or in NMT blue tube.

I am finding lately that the clogging is between the outlet on the bottom of tanks and the first filter at the tank. I blow that with my hot dog tank air compressor. I set the regulator to zero and slowly turn it up until I get flow in the tank. I cleaned a boiler last Friday. The tank filter had sludge coming out of the outside holes but the center one was clean in the center. The vacuum gauge showed no restriction. It was last changed two years ago by my date on the filter. The one at the burner was clean in all holes and came out pure red when I poured it into my waste bucket.

I use an old flexible burner supply to connect to the disconnected oil line when I want to blow a line. They are easy to use and easy to connect together.

Since switching to two spin-on filters, I have not had a single plugged pump strainer or nozzle strainer.

Did you know that General Filter now owns Garber Filters? That tells me that General Filters knew that Garbers are better than those old recycled wool socks and can't compare with a spin-on filter. They are right.

pipeking

yea spin on

 filters r awsome. my burner assy. has been so clean after using those. you know, if thats whats needed for desiel truck, y would u down grade for a heating system?

can someone throw up a pic of there push/pull pump?

heatpro02920

Dual spin ons is a little excessive

I dont think I can talk my customers into dual spin ons, lol and why one at the burner and one at the tank, why not just 2 at the tank, it will keep the line cleaner wont it?, I dont think you are picking much up in the oil line after the tank and filter especially if they are all new not buried lines....



I don't mind the fb4, gens, or rc cartridge filters, they are cheap , easy to purge , easy to visually inspect, easy to change and dispose of, plus no "poked a hole in my filter housing stories, I have seen it twice, once a customer hit his spin on with a rake and popped a hole, another was caused by his son dropping his bicycle near the tank, the handlebar ripped through the garber, both I was there for the cleanup}....



I clean all my accounts annually and feel that having dual spin ons would leave me with a more expensive cleaning and more service calls.. I think between the filter at the tank and the pump strainer the nozzle should be safe for a year at a time....

heatpro02920

cant find the pic

I buy them at REmicheals CO, cant find a pic, its just a brass hand pump with a t handle and 2 check valves and a tee installed in the bottom...

John@Reliable_10

Push pull pump

This one is from Westwood products. Use mine all the time, oil lines, adding chemicals,anti-freeze to systems w/o draining etc. pricey, but worth it.

icesailor

Dualies:

The number one call back I used to have was caused by plugged nozzle strainers. I had some that plugged up and sooted up boilers in two weeks. I proved it by changing the old strainer that appeared fine with a brand new one off a new nozzle. It ran the same as it had when I serviced it the two weeks before. I had F4B with Mitco filters at the tank and they allowed the pump strainers and nozzle strainers to plug up. I started installing a second Garber at the burner. I had a 100% elimination of strainer failure. So, why use a nasty pot filter that I had to pull off and remove the cartridge, clean out the cannister, replace the element and put it back? I use a Spin-On with a restriction gauge. I have them go three years without a rise in restriction pressure unless it is a really nasty old tank. But I always write on the filter, my name and date I changed it. That way, if someone futzes with it, they aren't going to put my name on it. And if it doesn't work, the last guy that touched it futzed it up.

As far as your urban legend, it took more than a bicycle or rake falling against the filter to knock a hole in it.. If you keep that urban legend going, the next thing you will hear is a NFPA requirement for protection around oil tanks and burners retroactive to all installations. Massachusetts has a requirement that ALL oil lines must be protected from damage. NMT and Enviro-Tube are acceptable. The sounds of shrieking by some cheapskate owners and installers was overwhelming. Not until the oil companies refused to deliver oil did most of them finally agree to it.

If you start seeing "Bio-Fuel, and your not using Spin On's, you will be doing some free service calls. Garbers come with a 1/8" NPT port for a restriction gauge. You can ask the customer to look at it when they are on the phone. If it goes into the red, and the burner stops, you need to change a filter.

If what you do works for you, knock yourself out. It stopped working for me a long time ago. I changed. Lack of change is what is killing the oil industry. That and the Banksters and Vulture capitalists.

Burnerboy2

love my p/pull pump

I use it to help pull oil from a tank to the pump OR it to push/flush out clogged oil lines............

Now as for filter 99% of my customer base all have either Generals or B-4's and a slight few have the RC 20's........very few have Garbers!

 Now in own tanks I use a general, then three Garber's filters in the same line leading to the burner...I know it's over kill BUT I don't always use clean oil...Many times, actually always, I use oil from tank pump outs when customers are switching from oil fired to gas boilers, and all they want is that "dreaded oil tank" removed.......... I got the best of  BOTH worlds, I get free oil, paid to remove tank,  and install a new gas boiler..............

Ronnie