Oil Burner Tools

Jalen_Jalen2006 · March 8

To All the Old timers who worked on oil burners what are some old tools that you have or had that you used specifically for troubleshooting oil burners. I.E: Osv tool or oil line watcher, on watch or even inline gauges. I work on quite a bit of oil burners in commercial space it’s crazy how the old stuff seems to work the best.

Charlie from wmass · March 8

pump pressure manifold set, combustion analyzer. basic hand tools. Smoke tester. It's just combustion.

HVACNUT · March 9

I think I still have a Nozzle Wrench somewhere. It has 3/4 and 11/16, with the 11/16 for the old burner bulkhead fittings.

Charlie from wmass · March 9

5/8" is the nozzle wrench size.

HVACNUT · March 9

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1847443#Comment_1847443

5/8" is for the nozzle. The other sizes are for the bulkhead fitting.

jpulls11 · March 17

vacuum gauge for the oil line is nice to have for the rare occasion you’d need it.

EdTheHeaterMan · 2:42AM

I made up a 300 PSI liquid filled pressure gauge with a T fitting. On the tee was a 1/4" flare adapter with flare cap and the other a 3/16" flare elbow with a flare cap. This was useful for every oil burner service call. You place it on the high pressure line from the pump that feeds the nozzle assembly. Older oil burners used the 1/4" high pressure lines, while all the newer burners use the 3/16" high pressure line. By capping off the other unused fitting you can place it on the burner before you even try to hit the reset button. Guarantee that resetting the burner will not cause a flame right away and you can see right away if there is instant fuel pressure or a delay in oil pressure or no oil pressure at all. You can also check the ignition spark, and the safety timing as well.

This was a tool that my first service manager gave me back in 1979. I have used one ever since. Any technician I trained would get one from me, after that one you needed to buy your own. It was a great tool on oil heat tune up. By placing that gauge on the high pressure line and starting the burner, you could test the safety timing, run a screwdriver across the ignition electrodes of the transformer, use a screwdriver to move the pump pressure adjustment up and down then set it to the proper pressure and see if the pump cut off shut off the oil properly. 5 of the 19 tune up items completed within 45 seconds (15 seconds on newer controls) and then… on to the rest of the tune up.

My other favorite oil heat tool was the nozzle extractor wrench. Delavan had the modern sleek one, but I started out with a second hand one from my father’s tool pouch. I stole a lot of my father’s tools when I got started. LOL, He wasn’t using them wearing his business suit anymore. Only work I remember him doing was driving the oil truck. You knew it was really cold when Dad drove an oil truck. But he would get one of my “pre-driver’s license” cousins to pull the hose. You had the day off from school when it snowed… We all went to work to deliver oil when it snowed.

Oh Well, I digress.

Tools were the pressure gauge and nozzle wrench was used on every tune up and the gauge used on just about every oil burner service call.