stinky tiger loop smell?

soot_seeker_2

anybody here have experience with 'stinky' tiger loops?

i've had one for about 2 or 3 years. we put it in to originally to avoid the "return line directly to the oil tank problem" of the little (1A-25 General) filter having to clean all the muck out of the oil tank in a two line setup, etc. but mainly to solve what seemed like the boiler
gun slightly starving the HW heater gun for oil when they both happened to come on simultaneously. for the most part this seems to work. however, i've noticed that especially) during the colder months that the tiger loop "sings / buzzes/hums" while either burner is running. i could deal with that since it's not too loud - just weird. but what is getting to me is there is always a thin film of oil on the outside of the tiger loop & i think i'm finally realizing that the eternal smell of oil in my basement is probably originating from the tiger loop top vent (that black plastic piece) which i believe is "de-aerating" (tiger-loop feature) a very fine oil mist (invisible) into my basement as it hums away.

anybody experience this? i don't really want to remove it, so i'm thinking of venting the top of it to the outside by using one of those heavy black rubber plumbing adaptors (4" to 2.5" or something) and then running the 2.5 pvc to the outside.

comments?

soot_seeker

Weezbo

seen a small crack on a tiger loop near that opening

it worked just bled out a dot of oil nothing major,anoher buddy said he took one back because of a bit larger leak that happened to have been a small crack,it is possible that it is something that can happen toXamount out of a godzillion of them in shipment...probably wont see a refund if its been a couple years.... oil does have a resin ey type smell when its slow drying on a slow leak...your solution sounds too much like backyard engineering though. not that they hand them out for free mind you....r and r sounds he best road to travel.

soot_seeker_2

replacement


i have a new one that i can put on there but i'm assuming that when they call this thing a "de-aerator" that they are exhausting the air out the top. no? the air has got to go somewheres (like a one way vent). i figured the new one would stink just like the old one.

ss

S Davis

Tiger loop

Could you have a leak on your return from the burner causing large amounts of air in the tiger loop?
Another thing I would look at is make sure your lines are not installed backwards I ran into one that was and it was making noise like you describe.

S Davis


Apex Radiant Heating

Weezbo

i hear what you are say in three fittings and its off.

three more and its back in...long time ago and far away on a general that was leaking slowly yet sorta worked i picked up the resiny aroma your talkin about,never really seel like a Plauge of the problem ,on commercial installs i put a long oil drip pan across the fromt of boilers to a corner with awhole cut in it so oil can be contained when working on the burner or controlled if something gets a violent leak,these pans often smell a bit too, and if i do the service work on them i clean them off before i leave...maybe not back for months... i dont notice anything around tiger loops or tiger combos as you suggest is happening....it bee off and back on during this conversation....

Weezbo

*~/:)

maybe you right!. riellos wont allow that particular formation to fly...buh maybe maybe you right!.

soot_seeker_2

Could you have a leak on your return from the burner ?


'Could you have a leak on your return from the burner? '

good call. it's very possible - the flare connections look pretty rinky-dink so i'm probably going to have to do those over. my fuel-oil line setup is 1964 vintage so it's all 3/8 copper. i went to home depot to see if they had a roll of 3/8 type L but they had what they call refrigeration grade. i think that's .032" vs .035" for type L so i'm hoping i can use that since it's all over ground near the burner.

ss

Unknown

I've seen it happen more than a few times

when we replace an oil tank and run the burner to bring oil back up to the boiler . The oil will bubble alot and some of the bubbles will come out the top . We swtiched to another brand of de-aerator , it looks like it has 2 floats instead of one . And it seems to hold the oil and the smell in better . I'll post tomorrow with the brand name , I forgot it .

Where exactly is the oil tank located ? Do you know if oil comes out of the line near the burner by gravity ? Maybe you can switch to one line and can the Tigerloop ?

Oil Tech

Three Quick Questions, How low is the burner in relation to the tank? Is there an OSV? Have you checked the pump cut-off?

NHPluminator

tiger loops

ok ..i gotta ask .
(1) is you oil line over head?
(2) or because of 2 pices of equipment on same oil line ?

mph

Air leak

I think if you have an air leak anywhere it would be on the suction side of the pump. A bad fitting on the return side would result in pressurized fuel leaking out, not air getting sucked in.

The only time my tigerloop smells is when the oil delivery is late and I run out of fuel. The air sucked in causes a froth in the float bowl and some of the fuel seeps out of vent.

I like the suggestion of the supply and return being backwards, except you would be sucking in a huge amount of air through the vent.

Jeff