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Ice cold fuel - like bad as I’ve ever seen - pics attached

gator
gator Member Posts: 25
edited January 5 in Oil Heating

so, some of you may have seen other posts where I have dealt with cold fuel oil in several diff creative ways. Depending on the circumstance. This one really takes the cake. Why they went with two pipe is beyond me - tank is above ground, about 10’ away, outdoors. Two pipe is def not needed. But man to me this is Awsome 😂😂😂

I mean HECK yea - other great news is guys they been having service it says “you never work on them or tune them when it’s winter and risk it going down cause you touched it and it’s 20 below zero out” so he comes mid summer and tunes and sets it up, so that’s great let’s tune it when the fuel is 70 degrees hitting the nozzle and air intake / more humid / etc… then surely it’ll run fine when the fuel hits it at -25 or -30 and the air is so dry face shrivels in 10 minutes outdoors etc - lol

Heck yea - I love this plan - I mean I never seen a line that cold and I’ve seen some cold ones, I’ve seen them frosted for some distance but never the entire filter looking like it’s a fake made of snow one. 😂😂😳😳😳😳

tiger loop here we come, with 1 gallon inline resivor for additional pre-heated fuel. Great old unit though.

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Mad Dog_2

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,190

    Takes a different and tougher mindset to live in that sort of climate. I love it!

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    Mad Dog_2
  • LRCCBJ
    LRCCBJ Member Posts: 658

    I will make a bet that you have less than 1/3 tank of fuel.

    What you are observing is the fuel making the round trip and getting warmer each time it does that. The warmer fuel warms the line and you are observing condensation (in the form of frost) on the exterior of the line.

    It's not the extreme cold you are observing………..it's simply an uninsulated two pipe system. I happen to like the two pipe system in the cold. Less need to treat the fuel. More velocity to prevent gelling. Of course, you can get additional benefit by insulating the lines.

    Going to one pipe and a tiger loop is a waste of money. It may perform worse than the setup you have now. Just spend a few pennies on insulation.

    Mad Dog_2
  • leonz
    leonz Member Posts: 1,363

    Cold air is much more dense than warm air.

    SuperTechMad Dog_2
  • ScottSecor
    ScottSecor Member Posts: 912

    Maybe I missed it, location?

    gator
  • gator
    gator Member Posts: 25

    central alaska.

    PC7060CLambMad Dog_2
  • gator
    gator Member Posts: 25

    On a weekly top off schedule. Or some call it the crowely “keep full” schedule. But it’s filled weekly. It was -41F the day before. So it’s been pretty darn cold.

    Mad Dog_2
  • gator
    gator Member Posts: 25
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1832110#Comment_1832110

    central alaska

  • LRCCBJ
    LRCCBJ Member Posts: 658
    edited January 5
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1832198#Comment_1832198

    Just shows you what -41° can do. Is the tank frosted over yet??? If the boiler can warm the oil sufficiently………….that could occur…………..but probably not with 275 gallons. That's why I figured it was 1/3 full.

    I would assume you must add treatment regularly to prevent it from gelling? Or do you use a different fuel than #2?

    gator
  • pedmec
    pedmec Member Posts: 1,122

    Is there a reason why the oil tank is not inside. i'm not much of an oil guy and I really ain't too familiar with having outdoors tanks at that temperature so I only ask out of ignorance. We in Boston don't get down to those temperatures.

    i would think that having outdoor temperatures in the ranges your describing would require indoor tanks. but what do I know lol.

    gator
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 6,439

    So silly.

    gator
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,749

    Put a tankless heater in the boiler and run the oil through it LOL😊

    You can also buy electric oil heaters we used to use them on heavy oil. Warren Electric, Warren, RI

    I would put a tank inside or a large day tank inside to allow the oil to warm up.

    gator
  • retiredguy
    retiredguy Member Posts: 988

    I used to recommend to people with outdoor tanks to install a heavily insulated storage cover using 2" minimum Styrofoam and a 60 watt incandescent bulb or 2. When the temp falls too low, turn on the light. You could also add a low temp temperature controller. Maybe this is something you could consider doing.

    gator
  • gator
    gator Member Posts: 25
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1832227#Comment_1832227

    treatment.
    believe it or not indoor tanks are extremely rare here. Honestly I don’t know why - but it’s just not a thing. All outdoors. For many years all buried. I still run on a buried tank at my home. If I sell I will have to replace with above ground to pass inspection. I think the transition happened and that’s when everyone went above ground outdoor. As long as you run a two pipe it seems to work fine but you know fuel that cold is inefficient as heck. We can make it run good on it - you can adjust to about anything but it’s still very inefficient. Also you know it’s not running optimal when we warm back up but are still cold enough to need heat. Like 20 above or 30 above zero. But you don’t get called back to adjust. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

    HVACNUT
  • gator
    gator Member Posts: 25

    I think it’s just what we all do - indoor tanks are so rare here I actually don’t think I’ve seen one. Lot of buried tanks. It is odd to never see an indoor tank here. My home tank is buried - was there when I bought it. Was a 2 pipe - I switched to tiger loop.

  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 6,439

    I've seen pics of some outdoor tanks with 2 inch off the bottom until it gets indoors. Then reduce to whatever.

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