On Jan 3, 7:02*pm, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 1/3/2012 6:07 PM, Ed wrote:

With today being very cold and the furnace about to run a lot, I realized that
the electric motor that runs the burner in my oil furnace hadn't been oiled in
a year. I remember in years past having asked the furnace-maintenance guy if
it was okay to use 3-in-1 Multipurpose Household oil in the burner's oil cup.
He'd said it was okay. So that's what I put in, about 8 drops. (The can must
be 10 years old so any volatile ingredients might have evaporated.)

Then I did some online research and have read that is not okay to use that. So
I went to Lowes and got 3-in-1 Motor Oil SAE 20. Can I put that in to flush
out the Household oil with the penetrant that's in the Household oil? Is this
a big problem, or am I worried for nothing?

Is it possible to put too much oil into that hole for the oil cup and cause
damage somehow?

I'd go ahead and add the SAE 20. *I can't think of how too much could do
any harm except that it could find it's way to the vanes of the blower
and that would make it a dust magnet. *So wait until spring and remove
and clean the whole blower, it's probably long overdue anyway.

Oil cup on a furnace? I haven't seen one of those in
decades. If it's as old as I think it is I'd forget about
what kind of oil to use and start looking at how much
a new one will save in heating costs, payback time,
etc.