I keep bees at a farm some distance away and was planning to visit check the hives this morning. Many years ago prior to retiring in a different life I had installed a Firebird boiler for the farm owner. Last night I received a distress call to say the boiler had locked out and resetting it simply led to a second lockout.
Question 1 have you got fuel in the tank - answer yes it was getting down so I ordered some and its been delivered this morning.
I combined my bee husbandry visit with a boiler breakdown. First thought was filters. Nope - slight partial coating on tank primary but nothing to cause fuel starvation. Headed indoors and pulled the burner to check ignition electrodes, nozzle and photocell. All clean and in good order. Cracked oil joint to burner but nothing came out. Headed outside to firestop valve and checked it was open then cracked joint to valve in fuel line - nothing came out. The pipe from tank to firestop valve dips under the drive then runs horizontal(ish) for some distance so likely either sediment clog or an air lock. I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad. This blew the oil back into the tank followed by bubbles. On releasing the adapter a few seconds later oil appeared and flowed freely. Restored all connections, refitted the burner and vented the oil pump. Reset the lockout and the boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was the tank had run empty just before the refill arrived so the burner pulled the oil in the pipe through followed by air then locking out.
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:

I keep bees at a farm some distance away and was planning to visit check the hives this morning. Many years ago prior to retiring in a different life I had installed a Firebird boiler for the farm owner. Last night I received a distress call to say the boiler had locked out and resetting it simply led to a second lockout.
Question 1 have you got fuel in the tank - answer yes it was getting down so I ordered some and its been delivered this morning.
I combined my bee husbandry visit with a boiler breakdown. First thought was filters. Nope - slight partial coating on tank primary but nothing to cause fuel starvation. Headed indoors and pulled the burner to check ignition electrodes, nozzle and photocell. All clean and in good order. Cracked oil joint to burner but nothing came out. Headed outside to firestop valve and checked it was open then cracked joint to valve in fuel line - nothing came out. The pipe from tank to firestop valve dips under the drive then runs horizontal(ish) for some distance so likely either sediment clog or an air lock. I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad. This blew the oil back into the tank followed by bubbles. On releasing the adapter a few seconds later oil appeared and flowed freely. Restored all connections, refitted the burner and vented the oil pump. Reset the lockout and the boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was the tank had run empty just before the refill arrived so the burner pulled the oil in the pipe through followed by air then locking out.
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.



I love it!

Bill

On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 2:07:05 PM UTC, wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
I keep bees at a farm some distance away and was planning to visit check the hives this morning. Many years ago prior to retiring in a different life I had installed a Firebird boiler for the farm owner. Last night I received a distress call to say the boiler had locked out and resetting it simply led to a second lockout.
Question 1 have you got fuel in the tank - answer yes it was getting down so I ordered some and its been delivered this morning.
I combined my bee husbandry visit with a boiler breakdown. First thought was filters. Nope - slight partial coating on tank primary but nothing to cause fuel starvation. Headed indoors and pulled the burner to check ignition electrodes, nozzle and photocell. All clean and in good order. Cracked oil joint to burner but nothing came out. Headed outside to firestop valve and checked it was open then cracked joint to valve in fuel line - nothing came out. The pipe from tank to firestop valve dips under the drive then runs horizontal(ish) for some distance so likely either sediment clog or an air lock. I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad. This blew the oil back into the tank followed by bubbles. On releasing the adapter a few seconds later oil appeared and flowed freely. Restored all connections, refitted the burner and vented the oil pump. Reset the lockout and the boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was the tank had run empty just before the refill arrived so the burner pulled the oil in the pipe through followed by air then locking out.
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

I love it!

Bill

We use a Pela, https://pelaproducts.eu/ to suck the fuel past the airlock. Beats getting a mouth full of diesel

On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

But the crap that you blew back into the tank could cause
another blockage. Biodiesel is causing a lot of grief to some farmers
because it is blocking filters with ??algae. Is heating oil having
anything added to it ?.

Must be serious, even Scottish farmers are affected, and we know
how cold it is up there

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/...-fuel-filters/

On 20/02/2021 15:33, Andrew wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

But the crap that you blew back into the tank could cause
another blockage. Biodiesel is causing a lot of grief to some farmers
because it is blocking filters with ??algae. Is heating oil having
anything added to it ?.

Must be serious, even Scottish farmers are affected, and we know
how cold it is up there

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/...-fuel-filters/

There are a number of off-the-shelf products to reduce or eliminate
diesel bug. It's particularly common in boats.

On Sat, 20 Feb 2021 06:51:31 -0800 (PST)
fred wrote:

On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 2:07:05 PM UTC,
wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:

snip
Reset the lockout and the
boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was
the tank had run empty just before the refill arrived so the
burner pulled the oil in the pipe through followed by air then
locking out. Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by
bicycle pump before. Oh and the bees were flying in and out of
the hives.
I love it!

Bill

We use a Pela, https://pelaproducts.eu/ to suck the fuel past the
airlock. Beats getting a mouth full of diesel

That site can't load GoogleMaps correctly, and can't find me a vendor.

--
Davey.

On 20/02/2021 14:07, williamwright wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:

snip

I love it!


+1



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On 20/02/2021 15:33, Andrew wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

But the crap that you blew back into the tank could cause
another blockage. Biodiesel is causing a lot of grief to some farmers
because it is blocking filters with ??algae. Is heating oil having
anything added to it ?.

Must be serious, even Scottish farmers are affected, and we know
how cold it is up there

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/...-fuel-filters/


I think this could be a good call, especially if a tank of fuel lasts a
long time. It's an issue for standby diesels on nuclear power stations
which normally only run for half an hour a week, but which have to hold
enough fuel for a week. Last I heard they were getting fresh supplies
every six months and having to pay to have the old fuel taken away.

On Saturday, 20 February 2021 at 14:51:33 UTC, fred wrote:
On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 2:07:05 PM UTC, wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
I keep bees at a farm some distance away and was planning to visit check the hives this morning. Many years ago prior to retiring in a different life I had installed a Firebird boiler for the farm owner. Last night I received a distress call to say the boiler had locked out and resetting it simply led to a second lockout.
Question 1 have you got fuel in the tank - answer yes it was getting down so I ordered some and its been delivered this morning.
I combined my bee husbandry visit with a boiler breakdown. First thought was filters. Nope - slight partial coating on tank primary but nothing to cause fuel starvation. Headed indoors and pulled the burner to check ignition electrodes, nozzle and photocell. All clean and in good order. Cracked oil joint to burner but nothing came out. Headed outside to firestop valve and checked it was open then cracked joint to valve in fuel line - nothing came out. The pipe from tank to firestop valve dips under the drive then runs horizontal(ish) for some distance so likely either sediment clog or an air lock. I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad. This blew the oil back into the tank followed by bubbles. On releasing the adapter a few seconds later oil appeared and flowed freely. Restored all connections, refitted the burner and vented the oil pump. Reset the lockout and the boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was the tank had run empty just before the refill arrived so the burner pulled the oil in the pipe through followed by air then locking out.
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before..
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

I love it!

Bill
We use a Pela, https://pelaproducts.eu/ to suck the fuel past the airlock.. Beats getting a mouth full of diesel
Problem was the only tools I had to hand were two adjustable spanners and a multi blade screwdriver. ˜¹ï¸� Airlocks are funny old things

On Saturday, 20 February 2021 at 15:48:42 UTC, Fredxx wrote:
On 20/02/2021 15:33, Andrew wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

But the crap that you blew back into the tank could cause
another blockage. Biodiesel is causing a lot of grief to some farmers
because it is blocking filters with ??algae. Is heating oil having
anything added to it ?.

Must be serious, even Scottish farmers are affected, and we know
how cold it is up there

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/...-fuel-filters/
There are a number of off-the-shelf products to reduce or eliminate
diesel bug. It's particularly common in boats.
Did you miss there was a strainer at the tank and house boilers almost always run on 28 second kerosene in England? Once the airlock was clear the oil flowed full bore into a bottle so I could be sure there wasn't a train of bubbles coming through the pipe to cause hiccups to the flame. Needless to say by using a transparent bottle I could see the kerosene was clean and clear. I do have previous experience in the game😎

On Sat, 20 Feb 2021 05:35:37 -0800 (PST), John J wrote:

I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad.

The mark of a true professional -- an amateur would have pumped themselves. Even
better would have been to go "check on the bubbles" in the tank and have a third
person get oil all over their hands:-)


Thomas Prufer

I'm sure I've heard of somewhat more sophisticated, but same principal
being use by gas company to get water out of gas pipes.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"John J" wrote in message
...
I keep bees at a farm some distance away and was planning to visit check the
hives this morning. Many years ago prior to retiring in a different life I
had installed a Firebird boiler for the farm owner. Last night I received a
distress call to say the boiler had locked out and resetting it simply led
to a second lockout.
Question 1 have you got fuel in the tank - answer yes it was getting down so
I ordered some and its been delivered this morning.
I combined my bee husbandry visit with a boiler breakdown. First thought was
filters. Nope - slight partial coating on tank primary but nothing to cause
fuel starvation. Headed indoors and pulled the burner to check ignition
electrodes, nozzle and photocell. All clean and in good order. Cracked oil
joint to burner but nothing came out. Headed outside to firestop valve and
checked it was open then cracked joint to valve in fuel line - nothing came
out. The pipe from tank to firestop valve dips under the drive then runs
horizontal(ish) for some distance so likely either sediment clog or an air
lock. I had nothing with me to purge the pipe so resorted to borrowing a
bicycle pump which had a tapered adapter the would jam into the end of the
oil pipe. I held it in while the farm owner pumped like mad. This blew the
oil back into the tank followed by bubbles. On releasing the adapter a few
seconds later oil appeared and flowed freely. Restored all connections,
refitted the burner and vented the oil pump. Reset the lockout and the
boiler fired up sweet as a bird. Only thing I could suggest was the tank had
run empty just before the refill arrived so the burner pulled the oil in the
pipe through followed by air then locking out.
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump before.
Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

On 21/02/2021 07:13, John J wrote:
On Saturday, 20 February 2021 at 15:48:42 UTC, Fredxx wrote:
On 20/02/2021 15:33, Andrew wrote:
On 20/02/2021 13:35, John J wrote:
Farm owner said he'd never had a boiler repair by bicycle pump
before. Oh and the bees were flying in and out of the hives.

But the crap that you blew back into the tank could cause another
blockage. Biodiesel is causing a lot of grief to some farmers
because it is blocking filters with ??algae. Is heating oil
having anything added to it ?.

Must be serious, even Scottish farmers are affected, and we know
how cold it is up there

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/...-fuel-filters/
There are a number of off-the-shelf products to reduce or eliminate
diesel bug. It's particularly common in boats.

Did you miss there was a strainer at the tank and house boilers
almost always run on 28 second kerosene in England? Once the airlock
was clear the oil flowed full bore into a bottle so I could be sure
there wasn't a train of bubbles coming through the pipe to cause
hiccups to the flame. Needless to say by using a transparent bottle I
could see the kerosene was clean and clear. I do have previous
experience in the game😎

I was actually replying to Andrews post. I never doubted your abilities
or experience. You gave an interesting account.