How To Fix Air Leak In Heating Oil Line

Heating Oil Pipage Leak Diagnostic FAQs
Q&A: Discover & fix oil line leaks

POST a QUESTION or Annotate well-nigh leaks or installation bug in heating oil pipe for oil-fired heating equipment & water heaters

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Heating oil pipage leaks in the oil burner supply & return pipe: causes & effects of leaks in heating oil supply pipe at fittings, valves, or other locations.

Heating oil pipe leaks out (fuel oil leaks), oil piping leaks in (air in the system) are dangerous in several regards, every bit a leak in oil burner feed piping can cause a puffback or complete loss of heat.

This certificate lists other important safety or oil-fired equipment operational defects in domicile and low-cal commercial heating oil storage and piping systems.

Nosotros also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can endeavour the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX equally a quick way to find data y'all need.

Heating Oil Line Leak Troubleshooting FAQs

Heating oil filter at the oil burner (C) Daniel Friedman These questions & answers virtually leaks in the oil piping line(due south) between an oil storage tank and the oil burner(due south) were posted originally at OIL LINE Pipe LEAKS - be sure to meet the diagnostic and repair tips given at that place.

Watch out: leaks in heating oil appliance piping or filters can lead to loss of heat, recurrent service calls, and even unsafe PUFFBACKS, OIL BURNER

Most likely there is an air leak somewhere in your oil line pipage

Hello in that location. I'one thousand hoping to become some insight into an issue I'yard having with my oil burning furnace. Then the trouble I'1000 having is loss of vacuum in my oil line. I have a single line organization and it is connected in the following way:

Starting at the tank outside the line comes out the top most iv feet up and turns 90 degrees to laissez passer through the outside wall into our washroom where the furnace is located. So the line that is inside the room runs at the same elevation for nigh three more feet. Information technology the passes through a shutoff valve which is straight connected to an old filter housing.

Then the line runs most 1 more than foot and drops downwards nigh three feet into a trap bend. From there it runs about 7 more feet at a slow turn down until it is pretty much sitting on the ground which so turns up for nigh a foot and a half that connects to the pump.

Just to add to the info available when nosotros moved into this house the owners believed that the oil tank was about half full of oil.

This was in the summer so we didn't actually worry nigh it to much. Well now that its winter and we take started using it, it turns out that at that place was a thin layer of oil but everything else bellow that was water

. I have since replaced the copper lines (which is the run I previously mentioned), the fittings, the flaring on the pipes and the oil filter insert (Not the bodily canister). I have also pumped the tank and removed the water from it. I accept completely cleaned out the pump of all junk and it is spotless at present. I replaced the air filters recently as well.

And then here is where it gets tricky. Considering this was a surprise expense we don't have the upfront cash to go the tank filled.

So what I did was put a disconnect in the horizontal run before the line goes into the exterior wall. That manner I can claw up a line going into a smaller 5 gallon tank that I can put off-route diesel fuel in to hold us over until adjacent year. I know it's non economical only it'due south all I can do right at present.

Now... the problem. Running the unit seems to be working merely fine. I prime number the system, close up the bleed valve and first information technology upwards. Flame on, works great every unmarried time just I have to prime information technology... every... unmarried... time...
Any time the system shuts down considering the temperature is reached in the home it sits for nigh thirty min to an hour.

Then when information technology's fourth dimension to come back on the line has created a very large air pocket. When I go to purge the line after this happens I get virtually 2 seconds of oil, then information technology quickly becomes frothy for the next 2 seconds, and so information technology merely dies out for almost 3 seconds. And so it finally catches the oil and froths for near 5 seconds and and then turns to a good stream of oil.

Once the unit stops purging I close the bleed valve and start it up and it works just fine.

And so after this happened a few times I decided to examination something out. I ran the heat and when it finally got to the temperature I wanted I cut the heat off and then closed the shut off valve that sits before the oil filter. I figured I could find out if there was a leak in the filter if I let it sit down for a few hours.

So I went back out to my shutoff valve. Brought up my remote thermostat app on my telephone and turned the heat on. I opened the shutoff valve correct before I started my heat upwardly and low and behold the furnace lit correct up. I didn't have to purge it at all.

So... with all that being said, does anyone have any ideas every bit to where my trouble could be?

I just ordered a newer oil filter since that is a pretty cheap route to look into. Would fuel existence pulled from a small tank pose this trouble?

I would recollect that as long as the pipe stays submerged in the oil information technology should create a vacuum and not let the oil to back flow into the oil tank.

Any advice you can provide is greatly appreciated.

no you will need a flare fitting to connect copper to a threaded fitting that connects to the fuel unit and you should likewise install an oil filter and a burn down-condom valve at the burner.

can i fit copper pipe direct to burner pump

you either have to detach and remake the connection with pipe sealant rated for use on oil piping systems, or if the leak is pocket-size y'all might make a temporary fix past cleaning the surfaces and applying an epoxy sealant

My fuel oil furnace is leaking gel oil right at the in-take pipe. Assume their air in the line. How practise I gear up this?

Paul:

I think you mean copper oil pipage as that's far more than common than brass.

Copper oil lines can hands last 50 years or longer if the piping is properly installed and protected.

Abrasion from vibration, failure to protect the piping from mechanical harm, burial directly in physical, burial in corrosive soils tin of course mean a shorter life.

How long do brass pipes (oil lines) final before in that location'southward corrosion ?

Yous need to find and fix the air leak in the line

Paul:

I suspect in that location is an air leak somewhere in your oil pipe system.

Yeah Paul you lot can repair a section of flexible copper tubing or piping for your oil burner fuel line. Utilise ii flare fittings.

But take care: a proper flare fitting requires some attention to item. You'll need a cutting tool to cut the tubing, a pair of reamers to remove the internal and external tubing end burring that occurs during cutting, and a tubing flaring tool plus some instruction in how to utilize it.

Making an inadequate or poorly-made flare connection has results ranging from troublesome (oil leaks out, air leaks in, loss of heat) to dangerous (puffback explosion due to chronic air leaks). The flared end of the tubing has to exist of proper size for the flare fittings - too big and it won't fit in the fitting, also modest and it may leak.

See http://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Gas_Leak_Detection.php for some photos and examples of copper flare plumbing equipment snafus.

I have to keep bleeding my fuel line information technology runs fine but if it sits idol for a hour I have to bleed it once again? checked for leaks didn't fine whatever, new filter, so whatever ideas?

I discovered a kink in the soft copper line outside the house between the tank and where the line enters the house. Can I splice the line and if so with what blazon of fitting? If not, it would involve replacing 30 feet of copper unless other materials tin can be used. Thanks.

Gary

The elevator of oil burner fuel units is express - you'll demand a two-line oil pipe sysetm. That may exist plenty, if not you'll add together a lift pump.

Can an oil furnace pull oil from two floors beneath?

Joe, excerpting from our discussion of the Tiger Loop oil line deaerator

at OIL LINE DE-AERATORS Tigerloop™

Tigerloop™ and other Oil Line Devices to Maintain Prime and Simplify Oil Pipage

Tigerloop oil line foam and air remover (C) Tigerloop If your oil burner uses a Tigerloop™ oil-line de-aerator (photo at left) to remove air or foam from the incoming oil line, the company notes that UL requires a fusible link oil valve installed in the (lesser) center (inlet) port of the Tigerloop™ device.
Tigerloop™ is an oil de-aerator installed at the oil pump (fuel unit) on an oil burner. It tin can help avoid losing prime on heating oil lines if at that place is a problem with air leakage into the oil pipage.

Lookout man out: Tigerloop™ adds that you should never install an oil line shutoff device between the de-aerator device and the oil pump. Shown is the Tigerloop S220. A variation is bachelor, the Tigerloop-ultra™ Southward-220-viii that incorporates an oil filter as well.

The manufacturer, Westwood, indicates in an article quoted from Fuel Oil News magazine that using the Tigerloop™ model TN device permits omission of the return oil pipe traditionally used with buried or afar heating oil tanks.

Also encounter OIL LINE SAFETY VALVES, OSVs for more than information about check valves, fusible link safety valves, and oil line de-aerators

Watch out: Tigerloop™ warns that you lot should never install an oil line shutoff device between the de-aerator device and the oil pump.

Or as reader T.R. clarifies: ... I've been reading about TigerLoop oil fuel line de-aerators. When they are used, the manufacturer recommends that the fusible valve well-nigh the burner be attached at the inlet of their de-aeration device.

Details about a suspected leak in oil line piping where a de-aerator or oil line air removal device is installed are in a Q&A discussion institute at OIL LINE PIPING LEAKS or select a topic from the More Reading links shown below.

SEE FIRE SAFETY CONTROLS

Can a tiger loop be installed when the oil tank is exterior to a higher place ground with a bottom feed a the burner is in the basement?

Question: how to seal off an unused copper oil line

(July half-dozen, 2014) lee said:
I take a 2 line system ane of the line leaking.

I tin setup as a 1line no problem just I need to seal off the leaking i ! wondering if there is annihilation I can put into that line that would not break downward with the fuel and save me from having to dig up the 2d line caulking ?

Reply:

Lee,

to close off a copper oil line without creating a future mess the best approach is to only buy a flare fitting and a flare-threaded plug that will screw into the plumbing equipment.

Using a flaring tool, install the flare collar, flare the tubing stop, install the flare fitting and spiral the neckband tight; then screw the flare threaded plug into the flare fitting.

All of these few parts (and the tool if necessary) can be obtained at a local plumbing supplier. You only need to measure the OD of your oil line so that you buy the correct flare fittings - three/8" or i/2" for example.

Question: oil puddles or leaks around the oil burner

(Feb viii, 2014) Bearding said:

I Always Observe OIL AROUND MY BURNER, WHAT COULD BE THE Trouble

Reply:

Betimes, sounds like an oil leak. Leaks tin occur inside the burner tube and baste out every bit well equally anywhere in the fuel organization .

Watch out, a leak out can as well Involve air leaks in, leading to poor performance, loss of heat, or even a puffback explosion. Other than the petty crime of shouting in all CAPS, there is probably an oil leak at a plumbing equipment on or about the oil burner.

Lookout man out: oil leaks crusade improper and unsafe oil burner functioning as air can be fatigued into the piping system leading to sooting, clogs, and a unsafe puffback. Enquire your oil heating service company to audit, find and fix the leaks.

...

Continue reading at OIL LINE PIPING LEAKS - topic dwelling house or select a topic from the closely-related articles beneath, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see OIL LINE PIPING LEAK CAUSES

Or encounter these

Oil Line Piping Articles

OIL LINE Pipe - home
- OIL LINE AIR REMOVAL Procedure
- OIL LINE BUZZ & VIBRATION CURE
- OIL LINE CONTROLS & VALVES
- OIL LINE Check VALVES
- OIL LINE CLOGGING Ready
- OIL LINE DE-AERATORS Tigerloop™
- OIL LINE PIPING LEAKS
- OIL LINE PIPING LEAK CAUSES
- OIL LINE QUICK Terminate VALVES
- OIL LINE Rubber VALVES, OSVs
- OIL LINE SAFETY VALVE TURN Direction to Open up or Shut
- OIL LINE VACUUM & Pressure TESTS
- OIL LINE VACUUM-ACTIVATED OSVs & PRVs
OIL or GAS SHUTOFFS
OIL SPILL CLEANUP / PREVENTION
OIL TANK Pipe & PIPING DEFECTS - domicile

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OIL LINE Piping LEAK FAQs at AuditApedia.com - online encyclopedia of edifice & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & trouble prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: Article Index to HEATING OIL, OIL BURNERS, OIL FIRED HEATERS, OIL TANKS

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