Retired pipefitter and oil burner tech for 52 years. If you're going to sell just blow out the other line. Maybe stick a gauge on both tanks so you can monitor if it plugs up again. If the tanks are that old everyone will tell you to change them weather they are good or not. They can do ultrasonic thickness testing on the tank metal but probably not worth that expense. I have seen underground oil tanks cleaned, they have a manhole but don't know about 275s. Although tanks can let go they seldom do. They usually just start to seep. Keep your eyes on the bottom of the tanks occasionally. Tanks collect moisture in the summer (condensed water). Inside the basement is cooler in the summer than outside. Warm air migrates through the vent line into the tank and condenses out the water. The water and the oil tend to make sludge and rust on the bottom of the tank. I never like the fills with the crossover pipe as it puts a lot of stress on the first tank. The oil trucks put out 80psi or so although after the oil goes through the fill hose the tank does not see that much pressure. The cross over fill is allowed but in the old days each tank had a separate fill pipe and 1 vent tied into both tanks. You can buy "Hot" fuel oil treatment (and there are other brands). It like putting drygas in a car. helps with sludge and water.
Wow! Thanks for all the great info, you're really the expert! I'll be sure to keep all of this in mind. It’s funny but when my Dad would deliver to my house he would always pump the oil in slow and easy! 😃👍. Thanks again!
Hi Scoutcrafter, when i was about 6 two of my siblings and i were sitting lined up on a couch. At one end of our couch sat our kerosene heater with the flue and smoke stack on top. Well my Dad lit the heater and forgot to open the vent on top of the heater in the smoke stack. when the round disk blew off the side of the stack it went over our heads and missed us only about 6 inches. We used to talk about it and laugh when we got older.
I feel your pain nothing worse than the heat running out when you need it most!!!!!!!!!!! To make my story short , had a problem were my 275 tank would be at a quarter of a tank and the line would get air. I wound up fixing this by installing a tiger loop on the boiler and hot water heater. This was after tank was replaced 🤬!!!!!!!!! Well the brighter side of this was i learned a lifetime of information on Rielo and Beckett oil burners. I guess what does not kill us makes us stronger. I hope a your able to get a reputable outfit to clean tank . I learned the hard way the a lot of places put band aides on problems, and temporary fix it jobs. Stay warm my friend .
I had oil heat in the 90’s when I lived in Pennsylvania. The furnace was original to the house which had been built in the 60’s. I added a second tank similar to your configuration. I could buy oil in August for $0.75 per gallon. In February, the price was $1.25 per gallon. The tank paid for itself rapidly! I installed UL approved replaceable cartridge filters at each discharge. Of course, there was a valve before and after each filter so that the oil could be stopped from each direction. I changed the filters every year to keep the nozzle from getting blocked. I always burned the first tank on the fill tube first and then switched to the second tank. I thought it reduced the risk of condensation. I suggest you call the last 3 customers of the tank cleaner to hear their testimony. Cleaning the tank is valuable. Also ask about coating it to stop rust through. A pin hole can drain a tank.
Thanks John, isn't it always cold weather when you have heating troubles, that's quite a set-up you've got there, we're on mains Gas, but are being advised that we need to update for more efficiency and a lack of spares for older models. I did recognise the lock, people used to get very touchy about phone use and costs in multi-occupancy homes even in family groups ! "Why did the chicken cross the road?" because John just loves a Blowmold of course ! 😉🤣
I would check the first tank for other obstructions. Such as rag, o-ring from the nozzle, or solidified bio heating oil. Before the refuel, I would siphoned as much fuel out of the first into the second tank. In order to get a better look at the drain line.
Great video, thanks for showing the lock and giving me a shout out, I appreciate it. I will bear you in mind if I find any other obsolete items that you might find interesting. Cheers Stephen
Great show John, being a 75 year old hillbilly from eastern Kentucky I can't comment on the finer attributes of oil burners, but I can tell you with total affirmation that everyone new when Grandpa's vent whistle was out of whack. Love your channel!
Nothing beats oil for heat value along with it’s convenience, no matter if its a bolier or forced air. Our new heat pump wasnt doing much at 10 degrees but we have a whole house wood furnace which has taken over until temperatures moderate. I’d gladly convert to an oil or propane fired unit for those few weeks when needed just for the ease of use. Glad you found the problem, and isn’t it always when needed most, funny about that….Great info! Thanks
On the rotary phone, you could dial any number by tapping the cradle buttons. Tap once for one and so forth. You had to do it at the tick tick tick rate you heard when you dialed normally. My friends and I used to play around doing that. We all got pretty good at it. Things you did before the internet...
Great show! Really appreciated the oil tank segment. I just had my old buried tank filled with foam this year. It was full of water and bubbling water/oil all over the ground! Took the steam heat out 10 years ago.
In-ground tanks are great when new but can become an issue over time. My neighbor had an older 1000 gallon in ground tank that was always giving her issues. She was worried the house couldn’t be sold until the tank was removed and the soil inspected…. NYC EPA. 🫣😂👍
My first home had oil. I have no war stories but I remember the delivery man, who also was the repairman. He knew all his customers by name, was so friendly, and you could call him anytime if you had a problem. Can’t find that type of service today.
I have an old oil burner. When I bought the house and had it inspected, cleaned and repaired the tech said his boss wanted him to tell me to get a new, more efficient one but in his opinion, once it was cleaned and repaired I'd never get a new one better than the old one. I stuck with it and I'm not disappointed. Great job on the chicken!
I'm in Texas, so I've never seen an oil burner! But I'm a building maintenance Chief Engineer. I would isolate one tank at a time, remove the pipe fittings and piping to access the ports. Pipe in temporary hoses and pour in heated (if possible) kerosene or a parts cleaner solvent (or even denatured alcohol - or the best solvent for the job...) to loosen and move the sludge. Maybe a heated wrap on the exterior of the tank to soften the sludge. Use a vat with a strainer/ filter system set up with a circulating pump to circulate the liquid back through the tank. Try a wet dry vac to remove the sediment using a 3/4" - 1" pipe in the tank to remove heavy/ hard clumps and to keep the drain clear when needed. This might take some time and effort, but miniscule cost next to tank replacement or system modification... Like I said, I don't know oil burners or even the crude oil/ sludge consistency or traits, but if it can be loosened and dissolved, it can be cleaned out! This is done, similarly, with an acidic wash on Chiller tube bundles to remove scale. I wish I was there to help, seems like a great project we could do - Good Luck!
I live in the midwest. We don't have oil burners as far as I know. Around here, we use propane, natural gas, or electric. Some folks out in the country heat with wood. Great show as usual. I always learn something from your show. Thanks.
I grew up in St Charles,MO and most older homes had oil heat. Newer homes had propane. Then the gas company expanded as the population grew. Many went to natural gas because you always ran out of propane, even on keep full.
The vent whistle is close to the vent hole of the tank so when the oil fills the tank and hits the whistle it stops sounding so the driver knows the tank is full, the outer pipe cap is there to allow air out but keep dirt, dust and bugs from entering the pipe- it’s just a cap that’s screened with a small piece of metal screening. 😃👍
I got distracted by the Lionel boxes. I used to just flush the tank into the filter which was attached at the bottom of the tank outlet. Then I replaced the filter. Pouring diesel into the "empty tank" would churn up the sludge and flush it out into the filter and then into a container for reuse. The nozzels can be disassembled by unscrewing the bronze filter on the back. I've had to clean them a bunch of times with carb cleaner. Have fun. Good Luck, Rick
I like that chicken, looks really good. I found one of those locks on a pay phone back in the day and the guy said he put it there so it was always available when he needed to make a call. Ok, my perspective as a Realtor on those oil tanks. I would get them cleaned, encapsulate the steam pipes to prevent the asbestos from coming off and let the new homeowner put another oil burner in. I have a heat pump and when the outside temps are below 20 degrees the electric coils kick in so the cost is more than running a traditional steam or hot water system in extreme cold weather.
Fred- Here they are pushing mini splits for everyone however the electric grid here wasn’t built for that kind of draw! Stay tuned for more NYC blackouts! 🫣😂👍
There are sludge additives that you can add each time you get a fill-up. I would also change the filter more often. They are cheap and easy to change. Intresting fact: algae can also grow in your fuel tanks and clog things. Best of luck with your tanks.
I am glad to hear you got more oil for the tank as it has been very cold in the mid west so I cannot imagine how cold it was in New York. We never had an oil tank but some houses did. The chicken looks great and i really like the the eyes. It looks a lot better touched up. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for another super interesting video. I am a super old timer, the first phones in my house as a kid had a crank only, no dial. Turning the crank called the operator--small town in Illinois in early 1950s.
Your oil tank segment was very informative, never would’ve thought of the sludge in the tank bottom, to me, it would make sense to clean the tanks if at all possible, just getting the old ones out and new ones is the stuff nightmares are made of, then, in few years, you end up, doing it all over again, nope keep what you have in my book. Have you ever, if possible, thought of of some of of a recirculating pump system between the tanks to the sediment from settling down? Just a thought! The lock had me baffled, no idea. Chicken came out nice, thanks for the update, enjoyed watching.
My home uses my oil burner to make hot water so it runs all year long. We never had a sludge issue in 70 years but now they are using Bio fuel and it behaves differently than diesel. Still learning here. 😂👍
Our province (Prince Edward Island) mandates that steel oil tanks be changed according to their expiry date tag. If they are not changed when they expire, the oil deliverer will refuse to fill the talk until you do so. We have a fiberglass tank for our oil, good for infinity, no expiry date. Our tank is outside, and I put a liter of methyl hydrate in it with each oil fill.
Hi John, Firstly.. fantastic drawings as usual, and the lesson kept me highly intrigued.., problem came when you went to show the tanks… and I instantly got distracted.. LIONEL TRAINS 😃😃 Tell me you’ve done a video on your collection 🤞🤞.. I’ll finish watching this video , and I’m off to look 😂 Cheers Rob
My heater crapped out Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Was -11 windchill. I swear, my heater knows when it's the worst time to take a break. All fixed now. Thanks for your vids
Love the chicken,got one like it from grandma, lock is cool and love the Lionels,train guy also. Sorry about your tank we dont have that around here that I have ever seen.
OMG! I saw the old Lionel boxes on the shelf and it brought back many memories. I had Lionel trains when I was young. Unfortunately no one is into trains anymore and it’s sad.
Frank- Although the hobby isn’t as common as it was in our day there are amazing model railroading channels on RUclips! All different categories too! I just watched a gentleman last week who runs a garden railway all around his backyard and had a beautiful plow in the front of his engine and it cleared all the tracks just like the real trains. 😃👍
I remember these phones but don’t remember the lock. I guess us kids knew better than to use it without permission 😂. The lock is pretty cool. Never lived in a house that used oil but lived in one that burned dirty coal 😂. Thank You for sharing!
In the generator world we offer a service called "fuel polishing". A high flow pump circulates the #2 fuel oil through progressively finer filters. A nozzle on the end of the return hose into the tank helps churn up the sludge at the bottom so the pump can grab it This takes some time but gives good results! The down side about most generator tanks is that they have internal baffles that limit your ability to get at the sludge. Heating oil tanks don't have that problem which is good news for you! A good patient serviceman will have those tanks looking like new inside! Nice Lionel collection too!
Hi John, Great oil burner description. Our house is an early 1960’s one story 3 bedroom bath and 1 1/2 baths. The previous owner put on a very big addition. The house had oil burner with baseboard hot water heat. They added HVAC heat pumps. One for original house, one for addition. But, they ran the hot water baseboard through the addition. So I have the oil furnace as a nice back up heat. Great video. Best Regards, John
First. Great chicken blow mold. Second. The house I grew up in had 2 oil space heaters that required filling up from a 5 gallon can. The main tank was in a basement under the garage which was separated from the house by about 6 feet. I absolutely hated going down there at midnight twice to fill those heater’s tanks. First off because of the cold and secondly because I couldn’t take the smell of the oil. Since the house had gas cooking stoves and water heaters, we later had a furnace and water heater put in the basement of the house. The apartment upstairs still has the gas water heater and gas space heaters. Third. My oldest sister was an operator for Illinois Bell Telephone. Those were the days ScoutCrafter.
I was glad to see that your supply lines didn't come out of the bottom of the tank, but near the bottom on the end. That was done on purpose to keep the sludge (usually) below the line of supply. Stay warm!
Ahhh. I thought it was a lock for a shop case. I remember phone locks. What kind of maniac does not like to fiber wheel their rooster. Nice video. Thank you.
A gallon an hour...wow. Drill baby drill 😂. I used to have a pneumatic diaphragm pump used to pump slurry...it would have been perfect for pumping that sludge. Great stuff. Cheers
When my oldest son was about 4 or 5 enjoyed watching the oil truck deliver our oil (inground tank). One day a few months after a delivery I walked outside to find my son with the garden hose inside the filler tube and the water was running full blast!!!! After turning it off, I politely asked WHAT WAS HE DOING...... He said, "Filling the tank". I think that was the first time he heard the term- Knucklehead. That adventure cost me a couple hundred bucks (back in the '80s) Years later at another residence, I used to make my own biodiesel to run the house and cars. I saved a boatload of money (but it took a bunch of time). The kids would drive around back and fill up their cars. The first couple of times they would get weird looks from their friends who were in the car.
The problem with relying on mini-splits for heat is if there's a power failure everything is going to freeze. I've run my oil burner off a small portable generator several times when we've had storms knock power out for extended periods.
Thanks for the explanation on the oil burners. Not since I was a kid have I had oil. We moved when I was young teen and it was gas and in all the years since it's been gas. Although upstate there were, and still are, a lot of oil I'd forgotten about it. And I live in the south now so... I remember that lock and I remember the work around too.
Great video 👍 Awesome information and demonstration on how the oil tank or tanks are used. I had a outdoor oil tank were I made a wooden stick with the inches 📏 curved on the wood so I could keep a eye 👀 on the fuel ⛽️ so I knew when I had to order and also not to get it below that sludge or sediment line. I hope you can get your tanks cleaned 🧹 out so you can be operational next winter 🥶! That clean up of the chicken 🐓 planter turned out Fantastic!👍Maybe when you pick up the White silicone you might come across some coconut 🥥 fiber or coir for the top and use it as a liner for your planter 🪴👍. It would look good also lighted 💡up on a shelf also like you done 🔥👍. Great shot of Old Glory 🇺🇸 Flying in the Breeze. Well again great video and can’t wait to see what you do on Monday. Have a great evening and fantastic weekend. 😄👍👍
Was raised in old home with buried oil tank. The 70's were rough🤣. We had a Franklin wood stove as back up, clog filter -wake up freezing. That being said, imo the quality of heat from oil or gas is far superior to any heat pump/heat exchange. Arthritis knows the difference 🤣 right on John 👍🏻
Ahh the oil tank dilemma. I’ve been pretty lucky with mine except for a few years ago when the whole boiler was shot. The inside jacket failed. It was about 30 years old. Replaced with a new boiler about 2 years ago. Just converted to Natural gas this summer. I live having the gas for cooking. You are so right about old folks loving planters! That chicken looks fantastic. My father used to threaten to buy a lock like that for our phone back in the day. My brother told him we could just unplug it and plug a different phone in. Boy I thought my father was going to kill him. 😂 Great info about the oil system, and I love your tanks. Can we get a Lionel train episode one of these days?
Don’t know when you are planning to move but boats use a method to clean up diesel by pumping from one tank to another through filters to polish the fuel. Probably could do it by recirculating back into the same tank. Raycore seems to be a popular brand.
Blowmold Chicken was The Hottest Disco Club of the 70s🕺💥🌠 I leave the Christmas Blowmold Candle out on the porch all winter long, it's the one we had when I was a kid, I'd bet combined total over the years it's spent maybe a decade outside and still holding up great.
John, I had a very similar oil talk problem. I had two 330 gal. tanks. Sludge built up on the tank with the gage, so it continued to read full and I was only feeding off the 2nd tank until that ran dry. I was able to borrow a push-pull pump from work to clean out the line but always figured that as a temporary fix until it could clog again. I've since converted to high efficiency gas boiler. You're correct about the supply water temperature, with gas I max at 160 deg. and with oil I think it was around 180-190 deg?Here's hoping you find that perfect house with plenty of shop space!
Interesting about the oil tank issues. You had me going there for a minute saying you ran out of oil. As an old timer who remembers pre dial when you lift the receiver a female operator would say “number please”, I can say I never saw such a lock. Enjoyed the show.
I switched over to a natural gas furnace from an old oil furnace years ago. The only way I could get the old oil tank out of the basement was to saw it in half. I think it was put in there before the house was completed.
Jeff- Funny thing is that many oil tanks are brought down in pieces and welded together in the basement! It’s common practice! When removed they are cut up and taken out the same way! 😃👍
Chicken looks marvelous! We had coal heat until I was 13 (my job to stoke the furnace). Had oil heat after that. They both put out a great heat. Never seen a phone dial lock before. Thanks for the show and tell. We were on a party line. It seems like someone was always on the phone when you wanted to make a call.
I always turn off my furnace and wait for an hour before turning on, when getting a oil delivery.this gives it time to let the sludge settle down and not get as much drawn to the furnace.
Me too, Also this shut off method prevents "air locks" in the line, when an oil delivery churns and "carbonates" the fuel in the tank. I had it happen once, when the oil deliverer filled the tank when I wasn't home. Now I have a Tiger Loop on the fuel line to "burp" the air out of the fuel delivery system.
Back in the 70s my Dad had a side job where he would pump the fuel oil out of peoples tanks that were switching over to natural gas and remove the tanks he would have so much oil that he never had buy it, He had at least 5 large tanks in the back yard full of oil all the time I believe he charge $50 to do it .
When I was a kid, my family switched from oil to propane for heating. However, since our oil tank is buried right next to the house, it was never removed. To this day, it’s still full of oil-a potential problem waiting to happen.
No horror story but we got an oil tank installed when grandma switched from anthracite coal to oil. They put the tank where the coal bin was. But it wasn't the same as we used to like watching how the corkscrew drew coal from the bin into the furnace. Edit -- giving a call out to The Creature From The Black Lagoon!
My first workshop was in the old coal bin of my house. Coal was a bit of a pain to maintain but many people have fond memories of it too! I like the smell of burning coal. 🫣😂👍
You’re absolutely right your tanks a way way better than the ones now but what I would do in your situation is change the plumbing because even though the tanks nowadays suck the plumbing fixtures are better. So yeah I would definitely upgrade the plumbing.
John, the journey into your oil heater was really interesting for me. All of my life no matter where we lived, it was always coal fired steam, natural gas, or electric baseboard. When you have your tanks cleaned, please do a follow up piece!
I was in charge of "looking after" my (nearby town) parents house (oil heat boiler) while they were away. Something went wrong with the burner. Normal blue jet flame turned to a yellow flamed oil fire - like burning tires. Spewed black oily soot undetected for days before shutting itself down. All interior exposed surfaces were covered with oily soot and reeked of fuel oil. Furniture, rugs, drapes - all ruined. Walls and ceilings had to be scrubbed down by hand with buckets of soapy water. This was all DIY - you cant find people to do that kind of work. They got rid of the oil heat.
I can tell you some real nightmare stories about oil- One common issue here was people would convert to gas and not tell the oil company. Sometimes the fill neck wasn’t removed and a driver would pump a few hundred gallons into the basement!!! Now that’s a EPA disaster! 😂👍
ScoutCrafter, First, I have no personal experience with heating oil furnaces. As far back as I can remember, it has been gas or electric. I currently use heat pumps and have gas 'emergency' heaters when the temperature is too low to allow for the heat pump to produce enough heat. I do, however, have experience with steam ships that burned Bunker C, low sulfer oil in Port, and marine diesel for startups. Ships tanks are considerably larger. The smallest tank would be a day tank, which held 24 hours of clean fuel. Diesel ships are similar to steam ships in that they can burn a greater variety of oil. Looking at your system, I would point to two major differences, the fuel suctions and the tank gauges. Fuel generally has two major issues, water and sludge. When taking on fuel, you generally separate fuel into 'clean' and 'dirty'. When you load new fuel, you want to move all fuel you have into the number 1 (clean) tank and then load the new fuel into the number 2 (dirty) tank to make sure the fuel isn't contaminated. Both tanks should have low point drains to ensure there is no water in the fuel. There should be two levels of suctions a high suction to prevent contaminated fuel from reaching the burners. There should be a high suction for when you know the fuel is clean. When you are burning a mixture of sludge, you want a low suction. To get rid of the sludge to draw from high and low suctions at the same time. When it comes to gagging, I have seen ball or plug valves tapped into the side of tanks. I don't recommend these. Gauge glasses and magnetic float gauges are good for simplicity. My favorite gauges for an easy to read gauge are Gems Visual Indicators. You can see tank levels from across the basement, provided the view is not obstructed. If you want, you can provide remote display and/or alarms. A high, low, and low-low alarm might be in order. Bob
I can't stop laughing at that syphoning diagram at 10:29. 😂 Especially drawing number 5 of the guy puking out the gasoline. 🤮🤣 I've been that guy a few times back when I was on the farm! I swallowed a mouthful of gas once doing that, and every time I burped for the next two hours it tasted like gasoline. 🤮😧
We had oil heat growing up, it was nice to hear that whistle, you knew when the delivery guy was there, nice even heat since we didn't have a fan forced unit, I remember the tank in the basement and my dad bleeding the lines when they went dry, I don't think we ever had a problem with sludge maybe our tank was only 50 years old.
My mother was a telephone operator in Crockett, CA in the late 1940's. Crockett didn't have dial phones until 1969. I still remember my Grandmother's non-dial phone number - Crockett 553.
The lock looks like an old dial telephone lock. I had to use one in my job working for the Navy (started in 1980). The idea was to prevent anyone coming into the office after hours and making unauthorized calls. They were strict about the telephone budget - we had to account for every long distance call!
Great video as always. I had a phone lock for a rotary phone when I was a kid, but it had a small circle that went through the finger hole and turned to the side to lock. Have a great weekend.
I’m surprised the tank doesn’t have a “sump” of some description or that the outflow isn’t above the bottom. Sure you waste some oil - but it gives you somewhere for the crap to settle.
About 40 or so years ago, I came home about 2 AM to find the full of blue smoke. I was living with my grandmother after my grandfather passed away. Luckily she was OK, ( I had almost stayed at my girlfriends that night - whew). After I turned the furnace off, I took grandma to my dads house just down the road and light the fireplace. Turns out the flue had clogged up. The technician came the next day and cleaned it and figured the flue hadn't been cleaned properly in years even though the service contract included the flue cleaning, they didn't charge for the service call. The entire house had to be cleaned - not fun!
I have a 50 year old furnace. I feel your pain. Every HVAC maintenance call they want me to buy a new furnace. Long story short I stopped calling for maintenance.
Sam- Most oil companies don’t mind older units because they eventually sell us more oil. 😂. The funny thing is there are two types of service men that will visit your home- 1 will tell you that your setup is old and out of date and should be replaced. Number 2 will say “Boy they sure don’t make them like this anymore, these units were meant to last forever” Needless to say I only allow the number 2’s in my home. 😂👍
I had mine go out when the ignighter unit quit and I woke up to fuel oil smoke coming up the registers. I always wake up if something isn't right. In house tanks take number 2 oil in the winter whereas outside tanks require number 1 in the winter. Number 1 saves you money. The bad thing is in states where you have to get a special licensed crew to remove the tanks. I have used an air compressor to blow back through lines. You would need to close off the one tank. I had a shut off valve right above the fuel filter. Chicken looks good. Getting it to look that fresh takes the eye away from damage. Most of the ones I saw that were damaged were left out all winter. They get really wet and then freeze. A little bump like someone banging against it and instant damage.
Wow what an amazing job on the chicken planter 👍 and I don’t have any experience or know anyone who had their tank cleaned but don’t see why it wouldn’t work out well.
I had an oil tank in the basement when I lived in NY. Now down south we have central air and I can tell you that mini splits will not keep up with NY extreme cold temperatures.
Here is a cheap and easy fix for you cut a manhole in the tank they have self-sealing manholes just for this purpose they are also used on commerical boilers for exactly that purpose cleaning and inspection they have those on makeup tanks also. So, you or someone can get inside or get a suction device inside no need to spend big bucks. Hope this helps from an old, retired boiler guy.
I had a similar issue 2 weeks ago. I have a 1959 vintage boiler (not as cool looking as yours). I also have dual 275gal tanks. Tank #1 has no gauge, and tank #2 does. The fire protection valve (you didn't mention in your great diagram) on tank #2 tripped off, so I was only pulling oil from tank #1, Ran tank 1 dry, but the gauge on tank #2 showed 25%. I flushed the line and confirmed I had some flow (not enough apparently) but spark was weak, so I replaced igniter transformer. That didn't work, so I called my service company. They send a different tech every time, and he did figure it out by doing the same steps I did, but he noticed the weak oil flow. Reset the fire-o-matic valve and I'm back up and running.
David- Believe it or not we actually prefer snow because when it snows it’s usually not that cold. These single digit temps really push one’s buttons! 😂👍
We had duel oil tanks and replaced them with a single. Same as you,gunk in the bottom of the tanks. But we had the thin steel tanks. We had the same problem with sludge in the tanks. We have changed the gun and control unit and with the new tank you get a new oil line. The reason for one tank is we live close enough to the oil company that they come right away.( small town ) We are also on automatic delivery and they deliver more often. One tank,less problems. Next to get changed is the blow down valve on the side so you don’t have water come out your radiators. Not an effective way to heat we preorder 1700 gals of oil each year. In your case it would be cheaper to clean your tanks than get new.
Steve- That’s so funny you said that! I had all intentions of scoping the tank but my bore scope battery was dead. (Reason 563 why I hate battery stuff!). 🫣😂👍
Grew up in a house with oil heat kept house warm but you could always smell it when coming in from outdoors roared like a jet plane engine my father was always adjusting and tuning it we didnt have a basement - just a spider hole (crawl space) to go on hands and knees had a bucket full of old and new nozzles of all sizes
Had a bad igniter; drove me nuts. It checked out normal on my VOM, but the old pro told me they cut out when they heat up internally from current flow.
As always a great show. I’ve saw those phone locks before, but I couldn’t remember what it was.. so why don’t you just switch over to natural gas lol. Your chicken turned out really nice so when and if you move, are you going south or west or north Kentucky is pretty you should move down here. as always, thank you for your time and knowledge.
With those old dial phones if you were clever you could tap in the number like morse code, one click for 1, two for 2 etc. You just had to mimic the clicks you heard when you held the handset to your ear as you dialled.
I don't have oil. I have a Carrier gas furnace, and twice in the past 10 years it has died for the same reason. What amazes me is that in every instance, regardless if it's oil or gas, these furnaces die at the worst times. It's uncanny. Yours died during an Arctic polar cold event and mine died the first time 7 years ago during an on-going blizzard (literally) and again a year ago during a similar Arctic cold snap. It's like they know.
NEVER EVER force feed a second tank through the first tank. Always have a fill and vent pipe for each tank. I know it's done in some states but I am in Michigan and it's not legal to force feed here. This is why. The oil trucks pump fuel at many time higher pressure than a oil tank is built for. New tanks are tested at 5 psi only to check for leaks at the factory because they are not a pressure vessel. The oil is pumped out the top or bottom by the furnace only. Most all tank failures are the first tank spliting open trying to force fill the second. Remember the only reason people force feed two tanks is to save a few dollars on piping both tanks out seperatly. It's not worth it. I have been installing oil tanks for 30 years and I cringe when I see this done in other areas.
NY politicians are exactly what you would expect. A decade ago there were huge incentives and pressure to “convert to clean natural gas” now that’s out and they want everyone to run mini splits- the problem is the electric grid here is strained already and it’s only a matter of time before electricity is no longer reliable here. 🫣😂👍
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Retired pipefitter and oil burner tech for 52 years. If you're going to sell just blow out the other line. Maybe stick a gauge on both tanks so you can monitor if it plugs up again.
If the tanks are that old everyone will tell you to change them weather they are good or not. They can do ultrasonic thickness testing on the tank metal but probably not worth that expense. I have seen underground oil tanks cleaned, they have a manhole but don't know about 275s.
Although tanks can let go they seldom do. They usually just start to seep. Keep your eyes on the bottom of the tanks occasionally.
Tanks collect moisture in the summer (condensed water). Inside the basement is cooler in the summer than outside. Warm air migrates through the vent line into the tank and condenses out the water. The water and the oil tend to make sludge and rust on the bottom of the tank.
I never like the fills with the crossover pipe as it puts a lot of stress on the first tank. The oil trucks put out 80psi or so although after the oil goes through the fill hose the tank does not see that much pressure. The cross over fill is allowed but in the old days each tank had a separate fill pipe and 1 vent tied into both tanks.
You can buy "Hot" fuel oil treatment (and there are other brands). It like putting drygas in a car. helps with sludge and water.
Wow! Thanks for all the great info, you're really the expert! I'll be sure to keep all of this in mind. It’s funny but when my Dad would deliver to my house he would always pump the oil in slow and easy! 😃👍. Thanks again!
Very interesting.
Hi Scoutcrafter, when i was about 6 two of my siblings and i were sitting lined up on a couch. At one end of our couch sat our kerosene heater with the flue and smoke stack on top. Well my Dad lit the heater and forgot to open the vent on top of the heater in the smoke stack. when the round disk blew off the side of the stack it went over our heads and missed us only about 6 inches. We used to talk about it and laugh when we got older.
I never liked the smell of Kerosene as it burns my throat. Here in the city they are banned. 😃👍
I feel your pain nothing worse than the heat running out when you need it most!!!!!!!!!!! To make my story short , had a problem were my 275 tank would be at a quarter of a tank and the line would get air. I wound up fixing this by installing a tiger loop on the boiler and hot water heater. This was after tank was replaced 🤬!!!!!!!!! Well the brighter side of this was i learned a lifetime of information on Rielo and Beckett oil burners. I guess what does not kill us makes us stronger. I hope a your able to get a reputable outfit to clean tank . I learned the hard way the a lot of places put band aides on problems, and temporary fix it jobs. Stay warm my friend .
You are so right- There are so many places today that will take advantage of you instead of doing the right thing. 😃👍
Boy, I would have never guessed in a million years that was a rotary phone lock! 😂
Grew up with those phones, but never saw a lock.
Apparently you got along well with your parents! 😂😂👍
I had oil heat in the 90’s when I lived in Pennsylvania. The furnace was original to the house which had been built in the 60’s. I added a second tank similar to your configuration. I could buy oil in August for $0.75 per gallon. In February, the price was $1.25 per gallon. The tank paid for itself rapidly! I installed UL approved replaceable cartridge filters at each discharge. Of course, there was a valve before and after each filter so that the oil could be stopped from each direction. I changed the filters every year to keep the nozzle from getting blocked. I always burned the first tank on the fill tube first and then switched to the second tank. I thought it reduced the risk of condensation.
I suggest you call the last 3 customers of the tank cleaner to hear their testimony. Cleaning the tank is valuable. Also ask about coating it to stop rust through. A pin hole can drain a tank.
Excellent advice! 😃👍
Thanks John, isn't it always cold weather when you have heating troubles, that's quite a set-up you've got there, we're on mains Gas, but are being advised that we need to update for more efficiency and a lack of spares for older models. I did recognise the lock, people used to get very touchy about phone use and costs in multi-occupancy homes even in family groups !
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" because John just loves a Blowmold of course ! 😉🤣
I would check the first tank for other obstructions. Such as rag, o-ring from the nozzle, or solidified bio heating oil. Before the refuel, I would siphoned as much fuel out of the first into the second tank. In order to get a better look at the drain line.
Excellent tip! 😃👍
Great information John thanks
Great video, thanks for showing the lock and giving me a shout out, I appreciate it. I will bear you in mind if I find any other obsolete items that you might find interesting. Cheers Stephen
Stephen- Thanks for sending it over! I bet at least half the people had no idea what that was. 😂👍
Sir @ontools for the win!
@@SpringRubberthank you
@@ScoutCraftereveryday is a school day!
I thought it was a trigger lock for a weapon. Didn’t see that one coming. Learn something new every day. Subscribing to your channel.
Great show John, being a 75 year old hillbilly from eastern Kentucky I can't comment on the finer attributes of oil burners, but I can tell you with total affirmation that everyone new when Grandpa's vent whistle was out of whack. Love your channel!
😂👍
Nothing beats oil for heat value along with it’s convenience, no matter if its a bolier or forced air. Our new heat pump wasnt doing much at 10 degrees but we have a whole house wood furnace which has taken over until temperatures moderate. I’d gladly convert to an oil or propane fired unit for those few weeks when needed just for the ease of use. Glad you found the problem, and isn’t it always when needed most, funny about that….Great info! Thanks
On the rotary phone, you could dial any number by tapping the cradle buttons. Tap once for one and so forth. You had to do it at the tick tick tick rate you heard when you dialed normally. My friends and I used to play around doing that. We all got pretty good at it. Things you did before the internet...
It is an old rotary telescope dail lock for preventing unauthorised use/access.
Great show! Really appreciated the oil tank segment. I just had my old buried tank filled with foam this year. It was full of water and bubbling water/oil all over the ground! Took the steam heat out 10 years ago.
In-ground tanks are great when new but can become an issue over time. My neighbor had an older 1000 gallon in ground tank that was always giving her issues. She was worried the house couldn’t be sold until the tank was removed and the soil inspected…. NYC EPA. 🫣😂👍
My first home had oil. I have no war stories but I remember the delivery man, who also was the repairman. He knew all his customers by name, was so friendly, and you could call him anytime if you had a problem. Can’t find that type of service today.
Tony- That was the best part about small home town companies! I miss that. 😃👍
I have an old oil burner. When I bought the house and had it inspected, cleaned and repaired the tech said his boss wanted him to tell me to get a new, more efficient one but in his opinion, once it was cleaned and repaired I'd never get a new one better than the old one. I stuck with it and I'm not disappointed. Great job on the chicken!
I'm in Texas, so I've never seen an oil burner! But I'm a building maintenance Chief Engineer.
I would isolate one tank at a time, remove the pipe fittings and piping to access the ports. Pipe in temporary hoses and pour in heated (if possible) kerosene or a parts cleaner solvent (or even denatured alcohol - or the best solvent for the job...) to loosen and move the sludge. Maybe a heated wrap on the exterior of the tank to soften the sludge. Use a vat with a strainer/ filter system set up with a circulating pump to circulate the liquid back through the tank. Try a wet dry vac to remove the sediment using a 3/4" - 1" pipe in the tank to remove heavy/ hard clumps and to keep the drain clear when needed. This might take some time and effort, but miniscule cost next to tank replacement or system modification...
Like I said, I don't know oil burners or even the crude oil/ sludge consistency or traits, but if it can be loosened and dissolved, it can be cleaned out!
This is done, similarly, with an acidic wash on Chiller tube bundles to remove scale.
I wish I was there to help, seems like a great project we could do - Good Luck!
I can tell you’re an engineer! Outstanding solution! Thanks! 😃👍
I live in the midwest. We don't have oil burners as far as I know. Around here, we use propane, natural gas, or electric. Some folks out in the country heat with wood. Great show as usual. I always learn something from your show. Thanks.
I grew up in St Charles,MO and most older homes had oil heat. Newer homes had propane. Then the gas company expanded as the population grew. Many went to natural gas because you always ran out of propane, even on keep full.
John- can you explain in a little more detail why there is a need for both a vent tube whistle and end-of-line outside vented cap?
The vent whistle is close to the vent hole of the tank so when the oil fills the tank and hits the whistle it stops sounding so the driver knows the tank is full, the outer pipe cap is there to allow air out but keep dirt, dust and bugs from entering the pipe- it’s just a cap that’s screened with a small piece of metal screening. 😃👍
I got distracted by the Lionel boxes. I used to just flush the tank into the filter which was attached at the bottom of the tank outlet. Then I replaced the filter. Pouring diesel into the "empty tank" would churn up the sludge and flush it out into the filter and then into a container for reuse. The nozzels can be disassembled by unscrewing the bronze filter on the back. I've had to clean them a bunch of times with carb cleaner. Have fun. Good Luck, Rick
I like that chicken, looks really good.
I found one of those locks on a pay phone back in the day and the guy said he put it there so it was always available when he needed to make a call.
Ok, my perspective as a Realtor on those oil tanks. I would get them cleaned, encapsulate the steam pipes to prevent the asbestos from coming off and let the new homeowner put another oil burner in.
I have a heat pump and when the outside temps are below 20 degrees the electric coils kick in so the cost is more than running a traditional steam or hot water system in extreme cold weather.
Fred- Here they are pushing mini splits for everyone however the electric grid here wasn’t built for that kind of draw! Stay tuned for more NYC blackouts! 🫣😂👍
There are sludge additives that you can add each time you get a fill-up. I would also change the filter more often. They are cheap and easy to change.
Intresting fact: algae can also grow in your fuel tanks and clog things. Best of luck with your tanks.
I am glad to hear you got more oil for the tank as it has been very cold in the mid west so I cannot imagine how cold it was in New York. We never had an oil tank but some houses did. The chicken looks great and i really like the the eyes. It looks a lot better touched up. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for another super interesting video. I am a super old timer, the first phones in my house as a kid had a crank only, no dial. Turning the crank called the operator--small town in Illinois in early 1950s.
Wow- you're talking about the really old days! 😄👍
Your oil tank segment was very informative, never would’ve thought of the sludge in the tank bottom, to me, it would make sense to clean the tanks if at all possible, just getting the old ones out and new ones is the stuff nightmares are made of, then, in few years, you end up, doing it all over again, nope keep what you have in my book. Have you ever, if possible, thought of of some of of a recirculating pump system between the tanks to the sediment from settling down? Just a thought! The lock had me baffled, no idea. Chicken came out nice, thanks for the update, enjoyed watching.
My home uses my oil burner to make hot water so it runs all year long. We never had a sludge issue in 70 years but now they are using Bio fuel and it behaves differently than diesel. Still learning here. 😂👍
Hi John. Very interesting video. I wish you much luck with your oil tank problem. 😢try to have a great weekend. 👍👍❤...
Our province (Prince Edward Island) mandates that steel oil tanks be changed according to their expiry date tag. If they are not changed when they expire, the oil deliverer will refuse to fill the talk until you do so.
We have a fiberglass tank for our oil, good for infinity, no expiry date.
Our tank is outside, and I put a liter of methyl hydrate in it with each oil fill.
Prince Edward Island! Beautiful!!! Thanks! 😃👍
Fantastic illustrations
Hi John, Firstly.. fantastic drawings as usual, and the lesson kept me highly intrigued.., problem came when you went to show the tanks… and I instantly got distracted.. LIONEL TRAINS 😃😃 Tell me you’ve done a video on your collection 🤞🤞.. I’ll finish watching this video , and I’m off to look 😂
Cheers
Rob
😂😂😂. Rob I used to be heavy into trains- and slot cars too! 😂👍
My heater crapped out Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Was -11 windchill. I swear, my heater knows when it's the worst time to take a break. All fixed now. Thanks for your vids
Always on the coldest days! 🥶🫣😂👍
Love the chicken,got one like it from grandma, lock is cool and love the Lionels,train guy also. Sorry about your tank we dont have that around here that I have ever seen.
OMG! I saw the old Lionel boxes on the shelf and it brought back many memories. I had Lionel trains when I was young. Unfortunately no one is into trains anymore and it’s sad.
Frank- Although the hobby isn’t as common as it was in our day there are amazing model railroading channels on RUclips! All different categories too! I just watched a gentleman last week who runs a garden railway all around his backyard and had a beautiful plow in the front of his engine and it cleared all the tracks just like the real trains. 😃👍
I remember these phones but don’t remember the lock. I guess us kids knew better than to use it without permission 😂. The lock is pretty cool. Never lived in a house that used oil but lived in one that burned dirty coal 😂. Thank You for sharing!
The cool thing about coal is you could buy a couple tons and it never went bad! 😂👍
In the generator world we offer a service called "fuel polishing". A high flow pump circulates the #2 fuel oil through progressively finer filters. A nozzle on the end of the return hose into the tank helps churn up the sludge at the bottom so the pump can grab it This takes some time but gives good results! The down side about most generator tanks is that they have internal baffles that limit your ability to get at the sludge. Heating oil tanks don't have that problem which is good news for you! A good patient serviceman will have those tanks looking like new inside!
Nice Lionel collection too!
Thanks Mike!!!
Hi John,
Great oil burner description. Our house is an early 1960’s one story 3 bedroom bath and 1 1/2 baths. The previous owner put on a very big addition. The house had oil burner with baseboard hot water heat. They added HVAC heat pumps. One for original house, one for addition. But, they ran the hot water baseboard through the addition. So I have the oil furnace as a nice back up heat. Great video.
Best Regards,
John
John- Having a backup heating system is every Boy Scout’s dream! Be prepared! 😃👍
First. Great chicken blow mold. Second. The house I grew up in had 2 oil space heaters that required filling up from a 5 gallon can. The main tank was in a basement under the garage which was separated from the house by about 6 feet. I absolutely hated going down there at midnight twice to fill those heater’s tanks. First off because of the cold and secondly because I couldn’t take the smell of the oil. Since the house had gas cooking stoves and water heaters, we later had a furnace and water heater put in the basement of the house. The apartment upstairs still has the gas water heater and gas space heaters. Third. My oldest sister was an operator for Illinois Bell Telephone. Those were the days ScoutCrafter.
I was glad to see that your supply lines didn't come out of the bottom of the tank, but near the bottom on the end. That was done on purpose to keep the sludge (usually) below the line of supply. Stay warm!
Ahhh. I thought it was a lock for a shop case. I remember phone locks. What kind of maniac does not like to fiber wheel their rooster. Nice video. Thank you.
Thank God it wasn't the Burner!! Dad would never have let those tanks sludge up like that!!☻
It’s this new damn Bio diesel! The stuff gels up! NYC requires at least 5 percent bio fuel mix. 🫣😂👍
A gallon an hour...wow. Drill baby drill 😂. I used to have a pneumatic diaphragm pump used to pump slurry...it would have been perfect for pumping that sludge. Great stuff. Cheers
Joe- When it’s super cold like now my oil bill is $1K a month! It will be half that soon I hope! 😂👍
When my oldest son was about 4 or 5 enjoyed watching the oil truck deliver our oil (inground tank). One day a few months after a delivery I walked outside to find my son with the garden hose inside the filler tube and the water was running full blast!!!! After turning it off, I politely asked WHAT WAS HE DOING...... He said, "Filling the tank". I think that was the first time he heard the term- Knucklehead. That adventure cost me a couple hundred bucks (back in the '80s)
Years later at another residence, I used to make my own biodiesel to run the house and cars. I saved a boatload of money (but it took a bunch of time). The kids would drive around back and fill up their cars. The first couple of times they would get weird looks from their friends who were in the car.
Yikes! 😂. There are lots of instances where people put diesel in their gas vehicles at the gas station- 🫣😂👍
The problem with relying on mini-splits for heat is if there's a power failure everything is going to freeze. I've run my oil burner off a small portable generator several times when we've had storms knock power out for extended periods.
Bill- You’re 100% correct! The ultimate setup would be have oil heat and a diesel generator! The grid goes down and you have no worries! 😂👍
Thanks for the explanation on the oil burners. Not since I was a kid have I had oil. We moved when I was young teen and it was gas and in all the years since it's been gas. Although upstate there were, and still are, a lot of oil I'd forgotten about it. And I live in the south now so...
I remember that lock and I remember the work around too.
Great video 👍 Awesome information and demonstration on how the oil tank or tanks are used. I had a outdoor oil tank were I made a wooden stick with the inches 📏 curved on the wood so I could keep a eye 👀 on the fuel ⛽️ so I knew when I had to order and also not to get it below that sludge or sediment line. I hope you can get your tanks cleaned 🧹 out so you can be operational next winter 🥶! That clean up of the chicken 🐓 planter turned out Fantastic!👍Maybe when you pick up the White silicone you might come across some coconut 🥥 fiber or coir for the top and use it as a liner for your planter 🪴👍. It would look good also lighted 💡up on a shelf also like you done 🔥👍. Great shot of Old Glory 🇺🇸 Flying in the Breeze. Well again great video and can’t wait to see what you do on Monday. Have a great evening and fantastic weekend. 😄👍👍
Steven- I alway liked the look of illuminated blow molds! 😃👍
Was raised in old home with buried oil tank. The 70's were rough🤣. We had a Franklin wood stove as back up, clog filter -wake up freezing. That being said, imo the quality of heat from oil or gas is far superior to any heat pump/heat exchange. Arthritis knows the difference 🤣 right on John 👍🏻
James- you are so right! 😃👍
I only had the cylinder style lock so it was interesting seeing your style.
All I heard was "I don't have a tool for that" ...i must have passed out.....woke up to the flag waving😳 😂 have a great weekend Mr. John!
Actually Vic- I have the tool but no idea where the heck it is! 🫣😂👍
@ScoutCrafter 😅 I know that problem to well!
Ahh the oil tank dilemma. I’ve been pretty lucky with mine except for a few years ago when the whole boiler was shot. The inside jacket failed. It was about 30 years old. Replaced with a new boiler about 2 years ago. Just converted to Natural gas this summer. I live having the gas for cooking.
You are so right about old folks loving planters! That chicken looks fantastic. My father used to threaten to buy a lock like that for our phone back in the day. My brother told him we could just unplug it and plug a different phone in. Boy I thought my father was going to kill him. 😂
Great info about the oil system, and I love your tanks. Can we get a Lionel train episode one of these days?
Paul- I too prefer gas cooking. Learning to cook on electric is starting all over again! Glad I still have Gas! 😂👍
No oil knowledge Sorry, I have seen the lock on phones before and My Aunts have had the blow mold pots I remember from back when. Good show.
Don’t know when you are planning to move but boats use a method to clean up diesel by pumping from one tank to another through filters to polish the fuel. Probably could do it by recirculating back into the same tank. Raycore seems to be a popular brand.
Thankyou! 😃👍
Tanks for the video ;) We're at a cool 33 today in southern Idaho.
Blowmold Chicken was The Hottest Disco Club of the 70s🕺💥🌠
I leave the Christmas Blowmold Candle out on the porch all winter long, it's the one we had when I was a kid, I'd bet combined total over the years it's spent maybe a decade outside and still holding up great.
Wonderful and interesting show today, loved the chicken 🐔 😀
John, I had a very similar oil talk problem. I had two 330 gal. tanks. Sludge built up on the tank with the gage, so it continued to read full and I was only feeding off the 2nd tank until that ran dry. I was able to borrow a push-pull pump from work to clean out the line but always figured that as a temporary fix until it could clog again. I've since converted to high efficiency gas boiler. You're correct about the supply water temperature, with gas I max at 160 deg. and with oil I think it was around 180-190 deg?Here's hoping you find that perfect house with plenty of shop space!
Thanks Ken! A big climate controlled shop is everyone’s dream! 😂👍
Isopon p40 fibre glass repair paste is what I use for fixing garden ornaments but it’s bogey coloured so you have to paint it.
Interesting about the oil tank issues. You had me going there for a minute saying you ran out of oil. As an old timer who remembers pre dial when you lift the receiver a female operator would say “number please”, I can say I never saw such a lock. Enjoyed the show.
I switched over to a natural gas furnace from an old oil furnace years ago. The only way I could get the old oil tank out of the basement was to saw it in half. I think it was put in there before the house was completed.
Jeff- Funny thing is that many oil tanks are brought down in pieces and welded together in the basement! It’s common practice! When removed they are cut up and taken out the same way! 😃👍
John, glad to see you got the oil off your nose. Comet? 🤣🍻😉
These new big screen TV’s show everything! 🫣😂👍
Chicken looks marvelous! We had coal heat until I was 13 (my job to stoke the furnace). Had oil heat after that. They both put out a great heat. Never seen a phone dial lock before. Thanks for the show and tell. We were on a party line. It seems like someone was always on the phone when you wanted to make a call.
Party lines were always surprising! Sometimes I would just shut up and listen in like a spy. 🫣😂👍
I always turn off my furnace and wait for an hour before turning on, when getting a oil delivery.this gives it time to let the sludge settle down and not get as much drawn to the furnace.
Me too,
Also this shut off method prevents "air locks" in the line, when an oil delivery churns and "carbonates" the fuel in the tank. I had it happen once, when the oil deliverer filled the tank when I wasn't home.
Now I have a Tiger Loop on the fuel line to "burp" the air out of the fuel delivery system.
Back in the 70s my Dad had a side job where he would pump the fuel oil out of peoples tanks that were switching over to natural gas and remove the tanks he would have so much oil that he never had buy it, He had at least 5 large tanks in the back yard full of oil all the time I believe he charge $50 to do it .
Those were the days! Today the EPA has tons of regulations here about removal and disposal. It’s all about $$$. 🫣😂👍
If it can’t be cleaned can you cap the outlet and plumb a new tap a few inches higher than the old one?
I was wondering the same thing! 😃👍
I've lived in the West my whole life. I didn't know anything about oil heating. Coal, yes, but not oil. Thanks for the lesson.
I love coal!!! 😃👍
When I was a kid, my family switched from oil to propane for heating. However, since our oil tank is buried right next to the house, it was never removed. To this day, it’s still full of oil-a potential problem waiting to happen.
Jack- There are companies that will pump out the oil for free if they can have the oil. 😃👍
Yes. Had that done when we converted to gas. Had the tank removed also.
In my opinion the chicken turned out great. As you have stated, the eyes just make it pop out at you. Grabbing the person's attention.
No horror story but we got an oil tank installed when grandma switched from anthracite coal to oil. They put the tank where the coal bin was. But it wasn't the same as we used to like watching how the corkscrew drew coal from the bin into the furnace. Edit -- giving a call out to The Creature From The Black Lagoon!
My first workshop was in the old coal bin of my house. Coal was a bit of a pain to maintain but many people have fond memories of it too! I like the smell of burning coal. 🫣😂👍
Congratulations on 35K subscribers!
Chad- I had no idea- Thankyou!!! 😃👍
You’re absolutely right your tanks a way way better than the ones now but what I would do in your situation is change the plumbing because even though the tanks nowadays suck the plumbing fixtures are better. So yeah I would definitely upgrade the plumbing.
John, the journey into your oil heater was really interesting for me. All of my life no matter where we lived, it was always coal fired steam, natural gas, or electric baseboard. When you have your tanks cleaned, please do a follow up piece!
Marc- Coal fired steam! Now that’s a cool heating system! 😃👍
I was in charge of "looking after" my (nearby town) parents house (oil heat boiler) while they were away. Something went wrong with the burner. Normal blue jet flame turned to a yellow flamed oil fire - like burning tires. Spewed black oily soot undetected for days before shutting itself down. All interior exposed surfaces were covered with oily soot and reeked of fuel oil. Furniture, rugs, drapes - all ruined. Walls and ceilings had to be scrubbed down by hand with buckets of soapy water. This was all DIY - you cant find people to do that kind of work. They got rid of the oil heat.
I can tell you some real nightmare stories about oil- One common issue here was people would convert to gas and not tell the oil company. Sometimes the fill neck wasn’t removed and a driver would pump a few hundred gallons into the basement!!! Now that’s a EPA disaster! 😂👍
ScoutCrafter,
First, I have no personal experience with heating oil furnaces. As far back as I can remember, it has been gas or electric. I currently use heat pumps and have gas 'emergency' heaters when the temperature is too low to allow for the heat pump to produce enough heat.
I do, however, have experience with steam ships that burned Bunker C, low sulfer oil in Port, and marine diesel for startups. Ships tanks are considerably larger. The smallest tank would be a day tank, which held 24 hours of clean fuel. Diesel ships are similar to steam ships in that they can burn a greater variety of oil.
Looking at your system, I would point to two major differences, the fuel suctions and the tank gauges.
Fuel generally has two major issues, water and sludge. When taking on fuel, you generally separate fuel into 'clean' and 'dirty'. When you load new fuel, you want to move all fuel you have into the number 1 (clean) tank and then load the new fuel into the number 2 (dirty) tank to make sure the fuel isn't contaminated. Both tanks should have low point drains to ensure there is no water in the fuel. There should be two levels of suctions a high suction to prevent contaminated fuel from reaching the burners. There should be a high suction for when you know the fuel is clean. When you are burning a mixture of sludge, you want a low suction. To get rid of the sludge to draw from high and low suctions at the same time.
When it comes to gagging, I have seen ball or plug valves tapped into the side of tanks. I don't recommend these. Gauge glasses and magnetic float gauges are good for simplicity. My favorite gauges for an easy to read gauge are Gems Visual Indicators. You can see tank levels from across the basement, provided the view is not obstructed. If you want, you can provide remote display and/or alarms. A high, low, and low-low alarm might be in order.
Bob
Wow Bob! That’s very interesting! I did at first consider a side tank tap a few inches higher I just wondered how that was done. Great stuff!!! 😃👍
I can't stop laughing at that syphoning diagram at 10:29. 😂 Especially drawing number 5 of the guy puking out the gasoline. 🤮🤣 I've been that guy a few times back when I was on the farm! I swallowed a mouthful of gas once doing that, and every time I burped for the next two hours it tasted like gasoline. 🤮😧
Ed! Any of us who grew up riding mini bikes and working on cars have tasted gasoline- It is absolutely horrible! Plus instant chapped lips! 🫣😂👍
We had oil heat growing up, it was nice to hear that whistle, you knew when the delivery guy was there, nice even heat since we didn't have a fan forced unit, I remember the tank in the basement and my dad bleeding the lines when they went dry, I don't think we ever had a problem with sludge maybe our tank was only 50 years old.
My mother was a telephone operator in Crockett, CA in the late 1940's. Crockett didn't have dial phones until 1969. I still remember my Grandmother's non-dial phone number - Crockett 553.
I remember operators back in the day- They always had nice voices and clear speech. 😃👍
The lock looks like an old dial telephone lock. I had to use one in my job working for the Navy (started in 1980). The idea was to prevent anyone coming into the office after hours and making unauthorized calls. They were strict about the telephone budget - we had to account for every long distance call!
It’s amazing how when we were young phone calls cost a fortune and now you can talk around the world for nothing! 😂👍
Great video as always. I had a phone lock for a rotary phone when I was a kid, but it had a small circle that went through the finger hole and turned to the side to lock. Have a great weekend.
I’m surprised the tank doesn’t have a “sump” of some description or that the outflow isn’t above the bottom. Sure you waste some oil - but it gives you somewhere for the crap to settle.
Steven- I can’t see where the tap comes in the tank but maybe it sticks up an inch or two. 😃👍
About 40 or so years ago, I came home about 2 AM to find the full of blue smoke. I was living with my grandmother after my grandfather passed away. Luckily she was OK, ( I had almost stayed at my girlfriends that night - whew). After I turned the furnace off, I took grandma to my dads house just down the road and light the fireplace. Turns out the flue had clogged up. The technician came the next day and cleaned it and figured the flue hadn't been cleaned properly in years even though the service contract included the flue cleaning, they didn't charge for the service call. The entire house had to be cleaned - not fun!
I have a 50 year old furnace. I feel your pain. Every HVAC maintenance call they want me to buy a new furnace. Long story short I stopped calling for maintenance.
Sam- Most oil companies don’t mind older units because they eventually sell us more oil. 😂. The funny thing is there are two types of service men that will visit your home- 1 will tell you that your setup is old and out of date and should be replaced. Number 2 will say “Boy they sure don’t make them like this anymore, these units were meant to last forever” Needless to say I only allow the number 2’s in my home. 😂👍
I had mine go out when the ignighter unit quit and I woke up to fuel oil smoke coming up the registers. I always wake up if something isn't right. In house tanks take number 2 oil in the winter whereas outside tanks require number 1 in the winter. Number 1 saves you money. The bad thing is in states where you have to get a special licensed crew to remove the tanks. I have used an air compressor to blow back through lines. You would need to close off the one tank. I had a shut off valve right above the fuel filter. Chicken looks good. Getting it to look that fresh takes the eye away from damage. Most of the ones I saw that were damaged were left out all winter. They get really wet and then freeze. A little bump like someone banging against it and instant damage.
Wow what an amazing job on the chicken planter 👍 and I don’t have any experience or know anyone who had their tank cleaned but don’t see why it wouldn’t work out well.
Hi John, the phone lock it brings me a lot of memories when I was a kid 👍😂
I had an oil tank in the basement when I lived in NY. Now down south we have central air and I can tell you that mini splits will not keep up with NY extreme cold temperatures.
Especially with my drafty house! 🫣😂👍
Here is a cheap and easy fix for you cut a manhole in the tank they have self-sealing manholes just for this purpose they are also used on commerical boilers for exactly that purpose cleaning and inspection they have those on makeup tanks also. So, you or someone can get inside or get a suction device inside no need to spend big bucks. Hope this helps from an old, retired boiler guy.
Pete- That’s an awesome idea. Thanks
I had a similar issue 2 weeks ago. I have a 1959 vintage boiler (not as cool looking as yours). I also have dual 275gal tanks. Tank #1 has no gauge, and tank #2 does. The fire protection valve (you didn't mention in your great diagram) on tank #2 tripped off, so I was only pulling oil from tank #1, Ran tank 1 dry, but the gauge on tank #2 showed 25%. I flushed the line and confirmed I had some flow (not enough apparently) but spark was weak, so I replaced igniter transformer. That didn't work, so I called my service company. They send a different tech every time, and he did figure it out by doing the same steps I did, but he noticed the weak oil flow. Reset the fire-o-matic valve and I'm back up and running.
Chris! Believe it or not I had no idea that valve is a fire protection valve! Mine is by the burner I think. Now I’ll have to check! Thanks much! 😃👍
No stories about heating oil.😢
But I live in Florida, and I got a bunch of snow down here! 🤣
David- Believe it or not we actually prefer snow because when it snows it’s usually not that cold. These single digit temps really push one’s buttons! 😂👍
We had duel oil tanks and replaced them with a single. Same as you,gunk in the bottom of the tanks. But we had the thin steel tanks. We had the same problem with sludge in the tanks. We have changed the gun and control unit and with the new tank you get a new oil line. The reason for one tank is we live close enough to the oil company that they come right away.( small town ) We are also on automatic delivery and they deliver more often. One tank,less problems. Next to get changed is the blow down valve on the side so you don’t have water come out your radiators. Not an effective way to heat we preorder 1700 gals of oil each year. In your case it would be cheaper to clean your tanks than get new.
my tank is in the ground, we had a small flood, now I have a tank full of water.
Getting insurance for oil tanks are tricky. House around the corner they leaked, basement needed to be replaced
I grew up in Queens John I’m pretty sure you have natural gas coming to the house , that’s the only way to fly..convert.❤❤
I thought for sure we were going to get a boroscope view of the inside of the tanks 😄
Steve- That’s so funny you said that! I had all intentions of scoping the tank but my bore scope battery was dead. (Reason 563 why I hate battery stuff!). 🫣😂👍
Grew up in a house with oil heat kept house warm but you could always smell it when coming in from outdoors roared like a jet plane engine my father was always adjusting and tuning it we didnt have a basement - just a spider hole (crawl space) to go on hands and knees had a bucket full of old and new nozzles of all sizes
You are right- the smell is unmistakable! 😂👍
Had a bad igniter; drove me nuts. It checked out normal on my VOM, but the old pro told me they cut out when they heat up internally from current flow.
Rick- That’s where a good technician comes in handy. There are lots of common problems we will never know about as civilians. 😃👍
That chicken came put great.
Isn’t that a lovely blow mold? I also love that Cow! 😃👍
As always a great show. I’ve saw those phone locks before, but I couldn’t remember what it was.. so why don’t you just switch over to natural gas lol. Your chicken turned out really nice so when and if you move, are you going south or west or north Kentucky is pretty you should move down here. as always, thank you for your time and knowledge.
😂👍
Good story John.
With those old dial phones if you were clever you could tap in the number like morse code, one click for 1, two for 2 etc. You just had to mimic the clicks you heard when you held the handset to your ear as you dialled.
I don't have oil. I have a Carrier gas furnace, and twice in the past 10 years it has died for the same reason. What amazes me is that in every instance, regardless if it's oil or gas, these furnaces die at the worst times. It's uncanny. Yours died during an Arctic polar cold event and mine died the first time 7 years ago during an on-going blizzard (literally) and again a year ago during a similar Arctic cold snap. It's like they know.
😂😂😂. Damn Murphy’s law! I think that’s why old timers like me appreciate dependability more than anything else. 😃👍
NEVER EVER force feed a second tank through the first tank. Always have a fill and vent pipe for each tank. I know it's done in some states but I am in Michigan and it's not legal to force feed here. This is why. The oil trucks pump fuel at many time higher pressure than a oil tank is built for. New tanks are tested at 5 psi only to check for leaks at the factory because they are not a pressure vessel. The oil is pumped out the top or bottom by the furnace only. Most all tank failures are the first tank spliting open trying to force fill the second. Remember the only reason people force feed two tanks is to save a few dollars on piping both tanks out seperatly. It's not worth it. I have been installing oil tanks for 30 years and I cringe when I see this done in other areas.
It makes absolute sense but 70 years ago this was common practice, maybe that’s why the tanks were plate steel back then? 😃👍
They haven't outlawed oil in NY yet?
NY politicians are exactly what you would expect. A decade ago there were huge incentives and pressure to “convert to clean natural gas” now that’s out and they want everyone to run mini splits- the problem is the electric grid here is strained already and it’s only a matter of time before electricity is no longer reliable here. 🫣😂👍