no oil at boiler

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It is -10 C and the boiler does not fire up.
The WB Danesmoor was fine yesterday but locked out this morning.

The oil tank supplies oil to the AGA and the boiler and is in the forcourt of old pigsties exposed to the elements.
T junction at the tank splits the supply using 10mm pipes.
One for AGA and one for boiler, different routes for each.
Had a delivery of 1000 litres last week.

Both pipes are insulated in that white covering and the AGA pipe has extra blue insulation, I think it is water pipe.
Both pipes go under ground after the T.
There is about 2-3 inches of each pipe exposed to the elements, but as I say the AGA works fine.
The boiler pipe then goes into the soil under a brick floor of old pigsties then through the pigsty wall and under pavings and comes up and then goes along the base of the wall all insulated pipe, then a valve, then the firevalve then the uninsulated pipe rises about a foot before going through the wall.
I disconnected the first valve and no oil is coming out. Gravity will give a flow, the tank base is 2-3 feet above the valve.
So the oil does not flow to the valve but it does flow to the AGA.

There is another property on site with its own oil tank and boiler with all exposed 10mm pipe from the tank to the boiler which all works and it has the tigerloop to get the oil up to the right level.

Heating oil is said to start freezing at -9C it is -10C.

Applied some rags soaked in hot water to pipes but that made no difference.

So I am stuffed until the sun shines?
 
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Until someone more conversant with oil related boilers comes along, is there any sediment/filter bowls in the system ? a small globule of water in a pipe run is your worst enemy in these current conditions.

Cheers Mick.
 
Kerosene freezes in the -40's so thats not your prob. Water as already stated will sit at the lowest point in an oil line, expands on freezing and blocks the pipe. If you have a filter bowl in the oil line this will catch most if not all of the water and should be cleaned/renewed. Other than this you will have to pour boiling water over the length of the pipe, then blow the pipe out with air before connecting back up and running kero through it.
Stix.
 
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The lowest point is under the pavings stones. Which is nice.

There is probably a filter in the oil tank valve, bowl type, but I am reluctant to examine it as I would lose oil to the AGA and that would turn off.
 
Having read your post again if there is only one filter and it's supplying aga and boiler it would be the aga which would struggle before the boiler. Therefore the problem lies mainly in the pipe supplying the boiler only.It is advisable to have a filter on each supply pipe and do away with the filter at the tank. It's still advisable to check the tank filter while still in use but the problem is in the boiler supply, not the combined part. Stix.
 
Having read your post again if there is only one filter and it's supplying aga and boiler it would be the aga which would struggle before the boiler. Therefore the problem lies mainly in the pipe supplying the boiler only.It is advisable to have a filter on each supply pipe and do away with the filter at the tank. It's still advisable to check the tank filter while still in use but the problem is in the boiler supply, not the combined part. Stix.

The oil pump on the boiler also has a filter which is accessable, this pump also pulls oil through the oil line, so you do not need another pump. Check the oil pressure at the pump, it should show a steady 8 bar.
 
Spraggo, no one mentioned another pump ? Also the oil is not even entering the building let alone getting to the pump. No point checking the pressure till there is oil at the pump.
 
I spoke to the man who services the boiler's and his advice was:
1. Wait for the water to thaw.
or
2. Swap out the old pipe for a new piece.

When I installed this system 6 years ago I bought a 25m length of reinforced 10mm pipe.
I used about 10m on the installation so the rest was in the attic.
So I did number 2. and left the pipe lying above ground with old car mats over the paving section. to prevent damage from people walking over it.

The only tricky part was getting the olive off the boiler pipe at the tank end to be able to remove the nut that screws onto the T.
After twisting it with a pair of pliers and filing it I cut a short section of pipe off which shortens the oil pipe so I will have to go into the soil to reroute the pipe a little and take up any slack.

When the thaw comes I will have to get the water out of the original pipe and reconnect it.

I did remove the filter in the oil tank valve and there was a ring of ice in the bowl below the filter.
Probably could do with a new filter. Oil tank is about 20 years old

Thanks for all your comments.

One warm house
 
Having read your post again if there is only one filter and it's supplying aga and boiler it would be the aga which would struggle before the boiler. Therefore the problem lies mainly in the pipe supplying the boiler only.It is advisable to have a filter on each supply pipe and do away with the filter at the tank. It's still advisable to check the tank filter while still in use but the problem is in the boiler supply, not the combined part. Stix.

There is only one filter, on the oil tank valve.

The connection from the valve on the tank is on the RHS at 90 degrees to the valve. Then a short piece of pipe then the T connector, connected like a T.
One end of the horizontal goes into the oil tank valve.
The other horizontal end goes to the AGA and the vertical downwards and to the boiler, just wondered if because of this layout any water would go down the vertical rather than horizontal to the AGA?

This kind of filter?
http://www.uk-plumbing.com/oil-filter-38-female-iron-p-42295.html
 
Yes the water will go down the vertical. You need to arrange the pipes so that each pipe after the tee is horizontal and fit a filter to each pipe. This way you will catch the water/sludge in the filter and prevent problems at the aga which potentially could lead to a small explosion. Stix.
 
[quote="John.Stitch";p="1839151.[/quote]

There is only one filter, on the oil tank valve.
[/quote]

As previously explained, water is heavier than oil so it will drop down the vertical, the best way to avoid water getting in the oil line is to empty this filter every time the boiler is serviced, normally annually. It would be unwise to remove this filter from the oil line, the aga and boiler have inbuilt filters of their own.
spraggo
 
I didn't mean to remove the filter completely, just reposition it after the tee to the boiler and add another one on the aga oil pipe.
 
Yes the water will go down the vertical. You need to arrange the pipes so that each pipe after the tee is horizontal and fit a filter to each pipe. This way you will catch the water/sludge in the filter and prevent problems at the aga which potentially could lead to a small explosion. Stix.

Enlighten me, how could it cause a small explosion :confused: :confused:
 

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