specialist tools for servicing oil boilers

[mike_s]

Hi,

I'm an experienced gas engineer and have one customer who would like me to look after their oil boiler. I've priced up the oftec courses and at around £600 they arn't worth it when I just have one oil boiler to work on and until I need to install one I don't need to sign any off so I have booked on to the Worcester oil boiler intro course and priced up some other manufacturer courses such as Firebird, Grants etc including a Riello burner course as well.

I have the full technical details for this particular boiler which was sent to me by Trianco, it is a Trianco E/Star 90 with monoflame burner.

I will be doing more courses and research before working on the boiler but I'm wondering if there are any specialist oil tools I'll need besides the usual gas boiler tools such as flue gas analyser which I already have.

Hope someone can help, cheers.

 

[SimonG]

Big outlay for one boiler 🙂

Check analyser suitable for oil.

Then you want smoke pump, oil gauge, T Bar allen keys (if not got them), wire brush, set of welders gauntlets (they never turn them off when you ask).

The courses are all well and good but it would help you if you could get out and spend a bit of time with an oil engineer. They would be a good reference in the future as well if you got a bit stuck.

Good luck and there's always on here to ask 🙂

 

[mike_s]

Cheers! Much appreciated! Yes I've just been doing some research and saved a great thread on here about oil boiler tools which I'll refer to once I've done some courses. Yep just realised it is a big outlay for one customer but she is one of my best customers as I do all her plumbing work and gas work in her rented properties but this is just for her oil boiler at home.

I turned down looking at her boiler near Christmas as it broke down so she got someone in from miles away but it could've been a local competitor so I don't want that. I'm only 24 so have plenty of time to make the money back. I've got 8 years experience in the gas industry including commercial acs so I'll just make sure I use good procedures and do plenty of research. I'll certainly be back here for advice.

My analyser is suitable for oil but I need a smoke pump and oil gauge it seems are the main things, any reccomendations?

 

[kimbo]

Just as important is to carry a stock of spares. That boiler goes through solenoids, and photocells, you will also need flexible oil lines and filters to do a service properly as well as the usual size nozzle. There are other parts but that will do as a start and not too expensive.

 

[SimonG]

Hope it goes well. You'll definitely get grubbier on the oil side 🙂

 

[mike_s]

cheers, that's very helpful, I have the full manufacturers instructions on my computer which I have just gone through and I'm excited to learn more.

What are the flexible oil lines and where are the filters? Are these at the oil tank or boiler end?

Also, where do you reccomend for these spares?

 

[kimbo]

The braided flexible lines should be changed annual or you can get long life ones. They attach the burner to the main oil line. The paper filter is usually near the boiler in addition to the one at the tank. Cheapest place for spares is heating world of spares.

 

[SimonG]

Aye, Heating World of Spares in Crook County Durham

 

[Roger Welton]

A suction pump is also werth getting makes life much easier when priming oil lines

 

[mike_s]

cheers, very helpful, will get back when I have more questions as well.

 

[WHPES]

You will see suction pumps on the oil engineers websites for a lot of money, but a squeezy rubber car one for £4 from places such as Halfords etc works just as well. A tip is to only fit fuel pumps with male swivel ended flexi lines then you can shove the rubber tube from the priming pump onto the end of the flexi line to pime the line.

 

[EPH]

Make sure you take the right nozzle with you as you won't have a decent selection on the van yet

Youll need some decent gloves to keep the rank stinking stuff off your hands.

We have Testo smoke pumps and gauges are just from Parts Center, they also do an excellent thin tube that fits to the oil pump and the gauge for more awkward situations.

 

[WHPES]

There's a thread on the forum previously which has a detailed list of the tools you need for oil work.

 

[mike_s]

Cheers, yes I downloaded that whole thread as it was very lengthy and priceless for a beginner.

I am yet to service this oil boiler but recently a second customer asked me if I could service his. So I've booked a full week of oil training and assessments. Oftec 101, 105 and 600a. With 2 or 3 days training before hand.

I need to start getting the gear together now. I will probably register for Oftec after the course in November.

Is there much discount from Oftec direct once you're registered? I need some books and servicing forms asap.

Edit: I have just ordered some cd11s unbranded as I am not Oftec registered yet.

After doing more research I think I'll put off these jobs until I've done the course as I just wouldn't be confident.

I like Testo as I'm very happy with my fga I've had for a couple of years and use most days.

This smoke pump looks quality but is £111 good value? http://www.testolimited.com/p/349/testo-smoke-pump
Finally this pressure and vacuum gauge kit for 76.50 is this ideal?http://www.testolimited.com/p/348/testo-pressure-gauge-set

 

[SimonG]

Have a look at heating world of spares for test gear as well as spares.

 

[WHPES]

I had some American friends buy me a Bacharach smoke pump in Texas and post it to me. It cost about $60 over there at the time whereas it was more than twice as much as that to buy over here.

Smoke pumps are ridiculously overpriced for what they are. They do turn up on ebay often and unlike analysers there's not a lot that can go wrong with them so you're usually OK with second hand.

 

[Roger Welton]

I was shocked how much smoke pumps cost when I got mine, same with draught gauges.

 

[WHPES]

Draught gauges turn up on ebay also. Paid about £15 for mine

 

[Dannypipe]

Got my smoke pump on ebay. It was brand new, with papers. Its a Brigdon one, and cost me about £50 I think.

My daughter poured her ribena down it in the summer. I wasn't best pleased! Teach me to leave the shed door open.

 

[WHPES]

Another few bits of advice.

Carry only one type of flexi oil line (I use the LONG01 from HWOS) and use fittings to convert if a different one was fitted before or you will end up spending loads extra in spares. It's also a good idea to have one LONG03 and if one line isn't long enough you can join it to an 01 using a nipple to make a longer one.

Get a basic squeezy rubber fuel priming pump from a car spares shop as they're a fraction of the price of the ones from the oil spares companies and work just as well. You also need a bit of rubber hose to shove on the end of an oil line and if you use LONG01 flexi hoses you can shove the rubber pipe on the end to prime the line.

Remember if you are using compression joints, each pipe end needs a pipe stiffening insert as 10mm copper is soft copper and easily distorts.

Make sure any bearing puller you get for removing fans and bearings from burner motors is narrow enough to fit inside the fan to pull off the fan, and deep enough to accommodate a protruding shaft to pull off a bearing. The type pictured below works well. You may sometimes have to grind a bit off the hooks to make them thin enough to fit into the fan slot.