Oil furnace fuel line replacement? Coated line necessary?

[Brian26]

About to replace my 3/8 copper oil furnace supply line. My 3 year old Carrier forced hot air furnace with a Beckett NX burner has been locking out due to bad ignition. I think air is getting into the fuel line. If it idles more than a few hours the Genisys controller goes into lockout due to a loss of flame when firing. I have done some tests where if I bleed the line it fires right up. So I know air is getting into the line.

My plan is to replace the 3/8 copper supply line and install a Tiger Loop Ultra oil de-aerator with spin on 10 micron filter. I am going to still use the General 1A25A felt filter off the tank to supply the Tiger Loop as a pre-filter.

The supply house tried to sell me coated 3/8 line but I went with the non-coated as my research shows that coated is only necessary when burying the line in concrete. My 275 gallon tank is in my basement about 10 feet from my furnace. Is it ok to use non-coated line in my setup? The coated line only comes in 50ft sections and is quite expensive.

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm totally no expert, but I think you should bite the bullet. There might be some requirement in your local codes, and if something should happen in the future...who knows.

I did mess around with this stuff when I moved my oil tank to make room for my pellet boiler.
I got the tubing from Home Depot.
Have you done flare connections before? I didn't and it took a couple tries to get a good one that didn't leak.
I see you currently have it hard-connected to the oil pump. If I did it over again, I think I'd put a flexible line section there to facilitate opening the boiler door for cleaning.
I'm no expert, but I feel you might have wasted your money with the Tiger loop-the burner and tank are only 10' away from each other and at the same elevation.
I bought a gauge to measure fuel pressure to adjust the pump. I think it also does suction on the supply line. Anyway that'd probably be a way to diagnose suction issue.
You checked the strainer in the fuel pump and the filter and valve at the tank? Tank is venting okay?
Anyway, good luck!

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

If you are sucking air you have a leak (obviously) but it should leak oil too. Clean or replace the filter on your tank, if it is sucking too hard it can develop a air leak and not drip oil, don't buy into the scam. Start over with refrigeration copper line and flare fittings. Flare them right and only have 2 connections. The one on the filter and the one on the pump.
For me my tank is about 6" higher than the pump and it develops enough pressure in that drop I never have to bleed air. It fires right up every time even when I run the tank dry.

 

[velvetfoot]

For me my tank is about 6" higher than the pump and it develops enough pressure in that drop I never have to bleed air. It fires right up every time even when I run the tank dry.

It's not only that, but the tank has more head when it's got oil in it, plus the tank's got legs.

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

I was thinking that too. Maybe keep that tank over half full so it will "push" the oil in rather than sucking

 

[Brian26]

I just finished up and ended up using regular 3/8 copper line with flare fittings. Not sure if it was the issue but I did find a compression fitting on the outlet of the old tank filter fitting which are not recommended for oil lines.

Though the Tigerloop was probably not necessary I installed it anyways. I think the biggest benefit is not having to deal with bleeding the line anymore when servicing it. They also claim that it preheats the oil during cold starts.

I really don't use the furnace much but having it lockout on me many times especially when I was away on vacation was worth the effort.

I also purchased a Bacharch smoke tester and combustion analyzer. Not cheap but I know its tuned right. An oil furnace tuneup is around $200+ here.

 

[velvetfoot]

I have a tip: be very careful when brushing so you don't damage the refractory (target). That's from experience.

 

[heat seeker]

Here's an article on oil piping. It mentions coating the line where it contacts concrete to prevent corrosion:

http://inspectapedia.com/oiltanks/Oil_Line_Piping_Leak_Causes.php