home heating oil... grease?

Am I the only one with serious furnace problems? tear it all down, find it is clogged filters and nozzles. Not black oil, but heavy black axle grease, like straight out of a grease gun. Not once a year, but once a month/ 6 weeks. And the tank is-was? clean as a whistle, not an old swamp, got 3 tanks, one brand new- the stuff is coming off the truck looking like half baked dinosaur s#$%! I put a sample in a clear jug, some sort of smokey jell? hangs near the bottom, and filters look worst than a neglected tractor front wheel bearing. Trouble is- we still got 300 or 400 gallons of this crud left. It can't be just me that got this horror show....

sounds like your fuel dist. pumped some elses tank and you got the pump out. Or you have alge growing in your tank.Ive been driving fuel truck for 30 years.

Sounds like the supplier, and by default, you, have got a bad case of algie in the fuel. You can empty the tank, steam it out, and the stuff will be back in full force within a week or so. There are other brands of algicide out there other but I've had personal experience with the Biobor and it really works if you flow the directions. The main thing is as it kills of the algie the filters will clog continuously until it's all gone. I've seen it clog a sock filter 3 inches in diameter and about 3 feet long within about 20 minutes in a customers crane. They tried the steam cleaning, and several other 'fixes' before calling me. I did some research and gound the Biobor and all I can say is that the stuff works. Beyond that all I can offer is my condolescenses if algie is what you have because it is a real PITA, and say Good luck getting rid of it before you pull your hair out out of shear frustration over changing filters.
Biobor

I don't kow about algae, the oldest oil came in June or July, how long does it take to grow? This looks like someone's wasteoil potburner stash got diverted to my house. I am thinking of some industrial size primary filters to last a bit longer between spasams, till this stuff is gone. And splurge for pure kerosene next year. Some is stored outside above ground, I add diesel treatment, but this crud is not from the cold, it ain't that bloody cold...

Weeks? But how do you know if they 'delivered' algae? Is it black and consistancy of axle grease? It grows in 20-30 degree F? Sounds like a science fiction about the south pole! This is a poster child for the gas company!!

Way back in the Sixties I was a jet aircraft mechanic in the USAF and I'm here to tell you that even back then we had problems with algie in jet fuel. Once it started growing in an aircraft the only way we could get rid of it was to replace (R&R) the fuel tanks (bladders) in the aircraft. Aircraft don't fly too well with the fuel filtres clogged.

Why don't you contact your distributor?

I might call them, after I sort out the problem and call my attorney. I have been buying oil off these guys for a few years, the service plan is a rip off, and the furnace hasn't run right all this time, catch phrase for this industry is 'put in a new effecient boiler' right? Someone who rebuilds a carb and pours the same grungy gas in the tank has the same results. So will my boiler. I would prefer to burn all this up, clean the tanks, tune the burner... and THEN call a NEW- hopefully honest company.

I've often wonder why someone hasn't invented a centrifuge to clean up used oil. We has a centrifuge to clean up our milk. Another centrifuge was called a cream separator.

I've often wonder why someone hasn't invented a centrifuge to clean up used oil. We has a centrifuge to clean up our milk. Another centrifuge was called a cream separator.

Don't assume they are crooks. Take your jar of goo to them and ask whats going on. They should be interested in finding an answer and working for a solution. If they don't seem interested or say the problem is on your end, THEN go to the lawyers. Friend of mine has an 89 Dodge with a Cummins in it that has been fighting algae this winter. I'm sure we can that the EPA and ultra low sulfer fuel for part of the problem. Sulfer is an algaecide.
AaronSEIA

I worked for a Co-op yrs ago, hauled a load of Diesel into a ranch had to go back a couple weeks later and pump out tank put in new filters and fresh fuel, seemed our supplier had not rinsed tanker after hauling a load of liquid fertilizer. lost a lot of fuel.

If its been setting in your tank since June or July, its had plenty of time for bacteria to form in it. Sounds like its your problem, not your suppliers. Joe

I buy my furnace parts from a guy that sez he's too far away to deliver oil to my place, but a couple months ago I told him my problems, and the dealer' name- he was certain I was buying crap, there seems to be a few dealers out of one area that are famous for doing this. When I mentioned the name, algae or mechanical issues didn't even come up in the conversation. Tuesday I will bring him the filters and crud sample, and see what they think, I trust a third party in a case like this. You guys are great! Not inspiring at all, but knowledgeble and full of good information. Thanks again!

Ouch! Mistakes happen, but that sounds like a real bad combination - liquid fert residue in a burner.

Here furnace fuel is #2 diesel fuel, same thing. Not enough price difference to stock furnace fuel. Guess that keeps our furnace fuel a little better quality, there would be too many bad results to mess up engines with bad diesel. You can maybe get away with poorer furnace fuel without the devistating failures....

--->Paul

Believe it or not there are still ALOT of people out there that think that algie growing in diesel fuel is nothing but science fiction. That being the case when they hear about bad fuel all they know to do is say, 'your getting bad fuel', or simply that the fuel is , 'full crud'. Unfortunately it's often not "just crud" if it's causing problems like you are describing. I say this because in a stationary system any "crud" or solid contaminates in the fuel are usually gonna sink to the bottom of the tank and stay there instead of getting continually sucked into the filters. Unless of course the suction tube is sucking directly off the bottom of the tank, an in that case your destined to have problems over time regardless of where the fuel comes from. Now in a mobile application the fuel is constantly getting sloshed around and solid contaminates can be held in suspension in the fuel and make it into the filters that way. Again though, in a stationary application that typically doesn't happen, so if filters are continually clogging whatever is doing the clogging is staying in suspension with the fuel, and not settling out like your typical 'solid crud' should do. What your seeing fits the profile of the way algie works to a tee.

Just to show how many people and companies don't know about the algie is, even in the equipment industry, think about this. I talked to the service guy from a one of our areas largest rental chains a few months back when he was on customers job changing filters on a machine one of my customer was renting. My customer said they were having him out at least once or twice a week and he was almost spending more time with the machine down due to clogged filters than he was running it. According to the service guy they had several pieces of equipment suffering from the same problem. I asked him about algie in the fuel and got a blank look. Asked what they had done to clean the tanks and he said they had drained them and steamed them with chemicals and were still having the same problem. Asked him if they used an algicide and he had no idea what it was. Long story short my customer had some Biobore on hand and I suggested he put some in the machine. One or two more clogged filters later and the stuff was dead and gone and he never had any more problems out of the machine during the time he had it.

When I first started working on equipment growing up, to find it in the fuel here on 'dry land' was unusual. In fact if you'll look product like Biobore were origionally targeted mainly to the marine side of things because there was a greater likelyhood of finding water in the fuel from tanks that were continuously in or around the water. Over the past ten years or so it seems to have become prevelant pretty much anywhere. It's almost a given that there will be a little bit of water in every tank, and that's all it takes for the stuff to start growing. Once it gets a start it can turn a tank of good fuel into crud within a very short period of time. The tank on my customers crane I mentioned in my first post held nearly 250 gallons and within two weeks of opening it up and steam cleaing it out, using chemicals, the stuff was back in full force and clogging the big sock filters that were used on the Murphy diesel that powered the machine.

In the end algie can and does get in the fuel. Call it what you will it is one mean critter to kill off and get rid of once it gets into a fuel system. Never figured it all out but it can just get into a system and you have no idea how it got there, or it can easily get intoroduced into the system when your getting the tank filled. Either way once there it will not go away without an algicide.

(quoted from post at 10:11:52 02/19/12) I've often wonder why someone hasn't invented a centrifuge to clean up used oil. We has a centrifuge to clean up our milk. Another centrifuge was called a cream separator.

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They already make them, here is one I know about and there are others. http://www.simplecentrifuge.com/ Very common in biodiesel, grease car conversions and burning used motor oil. Kinda expensive but if money is an issue you can make your own. Tons of plans out there is you look for them.

50 years ago, I grew up on a Dairy. We also had a milk processing plant. I wonder if a milk clarifier seperator wouldn't work on used oil. None of us kids wanted the job to clean the clarifier. Not too many of us like milk either.

More likely all the old ones have gone to the bone yard. Ours did after the fire.

for what fuel oil is here 3.29 a gallon this week i wouldn't deal with it before i put a propane furance in i plan on doing the switch this summer

Delaval makes, or at least used to make, centrifuges to clean oil. We had them in the Navy on the main reduction gear's oil system to keep it clean. I'd think wether it was fuel oil or 'regular' oil, the centrifuge action is going to work the same regardless and clean any particulates suspended in the mix.

I hauled fuel for 27 yrs. The above posts are correct you have algae in your fuel. Nasty stuff, not anybody's fault. Just like you getting a bad cold, and if you don't treat it will turn into pneumonia. Get the bio-cide and treat your tank as fast as you can. Then a couple a filters later will be ok. I had some customers who had trouble every year or so. and others who never had any trouble. Never could see a pattern. Vic

I hauled fuel for 27 yrs. The above posts are correct you have algae in your fuel. Nasty stuff, not anybody's fault. Just like you getting a bad cold, and if you don't treat it will turn into pneumonia. Get the bio-cide and treat your tank as fast as you can. Then a couple a filters later will be ok. I had some customers who had trouble every year or so. and others who never had any trouble. Never could see a pattern. Vic