Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !!

[V8Druid]

Wednesday and Vicki's bloody boiler'd locked out yet again .... this was going to be the 5th one of these in three months

and my last one from stock so shot into town, 'fore going to her place for some more



usual issue ... water saturated and not allowing kero through ... has only been an issue since the last kero delivery ... boiler runs a tiger loop supply so flows a lot of kero ... if it was gravity fed, I doubt there'd be an issue as it'd settle out, but being constantly circulated/agitated, it never does

got three perfectly clean and now dried out filters sat, but the little square section seals in the canister top are always half a mil bigger, after a week or two, in kero, so'll never go back in the seat... therefore it gets the works each time .. couple of quid a throw, so no biggy.

However .. this last filter'd only been in there a week - max. and the tank is down to about a third, so the mix is a lot more concentrated and i am pretty PO-ed ....
decided to leave said 025 out and stick the cannister back together empty ... seal actually stayed put, so give it a try .....
tank is less than a year old - new poly and the fuel's clean as a whistle .... fired it up and ran sweet and clean .... and is continuing to do so, so far ....
gonna run the tank down low - not going to be needed much longer, hopefully, then i'll drain it down, clean it out and examine what comes out after it's been stood a while to settle
long term a water separator's on the cards, 'cos this is pissing me off, big time and might raise said tank, so's i can do away with the tiger loop feed and go to gravity - only talking a couple of feet max.

yesterday Pam decided she wanted to mow the lawn, this time ... said to her the Countax is 'whispering' to me ATM and is gonna break down at some point .. if it stops do not sit there cranking it .. I'm waiting for it to stop, so i can out find why?

sure enough, she'd just finished and it coughed and died, middle of the lawn, grass box full .....
's a heavy little sod when Charlie Hodna's not behaving and I wasn't gonna go playing with the fuel system in the middle of the lawn and kill the bloody grass .... the damned moles're doing a good enough job on that front ..... as that's what the symptoms had now manifested as .... let it sit for a few minutes and managed to get it to run on chokey enough to get it to me bench and tools ....
bowl, float and needle out, tiny bit of tish in the needle jet ... all cleand and running like a good un again .... so while it's there thought it prudent to give it one of its several cleans, that it gets through the season .....

was in need ..... back together and doused in a good spray down of light oil, stuck it back on ..... mower was looking decidedly 'used', so gave some spray a try, that me BIL had dropped in for me - swears by it for getting stuff clean ....

have to say ... I am convinced .... looked awesome with a wipe over

apart from the flakey bits ... it's not a miracle concoction
so she's all ready for the next round in the war against the grass

phone call 10.15 this morning, from the people we visited a fortnight or so ago, after my last trip to Caeeerdiff ...... "we'll be with you in about an hour" .." fine, what're you driving?" .. "18tonne rigid box " was expecting him to say a 7.5 so had to shift a few things about to make some space to spin him round, when he got here ... anyway, mission accomplished and two nice lads they were too .... spun 'em round and backed 'em down to the patio for an off load .....

saved a lot of lugging about.
couple of hours later and pam has an ear to ear grin ... it had arrived and was out the box .......

few more bits to assemble .... and HTF this had ended up like this is anyone's guess .. mine is it'd been dropped whilst being wrapped ...

'sposed to be flat and being ali, I wanted a few pix, fore i tried straightening it, in case!! ..... it did and was fine ... could well have not and snapped ... so got the table together and even bigger grin from Pam ....

and I'm not allowed to sit on it in me working gear (which was clean on yesterday after getting kero-ed Wed.s)..... not gonna spend much time on it then
I succumbed to an addition to it all Monday - my choice - it gets 'kin hot sat there, when the sun's actually out, so added a new brolley to the order ... had seen 'em down there, but wasn't overly impressed at the fact it was 8ft off the deck .. until I'd you-tubed 'em and sussed their detail ... and could see why ..... will come to that later, but it arrived too, all 8ft of it

now all i have to do is create it a base as i was damned if I was coughing up nigh on 250 quid for a 90kg lump of granite to bolt it to ...... I have just the thing ..... 120kgs of 24" x 2" thick flywheel .. will look just fine with a nice coat of paint and suitably fettled to fit the purpose ..... after I get the current leg off it and create a new base attachment for yon bracket

job for tomorrow .....

had some help today, to get it out from where it was lurking, with lil' Jake ..... and then giving it a clean off

Clara on her 'hop up' .... bench is just the right height for both of us then ... she's game for most things ..... as long as they don't take tooooooooo looooooong .... didn't extend to disc-ing the leg off

have to say I am well impressed with the quality of the brolley's attachment point (and the brolley) ....... some over kill with the base weight isn't going to hurt - up here

 

[Cyberprog]

Well the good news for you Druid, is that I'm changing jobs and going back to the boiler spares place, starting in July!

 

[V8Druid]

Well the good news for you Druid, is that I'm changing jobs and going back to the boiler spares place, starting in July!

LOL ..... your tech talents're gonna be wasted there though

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Can you tilt the oil tank slightly, lifting the outlet to give the water a chance to settle ‘down-hill’ of it and hopefully remain captured Graham?

 

[GazCro]

Tigerloop will have no bearing on your boiler issue the same amount of oil leaves the tank as without one they only circulate it between the boiler and the tigerloop. I'd have thought of there was enough crap in the tank to block the filter in short time you'd be able to see it looking in the tank. The only other thing is if boilers running when kero gets delivered and crap in tank gets stirred up.

 

[Cyberprog]

LOL ..... your tech talents're gonna be wasted there though

Oh, I dunno. They have a lot to do. New infrastructure needed, lots of new software needs writing. It will be a nice challenge.

 

[V8Druid]

Tigerloop will have no bearing on your boiler issue the same amount of oil leaves the tank as without one they only circulate it between the boiler and the tigerloop. I'd have thought of there was enough crap in the tank to block the filter in short time you'd be able to see it looking in the tank. The only other thing is if boilers running when kero gets delivered and crap in tank gets stirred up.

the loop constantly pumps flow and bleeds off what is required Gaz ...... where as a gravity feed simply trickle in at whatever rate it needs .. loop lifts from 2 ft below the pump level, so flows a LOT of kero through the filter. .... kero is clear as and it's a new tank - zero crap in the filter, simply water saturated which blocks it ... the lower the level in tank the more water to kero ratio, so filter saturates quicker

Can you tilt the oil tank slightly, lifting the outlet to give the water a chance to settle ‘down-hill’ of it and hopefully remain captured Graham?

the loop is on a dip tube pick up MB -- doesn't flow out of an outlet and the return also drops into the bottom of the tank on a dipper, so's constantly agitating the contents ... if you shorten the return tube you'll be constantly listening to it 'sploshing' back in

this system has worked fine for decades ... I suspect a 'wetter' than usual supply ..... there's always water in fuel - always, it's inevitable ... just not this amount ..... 5 filters this year tells me that .... hasn't been a need to change a filter in years prior.
I know this boiler intimately ... have serviced and looked after it for 22 years

 

[GazCro]

the loop constantly pumps flow and bleeds off what is required Gaz ...... where as a gravity feed simply trickle in at whatever rate it needs .. loop lifts from 2 ft below the pump level, so flows a LOT of kero through the filter. .... kero is clear as and it's a new tank - zero crap in the filter, simply water saturated which blocks it ... the lower the level in tank the more water to kero ratio, so filter saturates quicker

the loop is on a dip tube pick up MB -- doesn't flow out of an outlet and the return also drops into the bottom of the tank on a dipper, so's constantly agitating the contents ... if you shorten the return tube you'll be constantly listening to it 'sploshing' back in

this system has worked fine for decades ... I suspect a 'wetter' than usual supply ..... there's always water in fuel - always, it's inevitable ... just not this amount ..... 5 filters this year tells me that .... hasn't been a need to change a filter in years prior.
I know this boiler intimately ... have serviced and looked after it for 22 years

I'm aware of how a tigerloop works (fitted loads) the way that's piped up will be a problem if you've poor quality fuel. I'd be piping it up so you only have single line from the tank and the return from the boiler only circulates the fuel round the tigerloop (which is how it should be tbh) not returning it to the tank.

 

[V8Druid]

I'm aware of how a tigerloop works (fitted loads) the way that's piped up will be a problem if you've poor quality fuel. I'd be piping it up so you only have single line from the tank and the return from the boiler only circulates the fuel round the tigerloop (which is how it should be tbh) not returning it to the tank.

not according to the paperwork that accompanies the boiler Gaz - got it all, from installation instructions to servicing schedule, parts list, etc., etc., ... return is to tank and always has been, on 10mm copper ..... this is an OLD boiler ... possibly older than many members on here
I inherited the maintenance on this 22 years ago ... it's Pam's old house/boiler, where Vicki lives .. have changed more filters this year than the entire 21 years previously

 

[GazCro]

not according to the paperwork that accompanies the boiler Gaz - got it all, from installation instructions to servicing schedule, parts list, etc., etc., ... return is to tank and always has been, on 10mm copper ..... this is an OLD boiler ... possibly older than many members on here
I inherited the maintenance on this 22 years ago ... it's Pam's old house/boiler, where Vicki lives

Doesn't matter how old an oil boiler is tbh there's very little changed with burners for decades. I've never come across a flow and return to tank maybe for good reason.

 

[V8Druid]

Doesn't matter how old an oil boiler is tbh there's very little changed with burners for decades. I've never come across a flow and return to tank maybe for good reason.

you have now .. as said Gaz ... " have changed more filters this year than the entire 21 years previously " this ain't a boiler or burner issue IMHDO

 

[GazCro]

you have now .. as said Gaz ... " have changed more filters this year than the entire 21 years previously " this ain't a boiler or burner issue IMHDO

I Don't know if/what % of bio is in the kero now but if there is and its like the diesel it'll be hygroscopic. Contantly pulling a lot more fuel through a paper element filter with the return to tank tigerloop setup will deffo shorten filter life more so keeping the tank stirred up.

 

[V8Druid]

I Don't know if/what % of bio is in the kero now but if there is and its like the diesel it'll be hygroscopic. Contantly pulling a lot more fuel through a paper element filter with the return to tank tigerloop setup will deffo shorten filter life more so keeping the tank stirred up.

interesting idea/thought ...... i'll make enquiries ....... that, if it's the case, would make a difference, from previous years/decades

 

[V8Druid]

Tigerloop will have no bearing on your boiler issue the same amount of oil leaves the tank as without one they only circulate it between the boiler and the tigerloop. I'd have thought of there was enough crap in the tank to block the filter in short time you'd be able to see it looking in the tank. The only other thing is if boilers running when kero gets delivered and crap in tank gets stirred up.

no tish here Gaz good as new, now they've dried out

 

[JD450A]

I mean the common sense solution would be just to fit a bigger filter with a bowl.

 

[V8Druid]

after Clara'd departed ... both of us a tad jaded today, after a 'sleep-over', for her last night - first in a while and full of beans .... awake at 5 a.m. , cut the leg off the base flywheel late morning, to find ... not the 2" hole I was expecting, or even a 2.25" .... 56 bloody milli. weird size, so had to have a bit of a re-think and turned a 50mm pin into summat to fit a 56mm hole ... at least well enough for requirements ..
didn't take a lot of pix, so bear with me
this got did later in the day, but gives you an idea of the flywheel

fair play to Mr Aldi's Ferrex ... went through that well with a 6mm pilot - 10.2mil for .....

a pinch bolt, to make sure there wasn't going to be any vertical take off manoeuvres at a later date
said pin

attached to a decent lump of plate that was 'close enough' ... hole in the pin was handy to position a bit of square into as a locking key ..

was going to trim the plate to shape, but the boss likes the 'industrial look' and wasn't allowed to

looks better with its placcy enclosure over the mechanism ... which I must confess is very nicely made

was gonna give it all a coat of shiny, but not allowed that either .. likes the 'used look'
the eye bolt is / was going in the pinch bolt hole so I can lift it off the bench onto a sack truck tomorrow ..... then I recalled seeing the drawing bolt holes, so gave them a good going over

with a 5/8" BSW tap to clean 'em out ... hopefully i have some 5/8 whit eyebolts here somewhere - there should be, which'll make handling it into position, once I have it closer to the floor, a bit easier ... it's 120+kg and once it's flat it takes a bit of getting back off the deck, without 4ft of 50mm bar in the centre hole .... was going to get it down on't patio, til I realised it was nigh on tea time and by the time i'd tidied up, etc., was munchy time and just could not be arsed after that ... 'jaded' got the better of me .... mañana

 

[V8Druid]

I mean the common sense solution would be just to fit a bigger filter with a bowl.

I'd agree ....... if I had the room to fit anything bigger Rory it'd help ..... but it doesn't answer what the issue is and will merely extend filter changes a bit ...... as i said earlier, I have done more filters this year than the previous 21 yrs FFS and the only thing different is the kero .. as in a fresh delivery early Jan.

going back to Gaz's comment re bio ..... I had a delivery on 31st Dec. and Matt said at the time it was jumping up the following week with a new delivery to him and he may have mentioned summat about bio ... will have to ask him next week

 

[Cyberprog]

You seem to be keen to engineer stuff to avoid it taking off. Have the neighbours complained about your patio furniture launching skywards recently?

 

[V8Druid]

You seem to be keen to engineer stuff to avoid it taking off. Have the neighbours complained about your patio furniture launching skywards recently?

nah ... everything is nailed down here ...
the recent frame for the poly has been on the cards some time, just hadn't gotten to it ...
when it blows here it blows ... so everything needs to be secure ....
the proprietary base for the new brolley is 90kgs, so hopefully 33% more should keep it stationary ....
have always got 4 x 50lb stage leads that can get dumped on it too if needed ...
's easier to keep it put than chase it and sort the damage after ..

literally everything needs to be secure when it's blowy

 

[Bri963]

I'd agree ....... if I had the room to fit anything bigger Rory it'd help ..... but it doesn't answer what the issue is and will merely extend filter changes a bit ...... as i said earlier, I have done more filters this year than the previous 21 yrs FFS and the only thing different is the kero .. as in a fresh delivery early Jan.

going back to Gaz's comment re bio ..... I had a delivery on 31st Dec. and Matt said at the time it was jumping up the following week with a new delivery to him and he may have mentioned summat about bio ... will have to ask him next week

Can you not get something like a Cat filter/bowl and drain it daily until the water is gone? You might have been unlucky and bought the last load from the bottom of your supplier’s bulk tank. Have you got a moisture drain on your own tank? And can you alter the height of the pick-up, to get it away from the bottom?