Hello! New member here. I saw a thread from a couple of years ago in this forum about a leak near the oil filter on a heating oil tank, and many folks responded saying the filter housing should be supported. We are getting our tank replaced on October 25 due to a leak at the nipple on the tank (where the tank connects to the filter/oil line). The current tank is 52 years old. I noticed our filter housing doesn’t seem to have any support aside from the pipe it’s attached to. Most of the setups I’ve seen locally seem to be the same…I’m wondering if someone could explain what should be done to support the housing? I’ll ask the installers of the new tank to do this and I’d like to understand what I’m asking. I can see how an unsupported filter could put stress on that nipple and potentially affect the seal on that thread. Thanks so much!
Question about supporting oil filter housing
elrollings
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Fingers crossed…the oil company sent a service supervisor over to look, he’s down there now looking at all the piping
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🤣🤣🤣 thank you for the levity, I needed that!
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The verdict: one housing on the vent pipe had been installed upside down. One fitting had no pipe dope on it at all. He took both the fill and vent pipes apart, resealed and retightened everything. We shall see next time I have a delivery but I feel like this was likely the issue. He said it was a very small amount of oil that had leaked and there was nothing new upon inspection.
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Quality workmanship is getting worse and worse. Glad the contractor is standing behind it and correcting the issues.
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Agreed. I had reservations when they said they subcontract tank installs, as we have only ever had work done by their in-house guys. They’d assured me the subs were as good. I told them today that was not my experience, which is probably why they sent one of their most experienced in-house guys out to fix it.
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That's a different picture from the first one posted.
The only thing to do is wipe it dry to see if it persists. If it doesn't, then make sure someone watches it on the next fill, while the oil is coming in under pressure.
If it's the fitting, luckily they put a union in.
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The tech took care of it yesterday, disassembled both the fill and vent pipes and rechecked everything. One housing had been installed upside down and one joint had zero pipe dope. That likely caused the drip.
I’ve been checking the tank daily given all the issues and while the tank now seems fine, I noticed this ding on the oil line. Not sure if this happened during the installation or the follow up yesterday but I’m certain it was not like this prior:
https://imgur.com/a/UF2qvSp
I’ve called my oil company to have them come take a look. This saga seems to be continuing…
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Hard to see in that photo but the line has an orange plastic sleeve on , there’s a small area of exposed copper where they joined the line. Glad to hear you don’t think the nick is a problem, I can’t tell if it goes through the sleeve to the copper or not and I was afraid to touch it.
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Tech came out and looked at it. He said it doesn’t penetrate the plastic and should be ok. I said the pipe looked dinged and slightly bent and he said it really wasn’t. Either way, he said it was not compromised.
Photos of the area from a few different angles here https://imgur.com/a/MyESxL9
One other question, he pulled on the line a bit to try and get better access to the area in question (the tank is in a tight space so he was trying to bring that part of the oil line closer to the front of the space. I am assuming it must have had some slack as it moved forward about three or four inches. Only reason I’m asking/concerned is because the line passes under the baseboards in about three rooms to get to the furnace (I know, not an ideal setup) so I’m always concerned about a leak or issue anywhere along that portion of the line. Im assuming it’s fine to move it like that but I guess I’m looking for reassurance.
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One main purpose of the jacketed oil line is so if there is a leak it will work it's way out to one of the ends so you have an indication of an oil leak. And the other is to protect the copper from contact with anything that may deteriorate it, or a constant expansion/contraction rubbing that would damage it.
Another reason to use an oil safety valve on a gravity job.
Also, and not to send you into a tailspin, did the installer use expansion loops at each end? One at/near the tank and one at/near the burner, as required by code? I think the picture I posted shows one at the tank.
Another reason to use an oil safety valve on a gravity job.
Also, and not to send you into a tailspin, did the installer use expansion loops at each end? One at/near the tank and one at/near the burner, as required by code? I think the picture I posted shows one at the tank.
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This is helpful, thank you! So in theory if a problem were to develop along the line it would run through the jacket and I’d notice it. In your opinion was pulling the line a couple of inches problematic? The tech said they are pretty durable it was fine (I was like “uhhhh” when he did it).
I’ll have to go look at the loops, they didn’t touch the furnace as the oil line was new enough and up to code so they didn’t replace it (and would likely be a pain to pull through three rooms and walls). I’m assuming the connection at the furnace is up to code as it was replaced in 2008…or has code changed since then?
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https://imgur.com/a/DGlxiCj Photos of the connections at the tank and furnace
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