How a Fuel Oil Burner Works and Troubleshooting a Failure - ElementalMaker

[@ElementalMaker]

Thanks for watching! If you would like to support this channel please head to www.patreon.com/elementalmaker. Every patron gets a virtual hug and my unending appreciation. I will also build a small shrine to worship you. One of these is a lie.

[@joeydubbs763]

They don't need to dip the tank, the stuff leaves that same dye stained on the air filter as far as I understand.

[@unusualfabrication9937]

19:10 why is there an artificial boob in the background?

[@matthewellisor5835]

@@unusualfabrication9937 Why don't you have one or two or three?

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

@@unusualfabrication9937 Stress relieve - you should try it (the real deal is more distracting)

[@Enjoymentboy]

I always appreciate watching someone apply logic and methodology when troubleshooting. Great work.

[@CP-od7tr]

This is the best DIY repair video I have ever seen! Concise, step by step, and logical! Explains why to check each item. Dude you have found your calling. Find other household items to repair. Boost your subs? Better yet add a channel. Don't get me wrong, keep doing the original stuff as well. We love it! Screaming gummy bears! LOL!!!

[@matthewellisor5835]

Gloves, moving Hydrocarbons away from the sparking thing, general not getting dead from fire... Is Prudence in the shop? Carefulling.

[@ElementalMaker]

LOL

[@imthesquareroot6125]

Eh Diesel is very safe to work with unlike gasoline. Ambient temperature has to get really hot near 40c and above before diesel begins to fume like gasoline. Which is why diesel is the preferred fuel to use in hot climates.

[@matthewellisor5835]

Ah, there she is. ;D

[@pfow2006]

Pretty much the same thing as the boiler on a hydrovac, I have had the same failure from a faulty thermostat. Cool to watch you diagnose it, the more failure scenarios a person experiences the better a person understands them and the easier they become to diagnose. Thanks for the video.

[@mistercommythecomrade7920]

Views aren’t as good anymore but he is still cooking and I like it. ( a lot )

[@kiykiy_maitai]

Nice, I guessed correctly about 4 minutes in after you displayed all of the symptoms. I work in industrial maintenance / automation controls for a large factory. At the 4 minute mark I called fuel shutting off intermittently, either solenoid bad or control system fault causing solenoid to turn off. Glad you figured it out!

[@jordantyers119]

You can pull the CAD cell eye off of its base to test rather than pull the primary control to test. Also to test your igniter. If you don’t have a clean cut pump you can wedge a flathead into the inducer wheel to keep from flowing fuel while you test. Good job man thanks for all of the videos. 🤙

[@Sk8rdad420]

Living in Western Australia I've never even seen a fuel oil burner before. We have either solar hot water, natural gas or electric. Great interesting and educational content as usual. Really enjoy the way you explain the reason behind checking each component and what to look for.

[@ElementalMaker]

I would kill to get natural gas, but the closest line is a few hundred feet away, and the cost up connect is almost 70,000 USD, so that ain't happening! Very cool that you guys in Au have better systems, heating oil is very expensive and dirty. What kind of system are you running? Thanks for the kind words and very glad you enjoyed 👍

[@Sk8rdad420]

@@ElementalMaker Thanks for the reply and 🖤. We have a passive solar hot water system and storage tank on our roof. Has an electric heating element booster for the few days in winter there isn't enough sun to heat it enough. There are systems that use a natural gas booster but cost a bit more to install. It's hot enough here most of the time that we don't use the booster.... but have the AC running to cool the house.

[@DaveVanWest]

I do HVAC work here in Southern Californa, this area does not have oil heating equipment. It is very refreshing to see the ignition process is so similar to gas-fired systems. Usually, the delay interval is known as pre-purge and after burn shuts off, that's post purge. Its basically to clear any unburnt fuel from combustion chamber.

[@DCFusor]

A hot air gun (or hair dryer) and a can of freeze spray are super useful to have around when troubleshooting intermittent failures. Things that might only fail rarely and be hard to find can be made to work and fail quickly so you can get it done a lot faster with less frustration - I learned that while on commission as a repairman long ago. For electronic gear, just the radiated heat from a soldering iron would often do - and a point source of temperature change can often narrow down the fault helpfully.

[@BattleChemist]

Just fixed my own furnace that wouldn't kick on the flame at all after just running the flame blower for about 15 seconds. Warning lights indicated open limit switch, so followed the wire diagram inside the door for the limit switches and checked the ohm continuity, narrowing it down to the two limit switches on either side of the main furnace blower (flame blower and flame-on limit switches were both good). Had to tear almost the entire top end to get to them, but allowed me to vacuum the massive amount of dust in there that bypassed the filter years ago when it buckled. The switch just needed the reset button pushed to pop the metal diaphram back out and we have a functional furnace for winter!... After reassembly, mind you. Already subscribed, but this and some other intertube resources helped me get this diagnosed as well as the confidence to fix it myself for literally zero dollars... just a few hours of my time. Keep up the great work! Also love the rocket composition and chemical manufacturing vids as a degreed chemist!

[@ElementalMaker]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video and the rocketry content, and most of all glad you got your furnace running before winter sets in! Awesome to have a genuine chemist on board!

[@BattleChemist]

@@ElementalMaker happy to aboard!... I caught your content as a suggestion from an AvE vid and instantly subscribed and went back and watched everything on the channel (and the B channel, heh). I was a gas chemist as well as one of the QAR's, Quality Assurance Reviewers releasing product to the public (CO2, O2, N2, Nitrous, Air, etc... medical, food/bev, welding, spec. gas, and industrial grades) for 7 years at a Tacoma Dist. plant; easy to look up. Got out 3 years ago due to beuracratic politics and am in a different industry altogether now, but never lost my love for Chemistry. Happy to jump in for gas chem questions where I can!

[@bohabdestructo7489]

Most likely it's the igniter, thermal expansion stresses the unit. That is if it is a hot surface ignition or you have a high limit that's gone south. Can't wait to see what you found. I was a tech for teladine-lars years ago

[@bohabdestructo7489]

Not what I was expecting to see. High voltage is awesome.

[@bohabdestructo7489]

I worked on propain and natural gas pool heaters mostly. Never actually worked on any oil burners.

[@billjordan8779]

That's generally not an issues with Beckett ignitors. It used to be a huge issue with Carlin, but supposedly they fixed it. I still won't use them. Also it is going into recycle mode, which indicates that the flame is dropping out after the flame had been established. The primary control shuts off the ignition after the flame had been established for 10 seconds.

[@alexiaaddictiv-ink1898]

And the tiddy on the bench😝 BTW, that Grolsch beer bottles work amazingly for home brews, I currently have apple cider and a sugar wash thats amost ready for distallation.

[@charles8060]

Too bad Grolsch is nasty and pouring it down the drain is alcohol abuse.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Nice and simple troubleshooting (solenoid valves often crack the winding due to thermal stress and vibration). I was amazed of how clean the injector and igniter rods were! PS: Never before heard of anyone having problems emptying Grolsch bottles - usual problem is running out of full bottles ahead of time... ;-)

[@SuperWhizy]

Thanks for sharing and allowing us to live vicariously through your success.

[@bobgrant-beer3020]

I have watched this Video lots before Mr Brilliant EM. I love fixing this sort of gas burner kit too. The reason why I've commented, is because your Doggie is Bloody Fuc#iing gorgeous. Dogs are the Bloody best. We Couldn't of Evolved or Survived without them.

[@ElementalMaker]

Thank you Bob! Cant wait to hear more about your vacuum systems!

[@paulEG6]

It’s always nice when it’s a cheap and easy fix!

[@canuk5689]

Great video! In the automotive world anytime I had an intermittent fault and suspected a component such as a solenoid, injector or inductive speed sensor, i would bring them up to operating temp with a heat gun. Then let it heat soak and bam open circuit. Best trick ever. Well done, keep em' comin! This lock down sucks. Cheers

[@avoirdupois1]

Nice vid. Great overview of the troubleshooting process for this boiler/burner. Wanted to make a quick comment re: dyed diesel. The other reason that the man doesn't want you running off-road diesel in your truck is the sulfur. Off road diesel still has a lot of sulfur content, which indeed helps the lubricity, but the emissions lead to very harmful environmental effects. In road fuel, which is used in much larger quantities overall than fuel oil, the sulfur is limited to protect us.

[@ElementalMaker]

Very good point. I also didn't think to say it, but that extra sulfur content could really cause issues if ran in a modern diesel with all the emissions equipment. Probably some permanent damage to sensors and whatnot m

[@caveman6345]

Sorry I haven't been watching the videos as of late, I've been"offline" due to lack of funds but I'm back for an unknown amount of time. Good stuff.

[@alwoolhouse6255]

Loving your work. Are you AvE's mischievous brother? Happy Lockdown from Englandland.

[@johnpossum556]

I'd replace the cadmium sulfide cell, too. They used to be like $2 at Radio Shack. I did HVAC for awhile and the solenoid and the thermocouple are the two most common things that go out around here where we use city gas. I always try to keep at least an extra thermocouple on hand because they also work on hot air furnaces. A long one will fit almost anything. If I were you I'd buy another coil and nail it up on the wall right above the water heater so you can find it when this one fails. I find yours unusual in the way that it magnetically couples. Up here they are usually one part and require taking the gas line apart too which is far more involved. Also I think the clue that they know it fails (probably due to vibration) is that funky spring washer that was obviously designed to reduce issues relating to vibration. They wouldn't spend the extra time and money making that part that way if it wasn't important.

[@johnpossum556]

Also, the 24vac transformers go which power the solenoid operated gas valve. I'm kind of surprised yours runs on 120VAC w/o any metal shielding over the wires going to it.

[@SeanBZA]

Those coils are an industrial standard, almost all the industrial solenoids use exactly the same NEMA standard coil, and the same for the magnetically coupled valve. The spring clip is just a cheap way of mounting them, as typical ones will either have a plastic lock nut that grips the coil, or a push on clip to hold it there.

[@ghostshadow9046]

in Alaska they stopped adding dye to heating oil due to the dye causing issues with several brands of oil fired heaters.

[@8Maduce50]

So what youre saying is I can drive on number 2 heating oil in Alaska?

[@tomharrell1954]

Congratulations! You have done this before I see!

[@Aaron48219]

Most interesting video since Ive never worked with an oil burner. I do however want the ignition transformer for...well, research

[@sandmanbub]

Thanks for this video! Saving it for future reference. My old house had a natural gas burner, but my current one has an oil burner and have had to work on it a couple times. I feel much more confident about being able to diagnose and repair it in the future. :)

[@ElementalMaker]

Glad you could find it useful John! Cheers my friend.

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Great video and troubleshooting EM, thank you! Many, many moons ago, when i first went to work for a local plumbing and heating company. I was working on one of those and getting ready to test the spark much like you did. Somehow I fumbled the screwdriver and managed to get a hand into the coil terminals...those things will make you hurt yourself getting away from them. Lol!

[@ElementalMaker]

Oh man your lucky it didn't kill you! I've heard of a few guys biting the dust from those coils. Glad you're around to tell the story my friend 👍

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Thanks! Young and dumb, the perfect recipe for disaster. It just wasn't my turn to go yet I suppose. It did hurt for a few days afterward, my wrist and finger joints felt like they had sand in them. Like they say, I'd rather be lucky than good any day."

[@ElementalMaker]

@@TrojanHorse1959 Wow that had to be a nasty shock. I've hit 120VAC more times than I can count, 240 once or twice, a couple big photo flash capacitors that probably should have killed me, and a taser, but never had pain for for days after. That had to be a brutal shock. Heck last night I was working up on a ladder putting lights in the ceiling of my garage, and got a nice electrocution. A bit scary up on a ladder lol.

[@TrojanHorse1959]

I've had several other shocks too, much like your experiences, but nothing hurt like that did. I guess I was grounded good and got the full benefits. I thought I was going to have a burn too, but it was just a red spot that went away in a couple of days. It was similar, but more powerful than getting hit by HEI ignition on a vehicle. Those always made my joints hurt too. Man, being up on a ladder and getting zapped is one of the worst. You never know if the electricity or the possible fall is going to be worse. I was working in a power generating plant installing new lights and got zapped while up on a pallet lifted by a forklift. It's a scary feeling for sure. It was one of those, "I thought I turned it off?" helpers that got me. Partially my fault I guess, I should have checked it before touching any wires. You can bet I did every time afterward. Take care, stay safe, sane, and healthy!

[@ChozoSR388]

Always great when it's a cheap fix! Glad you were able to get it working again. I've been there; I know it's not fun lol

[@Animaniac-vd5st]

So this is the channel AvE does when he's not drunk?

[@ElementalMaker]

Lol

[@sarchlalaith8836]

In all honesty I think this guy is better than AvE, I like AvE but this chap is just more scookum

[@peregrine1970]

*Crosses fingers* Oh Mustie1, please bless this repair. Amen.

[@Dave32488]

Been waiting and expecting some videos from ya man!! Love learning from your channel! Mu wife is always on to me over all my elemental experimentation lol

[@seannot-telling9806]

I have a little trick for you. Do you have one of the Fluke non-contact voltage probes? If you do and it can be other brands. Take and touch it to a solenoid when it's active and you should get a indication of a field on the energized coil.

[@ElementalMaker]

Good trick there! I'll have to try that!

[@seannot-telling9806]

@@ElementalMaker i think the reason it works is the type of sensor in the device. I am willing to bet it is a hall effect sensor. Or I could be wrong. Might be worth looking into that too.

[@malcolmreynolds7122]

Very interesting diagnostics and repair project. Thanks for sharing!

[@malcolmreynolds7122]

Oh forgot to mention...you and AVE have GOT to do some sort of collab video. Just 4 hands doing cool stuff :)

[@n3qxc]

awesome video.... I had to learn this stuff years ago on my own.. couldnt afford to get a tech to work on it.... mine didnt have a solenoid on it... but it did have a plastic coupler that went from the blower to the oil pump that was worn and would lock the motor up and kick the thermal reset on the blower motor .... but anyhow.... Don't throw out the old coil.... soak it in acetone and see if we can melt the plastic away and see what happened to the coil.... I'm thinking a cold solder joint on the terminal as I have yet to ever see a solenoid coil wire burn open unless it got over voltaged.....

[@ElementalMaker]

Good idea on the acetone soak 👍 I'll have to try that

[@dan260140]

I had to fallow you!! Wish I would’ve found you earlier!!!

[@Oldmankingspiffy]

I’m glad to see you uploading

[@BensWorkshop]

Cheers for that. I need to build an oil heater for my shed so that has added to the ideas.

[@ElementalMaker]

That's gonna be a warm shed!

[@BensWorkshop]

@@ElementalMaker should be though it will be a small oil heater and as sheds go, it's not a small shed.

[@imthesquareroot6125]

Always a good day when it's the cheap easy part to replace. Fuel oil burners are finicky little buggers, but when they work they are your best friend. For clarification are you using kerosene - K1 or off road diesel (standard heating oil)?

[@ElementalMaker]

I do believe standard heating oil, but could be wrong

[@imthesquareroot6125]

@@ElementalMaker it should be. Should also be ULSD like it's on road counterpart if memory serves me correctly.

[@SharkyMoto]

i once did an internship at german customs and the red color in the oil is despite it looks very resiliant, so if you put that in your tank once, you will have red fuel for a very long time. that beeing said, private owned and driven vehicles are rarely checked, at least in germany. its mostly done on the cargo trucks because thats propably where they could save the most by using it

[@djberg3483]

Hey, so I'm ripping an old home fuel boiler from the house. I wonder if the blower/injection system would work for a foundry fuel sorce? Maybe a bit of straight 0² injection as well? Think it would make enough heat to work?

[@bouananighouti1754]

Man it's about time ,,,, please make a video about pyrolysis

[@ElementalMaker]

Like another charcoal video you mean? Or something more specific?

[@PBS-nm1uu]

great vid, thanks, what is the voltage for the solenoid

[@Davidss7997]

Thanks for the helpful troubleshooting! Can we address the boob in the background at 18:00 of the video?

[@ElementalMaker]

@@Davidss7997 the ultimate stress ball

[@Oldmankingspiffy]

I’m glad you were able to fix it

[@Bostonn617]

Do you happen to know what size those threads are that the jet line connects to on the right side of the burner - the silver threads that are poking out and you hook the jet line back up to it - are they generally 3/16th or 1/8th ?

[@Draakdarkmaster6]

i didn't know you were a brewer too, thats awesome.

[@alexroth3249]

As an fyi I used to haul fuel oil for homes as well as gas and highway diesel the only difference between died and not is fuel tax and died fuel already has injector cleaner added. The area I worked the mines had died fuel and the trucking companies did not in the storage tanks. If you do need to use on road diesel to run your furnace it is recommended to also use a diesel injector cleaner to help keep the nozzle clean. The company I worked for would usually add injector cleaner to the highway diesel before it went in our storage tanks and in winter it had antigel added as well. There are 2 grades of diesel for home use and highway use it depends on where you are for options. #2 heating fuel is put in an indoor storage tank #1 is out door tank. With highway diesel you can have #2 (has more energy), #1(less likely to gel/wax in temperature under 14F) and a blend of the 2 with or without antigel.

[@bh5097]

You should also check the pump screen. And the spark from the coil should be a purple color yellow or Orange indicates a weak spark.

[@bh5097]

Also that is a boiler not a furnace!

[@kevinsturgess1475]

Hi there,you have very informative video's,so i subbed and liked.Thank you so much for sharing the tool box. That is so wow.Was it made in 1957 because of the book ?

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

"I like to keep the slit nice and clean." Don't we all?

[@trollforge]

In Ontario, (Canada) you are allowed to use the dyed fuel in your farm/construction vehicles.

[@ElementalMaker]

Same here, just can't be used on public roads my buddy uses it in his backhoe and farm truck

[@chemicalcorrosion]

My furnace and water heater(natural gas) do this often. It is almost always the flame sensor. I carefully clean the sensor(metal rod) with fine sand paper and it always works.

[@ElementalMaker]

Can't beat being able to work on your own stuff!

[@johnpossum556]

It's called a thermocouple and they're only a couple of bucks. Your flame is adjusted wrong (too rich) if it develops that much soot to act as insulator on the end of your thermocouple. That should not be happening. You are "fixing" it temporarily but you never got to the bottom line issue which can be very dangerous at times.

[@michaelrobertson8795]

Does it have a thermocouple going out that will shut off fuel supply

[@Steve_Just_Steve]

Good question but he he had 120v to solenoid right after a reset.

[@SeanBZA]

No thermocouple, just a light sensor to see if there is still combustion. Somewhat more reliable than a thermocouple, as it does not get eroded away by the flame. Also fails safe like a thermocouple, as the cells will go open circuit, either by failing or, if they get soot covered because of incomplete combustion.

[@Steve_Just_Steve]

@@SeanBZA My waste oil heater has 3 thermocouples and a cad cell (light sensor). They don't go into the flame chamber, there is a low and high limit for the fuel preheater and a high limit on the housing in case of a fan failure.

[@Liramek]

It may be a failed ignition/thermocouple. As it heats up, it expands or moves enough to trigger a fault. Had this happen with an older gas water heater at my old house. Not too familiar with oil burners though.

[@Leonards_life]

I really enjoyed your video. I had a similar problem with my central heating and cooling unit.I was able to diagnose the problem right down to the controller circuit board and ordered a new one. changed it out and brought the old unit in and began to use my multi meter on circuit board traces....BINGO...broken circuit trace caused by cold solder joint!

[@brandonb9452]

Missed you professor

[@reeceygardner]

I work on these for a living in the UK Same heaters they definitely need to have a full strip down service every year The nozzle has to be replaced every year People don't do it and we end up spending hours stripping down and re building

[@ross123540]

Id clean the photo diode/window (if there is a window) you know the solinoid coil was working because you had flame and you could here the solinoid click. Looks like the control box was doing what its suposed to, sees no flame or what it thinks is a flame out and it shuts down the system. you opening up everything probably disturbed the dust on the diaode, but if you did not wipe it clean it will not be long before the same happens aagin.

[@HerbaMachina]

Someone didn't watch the whole video...

[@ross123540]

@@HerbaMachina haha, no i dident. good spot on the coil.

[@davidmccall9944]

Can you give the part info I have the same problem but it's for my house heat

[@nathenperri2826]

Where do you get your labware from? I figured you would be a good person to ask.

[@charles8060]

China lol

[@ElementalMaker]

My high end lab ware is from Synthware, Pyrex, Kimax or Chemglass. For non dangerous reactions or disposable glass China is my go to, like the distillation set I used for the ethanol video. I'm actually pretty impressed with that set, and consider it pretty well made Especially for the price of under $40

[@nathenperri2826]

Haha thanks a bunch man!

[@brandonb9452]

Evening from Canada

[@kennethyoung141]

Same Ontario Canada

[@brandonb9452]

Kenneth Young Hamilton. You?

[@kennethyoung141]

@@brandonb9452 Smiths Falls

[@brandonb9452]

Kenneth Young awesome

[@wornoutwrench8128]

Checking in from BC

[@philipwatson3594]

cherryaid in the uk .i was betting on the brain? i bet your glad it was just the solenoid nice warm water no more invertors lol great channel keep up the great work all the best from durham uk

[@ElementalMaker]

Thank you Phillip from Durham! I spent some time in Leeds and Sheffield but sadly never made it as far north as Durham but I bet its a damn beautiful spot. All the best my friend.

[@Jkauppa]

KISS would be the advice how to choose a machine which would not be easily breaking and short lasting

[@Orbis92]

Our gas central heater scares the shit out of me every time we have a blackout/brown out The brain box has a soldered AA battery which died long ago, but is unreachable without dismantling the hole unit, and so it looses it settings every time. I got some crude instructions from our plumbing guy, so I smash the buttons on that thing until it fires with a loud poof. My heart jumps every single time....

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

Man all this stuff is so foreign to me. Here in oklahoma we have very clean tap water and natural gas or electric for heating I don't know if there are any houses in my city that use kerosene. However having kerosene on hand all the time would be kinda nice. Does the wife know you are using her glass cooking dish? Imma tell her if not. Anyways this is one of those problems where o you just service/replace all the consumables while its open? For me I probably would but you said you replaced everything recently so that makes this whole project kinda suck. Its like me when I work on my 3d printers. If I am replacing the thermistor or nozzle I replace the PTFE tubing and sometimes the whole heating block but usually just the consumable wear parts. Glad it was an easy fix for you but I gotta ask about the boob. What and why? Thanks for making this video this is neat to see. Completely off topic but I got my hotplate/magnetic stirrer in the mail. I decided since I don't have access to a shop right now to just buy one. I also ordered that $30 distillation apparatus from ebay and that should be in in a couple of days.

[@ElementalMaker]

Nice! Let me know how the hotplate/stirrer performs, I am considering getting another to keep in the garage and they seem pretty reasonably priced. I think you will be very happy with the distillation set, mine is still going strong!

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

@@ElementalMaker Awesome. BTW I edited this comment like 4 times as I was commenting while watching like an idiot. Glad you got the problem fixed.

[@BackYardScience2000]

@@ElementalMaker , if you get a hotplate soon I would suggest the SH-3 or SH-4. I use the SH-3. Reliable, decently priced and they get great temperatures and strong stirring.

[@BRUXXUS]

Whoa, I'm also in Oklahoma and also an avid 3D printer! haha.

[@GlennRM]

Great Video dude thanks

[@1st_ProCactus]

That's the first oil burning water heater I've seen. But that one looks like a tripping hazard. Was it slightly modified with that car sized oil filter ?

[@ElementalMaker]

That's pretty standard in this part of the country. They all have the filters, some in different locations though

[@jaratt85]

Ah East Coast problems.. though we've had issues with our hot water heater for years off and on but it's a natural gas heater on crappy town water not a well. (this shit leaves a brown residue when it dries.. I swear it's not fit for human consumption.. I'd love to know what's in it)

[@niemandwirklich]

Are you gonna open the solenoid to look what is wrong with it from the inside?

[@PorchPotatoMike]

I also like to keep the slit nice and clean.

[@patricksweetman3285]

Would a short ozone treatment bleach out the red fuel dye?

[@ElementalMaker]

Ozone and kerosene sounds like some early nasa rocket propellant!

[@silverwingpjbstigger2301]

Elemental maker just one question. On your forge burner that you have built in 2017 can that melt down copper and brass?

[@ElementalMaker]

Should be able to, you just need a very well insulated foundry.

[@silverwingpjbstigger2301]

@@ElementalMaker could you do a copper metal melting demonstration to see if your burner you built can handle copper. I got all the parts for it and we are building a metal country with Refractory with peak temperature of 2912F and the outside to hold the Refractory is cast iron. Will that work out? We are going to melt copper wire basically. Also will that setup with that brass adapter with the nipple, square head plug, the 1/4 galvanized coupling be able to handle the temperature for melting copper? Just curious because I am worried that it is going to melt. :(.

[@silverwingpjbstigger2301]

One other thing, can you show on video how you attached the clear vinyl tubing so I know where it connects cause I know one side connects to the adapter but I don't know where the other side connects to.

[@Engineerd3d]

I know this is an old video. But here is an idea for you. Use on of those units for a aluminum melting furnace. I have an identical pump to that waiting just for such craziness.

[@ElementalMaker]

I actually do have an old one laying around that I'm going to use to try to melt some cast iron! Should be a fun project

[@andrewspohrer7183]

So the maintenance people for the house I rent spent hundreds on replacement parts for my central heating last winter and I went in and just repositioned the ignition coil and it started working just fine thru the rest of the winter... usually it's the cheap part that shits the bed and in this case it was a free fix. What had happened is they had bent the mount that held the coil when they did biannual maintenance xD

[@purelife9000]

Just so ya know...I click thumbs up BEFORE I watch it! #ContentConfidence

[@ElementalMaker]

Appreciate it Luke 👍

[@peterwarmerdam1078]

Yes! Grolsch beer.... My favorite!

[@WhereWhatHuh]

Stopping at 2:41 ... Unit fires, runs for a while, fails to reach setpoint, shuts down, locks out. Possibly scale buildup in the heat exchanger; burner overheats and sets the hi limit lockout before a sufficient amount of water is hot enough to turn off the thermostat. Also possibly a high limit fault, blower proving switch could be bad or loose, If it uses an IR flame sensing device, the IR sensor could be bad. Now to see how wrong I am. -- EDIT: Okay, It was the solenoid. Good call. Is there an air proofing switch, to prove the blower before fuel is introduced? Also, in retrospect, scale buildup would be a slow degradation of the performance, not an acute failure.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Great video! I've never had to deal with a water heater quite like that. It's always been electric or natural gas water heaters. Anyways, a bit off topic question here. But have you ever made a video on phosphorus? I know you still do element videos occasionally about your element collection, but I haven't seen one on phosphorus yet. Just wondering if you plan to make one about it in the future? If so, I can supply the phosphorus needed to make the video if you need it. Free of charge. I can't really afford to donate money, but I can donate elements and chems.

[@ElementalMaker]

I've always wanted to try isolating it from TSP. I am quite sure I'll be trying it at some point, just need to finish my garage so I can not worry about burning my house down and poisoning everyone in it.

[@ElementalMaker]

Also thank you so much for the kind offer, that is incredibly generous.

[@BackYardScience2000]

@@ElementalMaker , anytime! And good call. It can be fairly risky to say the least. I constructed a special steel enclosure to deal with it recently. You really can't be too cautious with it. Especially when trying to isolate it. Figured I'd offer the chance to skip that step. Lol

[@rogeryermaw]

@@ElementalMaker try sodium hexametaphosphate. Reduce with aluminum powder with silica sand in a retort and pipe the gasses under cool water. The temp to initiate the reaction is much lower. That's how I make it. It's the oldest video on my channel.

[@ElementalMaker]

@@rogeryermaw awesome I'll check it out!

[@michaelrobertson8795]

You can also do what we used to do on gas valves when they stick take the back of your screwdriver handle and pop the crap out of it trust me it works

[@ElementalMaker]

Ah the old Russian persuasion method 😁

[@mnshp7548]

steven lavimoniere good channel to watch as he does oil burner services

[@noiwonttellyoumyname.4385]

At time 19:00 ... there's a lot of objects visible on-screen. I designed the mold that made one of them. Anyone care to make a guess as to which one it was?

[@ElementalMaker]

Did you really design the "stress ball" Mold??

[@gorak9000]

@@ElementalMaker Probably the sprayer on the bottle :-P

[@noiwonttellyoumyname.4385]

@@ElementalMaker If not that specific one then one very, very, very much like it from a quite well-known name brand. If that one has the logo wrapped around ~90 degrees of the lower hemisphere, then it's mine. If not, then it's a knockoff. I did the work for free, just for the bragging rights. :D

[@ElementalMaker]

@@noiwonttellyoumyname.4385 Nice! Sadly looks like I must have gotten a knockoff.

[@noiwonttellyoumyname.4385]

@@ElementalMaker Ah, well. I'll tell you, though: the real one? It's the greatest stress ball known to man. It feels *exactly* like the real thing except for the temperature.

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Nice job.

[@kleetus92]

Something I've ran into with our wonderful red dyed fuel for our oh so loveable tax man, is depending on the dye content, it will mess with the flame color, and depending on how sensitive you CdS cell is, it will think the fire went out, and shut the unit down. It wasn't until we tried road diesel in it that wasn't dyed that it worked. Gotta love paying the man for an imaginary problem, that nobody ever asked to fix.

[@614BlueBerry]

The "Ha, Ha, Ha" went to a "He, He, He"

[@WARacing21]

Hey EM, I just got done watching your last rocket video and as you we’re talking about an avionics system for building a rocket, you should check out BPS space on KZbin. He’s got some neat stuff and makes his own rockets and his own systems. There may be some stuff that you find useful over there. Keep up the great work.

[@ElementalMaker]

Love his channel he does amazing work!

[@sarchlalaith8836]

"pray to your creator of choice" Dear evolution....

[@markrich3271]

Ive read It'll burn in your diesel truck but it burns hotter and has less lubricant properties. It will eventually ruin your high pressure pump or so they say. I own 3 rams with cummins engines. I've never been willing to test it out at 2500$ a pump.

[@jamiesuvo7420]

All the taxman should take it off the politicians more rather than the people that are struggling

[@buckstarchaser2376]

That system seems a lot less complicated than my gas furnaces. If a bug so much as flies into the exhaust, I get a pressure balance error. It's not so bad though. The shutdowns let the carbon monoxide dissipate and allows me to wake up. Sort of an alarm clock with inverted output.

[@cjfs1992]

Fuel oil, the forbidden cherry soda.

[@ColtaineCrows]

As for burning things with high sulphur content in your diesel truck. DO NOT do it if you have a recent model truck, it WILL break stuff. As for specifically which model years you should stop at, I couldn't tell you for sure, but anything common rail will hate it for sure. Anything with a DPF will hate it, EGR probably isn't a fan either but I've never seen EGR fail specifically because of high sulphur fuel, just all the normal ways EGR breaks.

[@daveduna1]

Any more rocket videos coming down the pipeline?

[@ElementalMaker]

You bet! Unfortunately I can't go to my normal test site because of the quarantine. But I can't wait to do some rocketry when this all blows over

[@anoirbentanfous]

now how to avoid this issue in first place? engineering wise

[@ElementalMaker]

Unfortunately any electromechanical system will eventually need service and component replacement

[@anoirbentanfous]

@@ElementalMaker Sure! but some can be mitigated... like reducing the heat exposure here by some sort of solution or from engineering side implanting one in the design... Would make it less serviceable

[@feralhuman3880]

did you bleed the water lines ?

[@ElementalMaker]

No water lines on the burner. I'm bleeding the hydronic loop next week to fix a small pinhole leak I found above the furnace though.

[@feralhuman3880]

@@ElementalMaker glad your're getting to it . i have what i believe is a R_-22 leak in my 20 yr heat pump lul you teach me thank you :)

[@squib308]

FWIW I went with my parents to fix up my grandpas old farm house (he'd been dead for 15 years, they just couldn't quite sell the place..) for sale. Kicked on the oil burner furnace... dies. Ot would heat for a bit.. then die. Over and over. Unfortunately, it was winter, and we were pretty cold. I looked at all the common fuel-oil burner problems, they seemed fine. (IDK anything about fuel-oil burners, other than they have some serious HV components :). I checked the tank outside, yep - has fuel. Hmm.. And also a pair of gate valves; one on, and one mostly shut. HMMMM Flipped that sucker to open, and let 'er rip.

[@ElementalMaker]

Always helps to have the valves on! Lol

[@jamesroseii]

You and AvE should do a collaboration.

[@pr0faker]

Lol funny to see dutch beer bottles in the usa. :)

[@BangBangBang.]

Dye? You mean a filter made out of a mesh bag and cat litter?

[@ElementalMaker]

Bentonite absorbs the dye???

[@ElementalMaker]

Tell me more

[@alexdougal7729]

@@ElementalMaker common here in the UK as they sell Red Diesel which is dyed road diesel for agricultural use, this is only taxed at 5%. Bentonite removes the dye but in the UK now they have started using a 'marker' chemical that can be detected by a sample of exhaust gas, not sure on what chemical is used for that but cat litter does not remove it.

[@shize9ine]

16:45 haha story of my life