What an oil technician carries, and why each thing earns its place in the bag. The list starts from the tools a tune-up needs, then adds the things that make the day easier. Kits by job come first, for a reader who is shopping for one task. The calculators live on the nozzle chart; this page is the hardware.
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One page per job, with the pieces in the order they get used.
The numbers that set up a burner come from these. Setting combustion by eye or by ear is guessing.
A handheld instrument with a probe that goes in the flue. It reads oxygen, carbon monoxide, stack temperature and draft, and works out the efficiency and the carbon dioxide.
Why it earns its place: It is how a burner gets set up. Air and nozzle are adjusted to what the analyzer reads, not to how the flame looks.
A hand pump that pulls a set volume of flue gas through a paper strip. The spot it leaves is matched to a scale from 0 to 9.
Why it earns its place: An electronic analyzer does not read smoke. A clean, efficient fire still needs a low smoke number, so both come out of the bag.
Reads the small negative pressure in the flue and over the fire, in hundredths of an inch of water.
Why it earns its place: Draft is set before the fire is tuned, and the barometric damper is set by it.
A 0 to 300 psi gauge that threads into the port on the fuel pump. It reads the pressure the nozzle is fed at.
Why it earns its place: Pump pressure is the second number the nozzle chart needs. Pressure sets the firing rate as much as the nozzle does.
A gauge that reads the suction on the inlet side of the pump, in inches of mercury.
Why it earns its place: High vacuum means a restriction: a plugged filter, or a line too long or too high for one pipe. It finds the lockout that only happens on cold nights.
A pressure and vacuum test set in a case, with the adapters that fit the common fuel pump ports.
Why it earns its place: One case instead of loose gauges and fittings hunted through a drawer.
Reads volts, ohms and continuity. A clamp model reads motor amps without opening the wiring.
Why it earns its place: Half of no-heat calls are electrical. Proving 120 volts at the control and reading the cad cell takes a meter, not a guess.
The small tools that change a nozzle and put the electrodes back where the burner manual says.
A stamped gauge that sets the gap between the electrode tips, and their height and distance ahead of the nozzle, to the settings the burner manual gives.
Why it earns its place: Electrode settings are tenths of an inch. The gauge makes them the same on every burner; a ruler does not.
A thin wall wrench with a 5/8 inch and a 3/4 inch end that holds the nozzle adapter while the nozzle turns.
Why it earns its place: Two open end wrenches twist the oil line and crack the adapter. The right wrench changes a nozzle in a minute without moving the electrodes.
A strap wrench that grips a spin-on filter canister without crushing it.
Why it earns its place: A stuck filter is the slow part of every tune-up.
Flare fittings, the tool that makes the flare, and the cutter that makes a square end to flare.
Clamps the tube in a bar and spins a cone into the end to form the 45 degree flare that a flare nut seals on.
Why it earns its place: Oil lines are flare, not compression. This is the tool that makes the joint.
A wheel cutter for copper oil line. The mini fits where the full size cannot turn.
Why it earns its place: A hacksaw leaves burrs that end up in the nozzle. A square cut is the start of a good flare.
Brass 45 degree flare nuts, unions, elbows and adapters for 3/8 inch outside diameter copper.
Why it earns its place: 3/8 is the common size at the burner and on short runs.
The same 45 degree family for 1/2 inch outside diameter copper.
Why it earns its place: Longer runs and two pipe systems use 1/2 inch line.
Nothing exotic. The sizes matter more than the brands: burner hardware runs from 1/4 to 3/4 inch.
Open end and box end combination wrenches in the sizes burner hardware uses.
Why it earns its place: Every fitting on a burner is in this range. Adjustable wrenches round nuts.
Two sizes for the odd flare nuts and the big fittings on tanks and filters.
Why it earns its place: The 10 inch handles the filter canister and tank fittings; the 8 inch fits behind a burner.
Sockets with a ratchet, for the bolts a wrench cannot reach straight on.
Why it earns its place: Burner mounting bolts and flange nuts sit in tight spots.
Four pliers that cover gripping pipe, cutting wire, clamping a part and reaching into a control.
Why it earns its place: Each one does something the others cannot.
Allen wrenches in the standard sizes.
Why it earns its place: Blower wheel set screws and coupling screws are hex.
A range of both tips, plus a stubby for tight spots.
Why it earns its place: Control covers, cad cell brackets and terminal screws.
Hollow shaft drivers in 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch.
Why it earns its place: Sheet metal screws and burner housing screws are hex heads; a nut driver spins them faster than a wrench.
Cuts and strips the 14 and 18 gauge wire a burner circuit uses.
Why it earns its place: Every control change ends in wire.
A holder for single edge blades.
Why it earns its place: Old gasket, stuck labels, soot on a sight glass.
Short test leads with clips on both ends.
Why it earns its place: Jumping the thermostat terminals is the first check on a no-heat call.
European burners are metric and Torx. The SAE set rounds their nuts.
8, 10, 12, 14 and 15 mm combination wrenches.
Why it earns its place: Riello and other European burners are metric. The SAE set will round their nuts.
Torx drivers and long and short metric hex keys.
Why it earns its place: The Riello cover and head screws are Torx and metric hex.
The cleaning half of a tune-up, and light to do it by.
A vacuum with a fine filter, for the soot a tune-up brushes loose.
Why it earns its place: Soot goes everywhere without one, and a household vacuum blows it back out.
Stiff brushes on flexible rods for the flue passages and the heat exchanger.
Why it earns its place: The cleaning half of the tune-up.
A hanging work light and a headlamp, with spare batteries.
Why it earns its place: Boiler rooms are dark, and both hands are busy.
The consumables that keep a clean job clean.
A refractory paste for sealing the burner flange, the observation door and cracks in the chamber liner.
Why it earns its place: Air leaks at the flange and the door throw the combustion test off.
Builder paper or a drop cloth under the work, and a bag of rags.
Why it earns its place: Oil on a finished floor is the complaint that follows a clean job.
Disposable gloves that oil does not soak through.
Why it earns its place: Oil on the hands ends up on the walls.
How the tools get from the truck to the burner, and what the knees rest on when they get there.
A closed top service bag with vertical tool pockets and a waterproof base.
Why it earns its place: Tools stand up where they can be seen, and the bag stays dry on a wet floor.
A tool holder that sits in the top of a five gallon bucket, with pockets around the rim.
Why it earns its place: The bucket carries the drip pan, the filter and the rags, and the top carries the tools.
A thick foam pad, the gardening kind.
Why it earns its place: Burners sit at knee height on a concrete floor. Knees last longer with one.
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