Possible fuel oil gelling in shop heater?

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Hi everyone, not sure where to post this, think this is the closest forum to my question. I own a repair shop, with fuel oil heating. We have an outdoor above ground 300 gallon tank that feeds through the wall into our burner. Ive been noticing a trend lately when temperatures drop below 25 or so we start to have inconsistent heat. The flame pops on and off, like its misfiring and eventually shuts down. Once the day goes on and the temps warm a little, it works fine. Im thinking we must be right around the gelling or clouding point and causing the nozzle to clog. Weve added more than enough anti gel to a previous load thinking it was a bad run, but when we refueled with a known company in our area our problems didnt go away. I found a heated wire to wrap around the feed to keep a pipe warm,it says it was used to keep water pipes from freezing, but im wondering if theres another option out there. Maybe some sort of agitation in the tank will keep the temps up? Is there a warming mat we can put below the tank? Drop in a few fish tank heaters I have laying around? Just kidding, Thanks for any help you can provide, hoping for a simple fix.
 
Maryn international offers some awesome diesel products. Its called power up and there products are really good. google it up and check for a near by distributor. i think they have stuff for heating oil. if they dont there is an even better place for diesel products called DGS ( diesel service group) i think. they have a fuel oil additive for sure and it even cleans the fuel system and prevents gelling. I think it also absoarbs water allowing it to be burnt or something to that extent.
 
I remember my autobody days being sent out in the could to add 10% kerosene to the #2 oil. Would prevent...waxing?..Maybe times have changed, that was 20+ years ago.
 
I read that somewhere else as well. Maybe Ill try Kerosene on Monday. Oh wait itll be 55 degrees. I wont need it haha.
 
The k1 is a good idea and try running down close to empty. If the tap is a few inches above ground I'd even put a floor jack under the opposite end to get a few more gallons out.
 
Anything scary in the filter? Sludge?

You may have water in the tank. Make sure the tank is properly pitched towards the filter, that way you can drain the housing and remove the water. The tank will last longer as well without water sitting on the bottom causing rust.
 
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Over 20 years ago a friend of mine who runs his own heating and AC repair service mentioned to me that he had a call where the oil fuel tank for the heat for a large movie theater was not working on a very cold day. It had the same problem you are describing. If I remember correctly he said that he installed the heat cord used for gutters along the feed line to keep it warm enough for good flow.
 
The heating oil company serviced the heater after our last large storm at the end of October, they said the filter was clean and no real sludge buildup was seen inside the tank. We tried a water pipe heating cord but it doesnt seem to be getting very warm, I was considering a larger heating pad off Amazon like this
http://www.amazon.com/Kats-24500-Watt-Un...6702&sr=1-3 Im thinking that any heat will cause movement in the tank, agitating it enough where it will stay fluid. Also considering hooking it up to a lamp timer so itll kick on about an hr before I get into work in the morning. Any thoughts?
Is there a standard oil filter that most tanks use? Its just an automotive filter correct? Ill look into the gutter heater, we have about 15 feet of indoor pipe we can wrap.
 
What Im confused on is the fact that this system is at least 10 years old. I cant believe they would deal with this every winter, so I doubt the systems at fault. Is it possible we have a really bad load of fuel oil?
 
THis year a lot of workmates had diesel gelling problems at temperatures even above freezing.

Fuel companies admitted that they had rubbish fuel this winter (in OZ)
 
Thanks guys Ill pick up some kerosine somewhere today and start there. I think I saw gallons at the Home Depot. I mayu also have a reptile warming pad (150w waterproof) I can put under the filter (indoors) and maybe jump start it. I like the high power diesel additives but wont get them until thurs fri, so Id rather start with something soon.
 
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