Frozen Fuel Line

 It's that time of year, when I start getting more calls to work on home heating systems.  I was hoping to get back to work on that Rincon today but I had to fix someones heat first.

Everything here is heated with oil.  There is no natural gas, electricity and propane are very expensive, and there are no trees to cut down.  A lot of homes have an old 55 gallon drum for a fuel tank.  Notice how the fuel line and filter are mounted to this one!  The filter that should be mounted vertical to catch the water in the plastic bowl is mounted sideways.  I guess the bungee cord that is supporting it must have slipped.

In this photo I have removed the plastic bowl and you can see the ice stuck to the bottom of the filter.

I disconnected the old fuel lines and  remounted the filter to the drum with 3/4" iron pipe.  The old copper line was full of ice so I also replaced that.  Now that the filter is mounted correctly it will catch all the water that gets in and prevent it from getting into the fuel line or furnace.