Spring Temperatures Have Arrived. Here’s How to Clean Your Waste Oil Furnace Now that the Cold Weather Is behind Us.

After the winter chill finally subsides, an end-of-season cleaning of your waste oil furnace should be at the top of your to-do list. Cleaning your furnace at winter’s end will help ensure it’s ready for you to fire it up when the next cold snap arrives.

Fortunately, cleaning your Clean Energy Heating Systems waste oil furnace is quick and simple. Our innovative design features vertical flue tubes that allow ash to fall into a clean-out pan. And, our furnaces have a hinged clean-out door, over-center latches, and an oil line that doesn’t need to be disconnected before cleanout—all of which make cleaning convenient and easy.

Below are steps to performing some of the necessary maintenance tasks to make sure your furnace is ready to go when cold weather arrives again.

Cleaning Ash from Your Waste Oil Furnace
These basic steps will give you an understanding of how to clean ash from your furnace. We recommend cleaning ash after every 1,200 hours of operation and at the end of winter.

Turn off the furnace and disconnect the black power cord that attaches to the top of the burner.
Access the combustion chamber by opening the front door. Do this by moving the safety pin and releasing the over-center latches.
Use a long- handle brush to dust ash from the combustion chamber, and use a Shop-Vac to suck out the ash.
Look into the combustion chamber to visually inspect the energy retention disk hanging in the back of the furnace. Call your dealer if it looks damaged or needs to be replaced.
Open the top cleanout door by releasing the over-center latches.
Use a 3-inch flue brush to clean each flue tube, and make sure to clean the half-moon section that connects the combustion chamber to the top header.
When you’re cleaning the tubes and the header, the ash will fall into the collection pan below. To empty the collection pan, remove the round cap that’s opposite the side of the furnace where the chimney is connected, and use your Shop-Vac to dust out the ash.

When you’re done cleaning the furnace, close up the furnace and restore power (leave power turned off if the furnace is not being used until next heating season).

Cleaning the Pump Head Screen
Here are the instructions for servicing your pump. We recommend that you do this once per year.

Place a container under the canister filter to catch any released oil.
Remove the pump head using a 5/32″ Allen wrench.
Remove the canister by using a 3/16″ Allen wrench with a long extension.
Use parts washer or carburetor cleaner to clean the pump head and canister.
Before reinstalling the pump head screen, remove the pump head gasket and replace it with a new gasket.
Reinstall the pump head and canister, and then prime the pump.

Flush the Nozzle Adapter Heater Block
After every 2,000 to 3,000 hours of operation, we recommend cleaning the nozzle adapter heat block as follows:

Open the igniter hinge cover on the burner, and then remove the electrode
Loosen the oil line swivel fitting with a 9/16” open end wrench.
Disconnect the air line by pushing on the release ring and pulling the tube out of the fitting.
Disconnect the quick disconnect electrical connector.
Remove the entire aluminum nozzle adapter heater block from the burner.
Remove all the components from the nozzle adapter heater block.
Remove all the plugs from the oil ports with a 5/32” Allen wrench.
Clean the nozzle adapter heater block in a parts washer.
Use a tube cleaning wire brush (such as a rifle barrel cleaning brush) to clean the oil ports.
Blow out all passages with a compressed air blowgun.
Put all the plugs and components back on the nozzle adapter heater block and re-install it in the burner.

Clean Sludge and Water from the Bottom of the Oil Tank
We recommend doing this maintenance task once per year.

Connect a tube to the drain on the bottom of the tank and collect a sampling in a drain pan or bucket.
Continue draining the tank until all water and sludge have been removed.

If your supply tank has no drain, insert a transfer pump with the suction line inserted down to the bottom of the tank. Keep pumping out the tank until all sludge and water has been removed.

Need Help or Have Questions?
Refer to your owner’s manual for more detailed instructions and important safety information as you carry out these cleaning tasks. And contact us to speak with our team; we’re available to answer your questions about cleaning and operating your Clean Energy Heating Systems waste oil furnace.