Cleaning the oil burner How to prepare your shop vac for work

So you think you want to clean that oil oven or oil boiler yourself. You’ve seen the service guy do it and you really didn’t think it looked that hard. You stick the hose of your shop vac into the chamber and all the soot goes everywhere! Wow, what did he have that you don’t have there?

When cleaning an oil-fed appliance, you must remember that the dust created by the unit is very fine and will pass directly through the filters that are standard on most shop vacs. You’ll have to go to the store and find some special equipment to catch all that fine black gunk. It is very easy to find if you know what to look for.

Most vacs have a foam filter over a cage that holds the ball on wet/dry vacs or the cage that holds the foam filter alone on dry vacs. When you go shopping for your new filters, look for the paper filter and the ring that holds the filter paper on top of the cage. This filter is actually your second stage of defense. To really help, you need to get your first stage.

The first stage is a paper filter bag that is installed over the entrance to your tank. These bags come in different sizes depending on the size of your vacuum. He takes the bag and carefully installs it in the tank making sure the mouth of the bag is seated securely in the tank inlet. This bag will catch most of the dust and make it very easy to contain and toss as well.

Now you are ready to clean your furnace or oil boiler like a professional. As long as you keep everything dry, you’ll be fine. Moisture or water will burn a hole in the bag and filter, ruining any chance of properly filtering the air intake. Also remember that you are filtering through a fairly fine medium and it will clog up pretty quickly. You may need to change the bag and filter a few times to complete a job.

One last thing for you. If you plan to use the shop vac your wife uses for her daily cleanings, you may want to rethink this. After you’re done with it and you have black soot all over your mouthpiece, you’ll be sleeping in the doghouse if your wife goes to use it and ends up with some black on a good thing of hers. You have been warned. Do not blame me for anything that happens to you as a result of not heeding this warning.