NEW England HVAC Insider Guest Column

New Tools
By George Lanthier

This article is to introduce you to a couple of new tools and show you how to use them saving yourself some time and money. Both of these are based on a couple of Firedragon Field Notes. Our Field Notes not only cover how to use our tools and testers, but also a lot of other things that we cover in seminars and classic articles. Look them up on my website at FiredragonEnt. com/FDTools.htm. The first item is our new fan puller that we designed to work with the RIELLO burner line, but it will also work with a lot of other small fans. We call this FIREDRAGON Field Notes © #16.

The #180 Mini Fan Puller was designed to work with RIELLO burners, but also fits onto most oil and gas power burner fans, both foreign and domestic. The #180 also removes some HVAC fans and is great for power venters and other small fan hubs. It fits fans with up to a one inch (1”) diameter hub and requires a 4mm Allen or 5/32” SAE Allen wrench and a 5mm Allen wrench (both supplied).

The #180 is made of heavy duty materials for long life and was designed to work with our #130 Multidriver, Figure 1. The #180 Mini Fan Puller is used in the following manner on a RIELLO burner:

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1. Provide clear access to the fan by removing the fan housing cover by removing the three screws holding the fan housing cover in place. 2. Loosen and remove the fan securing screw or bolt and remove it from the fan hub (varies with model and date of manufacture). 3. Place the #180 onto the fan hub. 4. Align one of the screws with the access cut-out in the fan where the set screw was released and tighten screw. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. 5. Tighten the other two (2) of the three (3) securing screws to fingertight and tighten an additional ? turn with the 4mm Allen short angle wrench. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. 6. Loosen the set screw, ? turn, on the set screw where the fan set screw was removed. 7. Place the 5mm Allen wrench onto the top screw and turn clockwise until the fan is free of the shaft, Figure 2.

The #130 Multidriver can have a box wrench slid over its shaft to apply more torque for frozen fans, Figure 3. To re-install the RIELLO fan. 1. Replace the set screw into the fan and leave loosened. 2. Place the fan so that the outer edge of the fan hub is just flush with the tapered end of the motor shaft, Figure 4. 3. Tighten the set screw and spin the fan to see that it turns freely. 4. Replace the fan housing cover and screws.

Next up is FIREDRAGON Field Notes © #14 and this is about two new tools, the #221 and the #223. These were designed exclusively for RIELLO 40 Series pumps, but will work with any residential model of RIELLO. In addition, they will work with Danfoss, Suntec and other pumps found on burners provided by Buderus, Viessmann and Weishaupt.

The #221, Figure 5, can be used as either a pressure gauge or vacuum gauge adapter for most RIELLO pumps and all 40 Series pumps produced since 2000. As a vacuum gauge adapter it is placed into the cover in place of the 8mm plug that is removed with a 4mm Allen wrench such as the one found in our #130 Multidriver, Figure 1. 1. Install a ¼” ips vacuum gauge into the female end of the adapter. 2. Place the adapter into the pump using a #220 washer and tighten to finger-tight plus one ? turn. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN.

The #223 can be used as either a vacuum gauge adapter or pressure gauge and bleeder adapter for most RIELLO pumps and all 40 Series pumps. It can be used as a vacuum gauge adapter on older RIELLO pumps that have a vacuum port located in the back of the pump. This port is now used as a pressure port to the hydraulic piston. 1. Install a ¼” ips vacuum gauge into the female end of the adapter. 2. Remove the 15mm plug and place the hollow bolt/plug into the pump with a #220 washer on both sides of the swing fitting and tighten to finger-tight plus one ? turn. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN.

As a pressure fitting it can be used to install a pressure gauge onto the pump and also acts as a bleeder. 1. Install a ¼” ips pressure gauge into the female end of the adapter. 2. Remove the existing brass portion of the bleeder using an 11mm wrench. 3. Place the hollow bolt/ plug into the bleeder port of the pump, Figure 6, with a #220 washer on both sides of the swing fitting and tighten to finger-tight plus one ? turn. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN.

As a bleeder, and after installation of the fitting: 1. Open the bleeder using a 10mm wrench and open ½ turn to one turn only. 2. Bleed the pump using a bleeder hose immersed in oil and watch for bubble-free oil. 3. Close the bleeder with the pump running. See other instructions for proper bleeding using our #111 Deviator switch in FIREDRAGON Field Notes #9 at our website.

NOTE: The #223 should not be used as the final bleeder in a power vacuum bleed since it will have to be removed. Use the supplied bleeder instead and use the #223 only for initial bleeding of the pump and pressure testing.

I hope you’ll buy one of these tools and give them a try. By the way there is a #222 tool, but we’ve saved that for another time. See ya!

*George Lanthier is the owner of Firedragon Enterprises, a teaching, publishing and consulting firm. He is the author of over 25 books on oilheat and HVAC subjects and can be reached at 608 Moose Hill Road, Leicester, MA 01524. His phone is 508-421-3490, fax at 508-421-3477 and his website can be found at www.FiredragonEnt.com.