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Question:

I have rented a house for 2 months, the boiler system reached about a quater tank of heat?

and then turned off. It wont turn back on. I filled up the tank again, but still nothing. my landlord said I let the heat ran out and that the heater needs to get primed. I have no clue what that means. How often does a boiler system need to be primed, what causes it to need priming

Answer:

If the tank really said 1/4 tank when it ran out of oil then the landlord is responsible for priming it and fixing the fuel gauge. tell him to prime it or have some one come and do it or you will hire some to do it then let the tank get to quarter of a tank again let it run out then go to a hotel until he gets it running again. he will be resonsible for paying for everything. priming it means getting the air out of the fuel line. sometimes it is easy something it is a pain. your filters and nozzles can be clogged from dirt that sits on the bottom of the tank. when the tank gets low that stuff gets sucked into the boiler cause all kinds of trouble.
it wouldn't shut off at a 1/4 tank of fuel left gage must not be right and in reality you were on empty but to prime or bleed the fuel line , you have to go to the furnace and look at the burner on the side of it is your fuel line going to the pump , on top of the pump you will see a bleeder valve( you should have a container and small hose that can fit on top of the bleeder valve )because when you turn that nut it will open the valve and 1st you will get air then fuel after you get fuel close the nut . and the furnace should come on . you might have to reset the red button a few times on the burner because it will shut down about after a minute of pumping and not lighting. according how far away the fuel tank is . it could take 3 or 4 tries to get it primed .good luck
Boiler is a semi-closed system. Once emptied, it will not fill all the way because of the air in the top begins to get pressurized and stops the water from entering. BE VERY CAREFUL, while doing this. Place a bucket under the overflow drain pipe if it is not run into a drain. On the top, where it comes out of the tank, should be a relief valve, little brass lever, open it and let the water run into the tank. Let it stand for a few minutes and do that again until all the air is out of the system. The water could be very hot. Run a load of warm water wash clothes, and try it once again, it should be primed by now, but test it anyway.
Although I'm a pretty good handywoman and enjoy tackling projects, I would say that your landlord should be the one to handle the boiler and fix whatever is going on. He/she should also go over the procedure with you in person, and step by step, so that you understand it and can possibly deal with it by yourself in the future. The landlord gave you a hefty set of instructions, and it wasn't nice (or appropriate) of him/her to not go over this in person, or take care of it themselves from the start - since I think that's supposed to be THEIR job. Once you show your landlord that you will attempt to fix everything yourself, deal with 'mickey mouse' solutions before demanding solid repairs, or that you will possibly accept the inadequate condition of something in your rental, they will likely take advantage of that fact in the future. So there are 2 problems here: your boiler, and your landlord. Your landlord can replace your boiler, but you can't replace your landlord! So be careful, and good luck. Winter has come with much might this year!!!

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