I HAVE A FUEL OIL FURNACE THAT HAS FROZEN PIPES, HOW CAN I THAW THESE OUT SO WE CAN HAVE HEAT AGAIN?

If the underground pipes contain fuel oil and you sister is using a torch to thaw them... the physics are DANGEROUS!! Open flame + fuel oil vapors = EXPLOSION!

You want to call the local fuel oil supplier in your area, they will be able to safely handle the frozen piping.

DO NOT USE A TORCH!!!

Ultimately, bury the pipes below the frost line in your area to prevent future freezing.

Wrapping the pipes works in some cases, but usually BEFORE they freeze. Call your fuel oil supplier... they should have an emergency number.

Well the first thing you need to do is to tell your sister to put the torch away before she makes matters worse. Oil is flammable and she is heating up lines that are carrying oil in them and that is not smart, If you want to use something to apply heat too the pipes try a hair dryer. The hair dryer will not turn the pipes cherry red as will a blow torch. I do not know how much this would help considering the pipes are underground and the area of the pipe that is frozen could be underground and applying heat to the pipes in the house will not help that. It sounds like when they installed the tank and the lines it was not buried deep enough (below the frost line) to prevent this type of occurence. I have a couple of suggestions for you 1) If you intend to continue to use a oil furnace to heat this home have the tank and lines redone and buried deeper to prevent this in the future or 2) I noticed you said your was using the ovens to heat the home which means you are burning propane or natural gas in the home and that being the case I would considering replacing the furnace with a gas unit and eliminate the oil furnace, tank and lines and be rid of your nightmare forever. Here in Illinois the old oil systems used to have the tanks in the basements of the homes which was not a good idea because they sometimes leaked and there was always a heavy odor of oil in the homes. These systems are like dinosaurs here now but are still used alot on the west coast. Are you located on the west coast by chance? Best of Luck and I hope these thoughts have helped in some way.

Oil Furnace Pipe

Using a torch will most likely break the pipes as they will thaw too fast and break open with no where to go.

If they are underground that might be the solution but you would have to start closet to where the water will come out of the faucet and work backward.

In the future you should let the water run very slowly since running water will not freeze,

Hope you can get some help.

Are you sure it is the pipes, or is it the regulator at the bottom of the fuel oil tank? Or maybe buy a new piece of tubing and hook it up direct until you find out exactly what is going on. Could you find out if the fuel oil is being watered down? I found this happened to us several times when the weather was below 15 degrees.

Is the fuel frozen at 7 degrees? I would suspect that your problem is more likely a plugged air vent to the fuel tank than the fuel oil is frozen. Check the air vents for snow and ice build up. When you get them clean, apply air pressure to the vent so the fuel can flow. If I remeber my physics right fuel oil will get thick at that temperature, but not solidify until about 35 below zero. Also clean the vents in the burner they may be dirty.

call a oil service tech we have a unit that uses co2 cartridges to push the frozen water and oil out of the lines i do this on a very regular bases we are having the same weather as you 16 no heat calls in the last 20 hours after the lines are clear put a fuel oil additive in such as hot or power service Diesel supplement. power service you can get at most gas station that sell Diesel fuel. good luck ******power service can be added asap you may be gelled up i would get that in there asap.

Easy, take a small punch and light tap on the outer part of the crack so your getting the spit part as close together as possible. You will need to clean the surface, use break cleaner. Get some flux and solider. You need a bottle of map gas which you can get at the store. Apply the solider over the crack. your done. Worst case if the crack is TOO big and you can get a copper fitting cut in in half and place the half over the crack. Then solider around the piece. We cant see it so these are just a quick fix, but would be long term repair

ARC welder -- connected to the pipes -

the current will thaw the fuel -- but be careful and dont burn the house down or hold me accountable -- but it will work if done correctly

AGAIN _- VERY DANGEROUS _ VERY DANGEROUS - VERY DANGEROUS

1st guy is right, if you have metal pipes, an arc welder will get it done fairly quickly