1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to devices that facilitate the maintenance of fluid systems and in particular, to an adapter that connects to a filter for the purging of a line of a fluid system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oil heating systems are one example of a common fluid system that employs a pump that draws a fluid from a tank through a feed or input line to the pump. An oil filter is located upstream in the input line from the pump that filters out undesirable particles from the oil. Problems occur in fluid systems, such as in this example when the input line upstream from the filter gradually becomes clogged with deposits from the oil. This is a sizable problem for oil systems because it reduces the flow of oil through the input line. This strains the pump and reduces the efficiency of the overall system. As a result of this problem, oil lines are routinely purged as part of a maintenance program.
The purging of oil lines is a burdensome process. For example, in order to purge the line from the oil tank to the filter of an oil burning home heating system a technician closes a first in-line valve in proximity to the oil tank and disconnects the line at a second in-line valve in proximity to the oil filter. A hand pneumatic push-pump is connected to the disconnected line, the push-pump is pressurized and the first in-line valve is opened. The pump supplies a flow of pressurized air into the input line that forces or purges the oil and oil deposits from the line into tank. This process is then reversed for the normal operation of the oil system. The disconnecting, purging and reconnecting process is excessively time consuming due to complications that include the first in-line valve in proximity to the oil tank being located external to the structure of the building, at a remote section inside the structure or barely accessible due to clutter surrounding the tank. Technicians have to make multiple trips between the remote first in-line valve in proximity to the oil tank and the broken line in proximity to the oil filter in order to perform this maintenance.
Heretofore there has never been a reliable device and/or method for the process of purging oil filter input lines without the time consuming process of breaking the line and the associated requirement for the repeated opening and closing of a remote shut off valve.