Oil Burner not firing...

Well I got cocky. Was happy that the oil burner had only been on very sparing after adding the coal stove. Turned it on yesterday for a bit since this cold spell was a little to much for the coal stove and it worked fine. This morning it turned on for about 10-15 minutes and now it’s dead. The circulator pump is still going and no circuits have tripped.

Any Ideas? It a peerless.

Did you push the red reset button on the gray box next to the burner? Only push it once, if it fires up, fine, if it cycles but doesn't fire, it's time for repairs....new nozzle most likely.

Freddy wrote:Did you push the red reset button on the gray box next to the burner? Only push it once, if it fires up, fine, if it cycles but doesn't fire, it's time for repairs....new nozzle most likely.

It's been a while since I've had to do this ... do as Freddy suggests and it should try to run. Keep an eye on it and look at the flame. Should be fairly steady and stay lit. If it doesn't light, don't press the button again until you look further into it as you don't want to get too much oil in the fire box. Let us know what happens. There's other things you can look into. Is the oil tank & line in a warm space?

I am at work but I just talked to the gf and she indicated it came on fro about 5 minutes then turned back off again. Maybe I am explaining it wrong the flame it there it's just th eboiler doesn't want to stay on to long. Circulator pump isn;t shutting off but after 60 minutes the boiler it self won't kick back on for some reason. The water temp gets to about 240 then it shuts off and slowly cools. I can add some pics when I head home.

Thanks

What's your thermostat set at, are you raising above your room temp enough to keep it running? Sounds like overtemp or maybe draft. Are you using the same flue as your coal stove? Does it have a Flue Switch/Auto Damper on it? maybe something is malfunctioning. if the water temp is getting hot, your circulator sounds like it's not working correctly.

Good luck.

billlindley wrote: The water temp gets to about 240 then it shuts off and slowly cools.
Thanks

Sounds like it's not circulating or the aquastat is screwed up since it's getting far above operating temp.

Chance the circulator impeller is stuck from lack of use and GF is just hearing the hum of the stuck motor?

Air pocket in the system could prevent circulation.

If it only runs for a few minutes and the temp doesn't come up in the boiler a dirty flame sensor eye is another place to look.

The burner is shutting down on high limit because the pump is not dumping heat. If it's a B&G with a spring coupling the coupling may have broke. (motor runs no water moves) If it's a taco one piece or cartrage style you can get a new cartrage. Also if you have a flow check see if is stuck or try to open it buy hand ( little knob on top). Let us know how you make out.

After all the things suggested above, why would the boiler go to 240 degrees and not shut down before that on high temp? If the circulator isn't running, it might be the control relay or the thermostat. Can you 'jump' power to the circ and see if it is responding? If you locate the TT terminals that activate the circ, try jumping them also. Isolate the problem logically by testing the knowns and unknowns. Do you have power to the circ? does jumping the TT's activate the pump? ....why is the boiler going to 240????

Could you explain how you have the wiring configured? Something makes no sense. Is the PRV dripping? You are VERY close to seeing a face full of steam. Be careful, very careful!
BTW, it's just as cheap top replace a 007 as rebuild the thing....and you can change it in a few minutes and know the whole unit is new.

I am not sure if anyone could possibly get sued by trying to help this guy out. I am an hvac tech and frequent another forum called hvac talk.com. They will not give out any info to diyers for fear of a lawsuit if this guy would get himself injured. I don't want to come off as a wise ass, but i say call a pro.

Crabride: Any info offered on this site is for user advise only. If someone is not qualified to perform any procedure offered, then it only makes sense to NOT get into trouble by experimenting with electricity, hydronics, steam, etc. I understand your concerns, but anyone must take the advise for the consideration price paid! Calling a pro might be the politically correct thing to do, but we are trying to get immediate replys, from folks that may have experienced the same thing, not a service call......sometime in the near future. Many times a pro may have the credentials, but no experience with our systems.

crazy4coal wrote:The burner is shutting down on high limit because the pump is not dumping heat. If it's a B&G with a spring coupling the coupling may have broke. (motor runs no water moves) If it's a taco one piece or cartrage style you can get a new cartrage. Also if you have a flow check see if is stuck or try to open it buy hand ( little knob on top). Let us know how you make out.

just a guess ... I've been in the same situation ... I think the above is worth looking into. Another consideration ... do you have zone valves? If so, there should be a manual over-ride. Mine would fail and I'd have to by pass the valve by manually opening it. Opened, you can get heat to the rooms via gravity feed if the boiler is low enough- until you get a professional to do it for you. 240 is pretty high, need to get this fixed for safety's sake.

whistlenut wrote:Crabride: ,,,8<...Many times a pro may have the credentials, but no experience with our systems.

If you pay yourself for the experience, are you a professional? ... Probably not, didn't pay for the license.

Don't forget to disconnect the #1 wire if you manually open taco zone valves. It could burn out the coil if you don't.

Sounds to me that the circulator isn't circulating and since the unit is above high limit, the burner won't start until it goes below the high limit. If there is a call for heat, the burner starts up again until it goes above the high limit and then shuts down again. Verify that the circulator is actually moving the hot water to the zones.

CrabRide wrote:They will not give out any info to diyers for fear of a lawsuit if this guy would get himself injured. I don't want to come off as a wise ass, but i say call a pro.

"call a pro" but don't mention shutting the system down... true "professional" advice, hoping a pro buddy gets a new boiler install out of a (probably) simple repair while the OP's boiler keeps spiking to 240?

Look around here and you'll see there is a heavy DIY trend since most "pros" don't understand or want to deal with coal boilers, and some members are dealing with the results of a "pro" install that doesn't work correctly or is downright dangerous.

I'm not knocking the trade as a whole, but there are a lot of card carrying, licenced professionals that really shouldn't be in the trade at all. And those who knee-jerk the "no advice I might get sued" response are usually part of that crowd.