Condensing Oil Burner problem

Maxmillian

Hi all. I didn't need to use our oil burner for the past couple of weeks. Oil level was quite low (9 inches) but still well over the outlet pipe. When I started it up, it ran well for an hour or so. The following day it was attempting to start but cutting out immediately, although the fan continued to run and the burner still attempted to fire up. Kerosene fumes were mixing with the steam from the outlet exhaust. I went through the usual stuff of cleaning the photocell and purging the oil system of air to no avail. I replaced the pump with a new one just to be sure. Plumber has it down to either a faulty photo cell or control box issues. I bought both replacements but tested the photo cell first as it was the cheaper of the two to replace. It fired up first time and ran fine without it connected to the boiler unit. When I inserted it into the boiler unit and restarted it, it cut out immediately. Tried it offline again and worked fine but will not work when back in place in the boiler unit. Thinking now is that the baffles etc are too dirty and full cleanout is required. Am I going in the right direction here or is some other issue at fault? Hope someone can help.
Thanks,
Max.

Wearb

Maxmillian wrote: »

Hi all. I didn't need to use our oil burner for the past couple of weeks. Oil level was quite low (9 inches) but still well over the outlet pipe. When I started it up, it ran well for an hour or so. The following day it was attempting to start but cutting out immediately, although the fan continued to run and the burner still attempted to fire up. Kerosene fumes were mixing with the steam from the outlet exhaust. I went through the usual stuff of cleaning the photocell and purging the oil system of air to no avail. I replaced the pump with a new one just to be sure. Plumber has it down to either a faulty photo cell or control box issues. I bought both replacements but tested the photo cell first as it was the cheaper of the two to replace. It fired up first time and ran fine without it connected to the boiler unit. When I inserted it into the boiler unit and restarted it, it cut out immediately. Tried it offline again and worked fine but will not work when back in place in the boiler unit. Thinking now is that the baffles etc are too dirty and full cleanout is required. Am I going in the right direction here or is some other issue at fault? Hope someone can help.
Thanks,
Max.

What pump pressure are you getting and is it steady? Make sure nothing is blocking the photocell from seeing the flame. I once had an issue with one of the electrode cables moving enough to get between the photocell and burner flame.
Check tank with water finder paste also.

Wearb

Just re read question. If burner is running well without photocell, I would be inclined to blame control box

Maxmillian

Hi Wearb. Thanks for the suggestions. I think the photocell was part of the old problem and has been fixed by the new part. I couldn't get it working offline before with the old part. If I try out the new control box it will cost me €90 whether it fixes it or not. Hoping it may be down to water level or boiler is clogged up with soot.

Wearb

Maxmillian wrote: »

Hi Wearb. Thanks for the suggestions. I think the photocell was part of the old problem and has been fixed by the new part. I couldn't get it working offline before with the old part. If I try out the new control box it will cost me €90 whether it fixes it or not. Hoping it may be down to water level or boiler is clogged up with soot.

Not sure what you mean by offline.
If boiler is sooted up, you will see signs at flue termination and probably on the face of the combustion head/ blast tube.

If it runs for a 10 or 20 minute period from cold and stops and will not start until it cools down, it might be the circulating pump or thermostat.

Explain again what is happening after you replaced the photocell and explain what you mean by offline.

Maxmillian

Sorry for the confusion...What I mean by offline is that the burner is not connected to the boiler. I have it on the ground instead where I can see if it operating or not. I am now able to get it started and firing up there. The problem is when I reinstall it into the housing of the boiler, it stops running after a couple of seconds. Hope this is clearer..sorry again.

Max

Wearb

Maxmillian wrote: »

Sorry for the confusion...What I mean by offline is that the burner is not connected to the boiler. I have it on the ground instead where I can see if it operating or not. I am now able to get it started and firing up there. The problem is when I reinstall it into the housing of the boiler, it stops running after a couple of seconds. Hope this is clearer..sorry again.

Max

Running the burner outside the boiler is considered very dangerous practice and should not be done.

When started with burner in position, does it fire up at all? I mean does it go past the purging stage and establish a flame if even for a few seconds?
Any signs of soot anywhere ?

Maxmillian

Yeah, its establishing a flame for 2-3 seconds. It then cuts out but the motor (blower) continues to run, and attempts to fire up again every 15 sec or so. Baffles and boiler area are covered in soot which may be a lot of the problem. I got it fully serviced last year and cleaned out everything at the time. It must be burning really dirty to get this sooted up so quickly. Plumber is happy enough to run it in this way but do agree that it could be quite dangerous.

Wearb

Maxmillian wrote: »

Yeah, its establishing a flame for 2-3 seconds. It then cuts out but the motor (blower) continues to run, and attempts to fire up again every 15 sec or so. Baffles and boiler area are covered in soot which may be a lot of the problem. I got it fully serviced last year and cleaned out everything at the time. It must be burning really dirty to get this sooted up so quickly. Plumber is happy enough to run it in this way but do agree that it could be quite dangerous.

It obviously needs a good cleaning and get that done first.
Then it needs to be repaired. Try running the burner with the photocell completely removed from the burner including wiring and see what happens then.

It then needs to be set up properly using a flue gas analyser.

Btw a good service person will diagnose the problem quickly for very little above the normal service charge.

jimf

even thought we would consider it unsafe practice and dangerous the fact it fires and runs when on the ground would suggest a blockage in the flue ways through the boiler

time for a major clean and service me thinks

would it b e a firebird enviromax by any chance

scudo2

Get a proper service engineer.
Most operate a no fix no fee policy.
It's not a DIY job now.
+ its cheaper.

jca

scudo2 wrote: »

Get a proper service engineer.
Most operate a no fix no fee policy.
It's not a DIY job now.
+ its cheaper.

Never heard of a no fix no fee repair man..... Good luck finding him!! Seriously though you really need to get a pro to look at your burner. Don't be firing it out of the boiler, very dangerous as it can go wrong very quickly.

scudo2

jca wrote: »

Never heard of a no fix no fee repair man..... Good luck finding him!! Seriously though you really need to get a pro to look at your burner. Don't be firing it out of the boiler, very dangerous as it can go wrong very quickly.

If I don't fix, I don't charge.
ie. boiler beyond economical repair.
Or seperate reasons.
It's how I always operated.

Last call late tonight, client needs sparks for re wiring/fitting new systemlink system.
Boiler was not cause of it not working.

Maxmillian

Hi all. Gave the whole system a good clean and it fired up first time.

Wearb

Maxmillian wrote: »

Hi all. Gave the whole system a good clean and it fired up first time.

Thanks for reporting back.

It needs adjusting properly now or it will happen all over again and waste more oil on you.

jimf

Wearb wrote: »

Thanks for reporting back.

It needs adjusting properly now or it will happen all over again and waste more oil on you.

+1