Thermecon Oil Fired Boiler Instant Lockout issue (Ecoflam Minor?)

Thanks MrTherm,
It was good to get it fixed, a great sense of satisfaction and you are right, just a bit of a push in the right direction was enough. A little secret here, I do have a degree in Chemical Engineering so really couldn't afford to be seen by those freezing in the house to fail in getting a simple domestic boiler working!
For those of you stumbling across this thread these attachments may prove useful

EcoFlam Burner Fault Finding Guide...
and in case MrTherm's link above ever disappears here is the
Landis & Gyr / Siemens document for the Burner Controller LOA24
which was really helpful


Regards,
AJ

Hi All,
I'm new here having stumbled onto this thread after trawling the net to find a solution to why my Ecoflam Minor 4 PJB keeps going on lockout and the thread above offers maybe some insight for me too.

I replaced the electrodes about 9 months ago, and cleaned up the photo cell in my boiler burner of my Alpha range Cooker. Since then it has worked perfectly until the last few weeks when it started going on lockout, but only from cold. Resetting would generally get the burner fired up. My Alpha, being a 120k unit, kicks out plenty of heat, and my very outdated and inefficient heating system causes the boiler to cycle. However, once the boiler is hot it never locks out again, until the next morning or evening when the boiler fires up from cold again. Now, the boiler is locking out roughly every other time. I've taken the photocell out and it still looks as clean as when I fitted it 9 months ago. So I'm not sure what I can try next, before buying a new controller. I was going to swap the photocell with that from the Minor 1 cooker burner, which never ever gets used, but that one is shorter and a brown colour whereas the Minor 4 one is black and longer, so I fugure they aren't interchangeable.

Any thoughts on what to try next?

Lock out on cold start is classic symptoms of an over aired burner, or under fuelled in comparison with previous settings. Could be a failing nozzle, tired oil pump, if you are sure it actually tries to light. It could be a capacitor fault which stops the motor from actually turning. How long is it since it was serviced? A blocked combustion chamber can cause similar problems. Your photo cells would be interchangeable, you may need to adjust the locating clamp to get the right position.
There is no substitute for competent servicing. In fact it is essential on range cookers if you want to avoid costly damage.

Thanks Oilhead.
Where I live there is only one local service agent and they generally only do AGA. I used to have a Rayburn Nouvelle before the Alpha and they didn't like working on it. Don't blame them either. They've never worked on an Alpha before, apparently, and the young guy that came out seemed a bit clueless tbh.

When I fitted the new electrodes, and set them up as the manual states, I also fitted a new nozzle, as specified in the manual. The combustion chamber was pretty clean when I replaced these 9 months ago.

I installed the Alpha about 6 years ago, having bought it from a guy who bought it new for his second home (some small castle in Wales apparently). Anyway, he only ever used it twice a year when he was there so it was hardly ever used. When it arrived it looked brand new, and as clean as a whistle, externally and internally. Still does tbh. So I'm kind of doubting that the burners, pumps etc have had much of a working life. When I installed it, a friend who is a domestic & commercially registered plumber checked & commissioned it for me, and it worked flawlessly since. TBH all I've done since then is clean the blast tube, replace the nozzle, check or replace the electrodes and cleaned photocell and it's been great. Its only started locking out regularly these last couple of weeks, and only from cold. My house plumbing is old system, inefficient, with no thermostats and 10mm pipework to all rads, so the boiler cycles continually when the system demands heat. Once hot, the boiler fires up every time without fail. I'm not sure how to check or set the air settings for the boiler, so can't check this; will have to get my plumber friend to look at this one day when he can find some time, probably in summer now.

Its good to know that the photocells could be swapped out if necessary, but I doubt that is my problem.