oil burner restart

[booner]

hi, wondered if there was any obvious fault with my 'hrm' oil burner/boiler?
i have had to get her to fire up by pressin the reset on the control box 3 times in the last six weeks, what i did notice was some air in the clear hose connecting oil feed from the oil tank to the burner itself, is this usual? she fires up straight away when pressing restart.
i must admit that boiler has not been serviced for six years, presumably i am asking for trouble?

 

[Burnerman]

6 years is way, way too long.....the boiler must be getting well dirty by now. You don't want to see air bubbles in the supply pipe - did you run out of oil? Is your tank lower than the boiler?
The burner locks out if a flame isn't being established, or seen by the photocell. Start by treating it to a full service by Mr. Oftec man. John

 

[booner]

yes, oil tank is lower than boiler, no, never ran out of oil and been here since new. it is only my opinion that there is air in the 'clear' pipe, that is to say that inside of pipe has a small space with no oill, but oil is in touch with itself all the way through the clear pipe and doesnt break contact at any time

 

[MANDATE]

Reminds me of my problem about 12 years ago.
Experienced lockouts quite regular then they stopped after having a oil delivery. Before delivery the oil level was 3ft below pump, after delivery 2ft above pump level.
Pump pressure checked and reading was about 20psi.Spec stated 100psi and adjustment made little difference. Fitted new pump, set pressure to 100psi and problem cured. Pump obviously worn and it struggled more and more as the oil level went lower.

 

[Andy4444]

which boiler is it?

 

[Terrywookfit]

It's normal for a Wallstar to have an air bubble in the oil pipe.

Not however if there is a stream of small bubbles, as this indicates a leak.

 

[booner]

thanks for the replies, oil tank is only 1/4 full, probably 4-5 feet below boiler, no its not a stream of small bubbles so thats good, will fill tank for the winter and monitor from there, plus will definately treat her to a nice service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tipper]

I thought the clear plastic oil pipe was not considered good enough.

Many burners now have steel braid-reinforced teflon lined hoses for high temperatures.

 

[Andy4444]

the Wallstar can lift the oil 2.5m and a static air bubble is fine. Service due..!!

 

[Paffman]

Wallstar clear flexi's are OK. As long as you have oil at the NR/FV end and at the pump end the air bubble can be any length. Intermittent lock-outs over several weeks at random maybe the control box. Which one do you have? TF or DKO?

 

[snb]

often with the hrm's the plastic hose fails after 4 to 6 years as does the non return valve in the fuel line.

As others have said it is time for a long overdue service.

 

[Paffman]

Quite correct snb, but I would have thought that the flexi should have been changed before it fails during it's service, normally when they go stiff it's time for a new one.

 

[booner]

Wallstar clear flexi's are OK. As long as you have oil at the NR/FV end and at the pump end the air bubble can be any length. Intermittent lock-outs over several weeks at random maybe the control box. Which one do you have? TF or DKO?

its rainin so i dont wanna go and check!! i do know though that a new one was fitted in the last 18 months, cost around £70-80 pounds all in, checked on line and was shocked how dear they were!
by the way, am gettin boiler serviced friday, had two quotes, one £100 pounds and one £40 pounds, can anyone tell me what should be done in service as its not been done for six years
also have noticed that boiler ceases burning and wont burn again till i turn up temp knob on front of boiler, then wil burn again til thermo temp is reached, then wont burn again til i turn up temp knob on boiler again, and so on??

 

[Paffman]

Wallstar clear flexi's are OK. As long as you have oil at the NR/FV end and at the pump end the air bubble can be any length. Intermittent lock-outs over several weeks at random maybe the control box. Which one do you have? TF or DKO?

its rainin so i dont wanna go and check!! i do know though that a new one was fitted in the last 18 months, cost around £70-80 pounds all in, checked on line and was shocked how dear they were!
by the way, am gettin boiler serviced friday, had two quotes, one £100 pounds and one £40 pounds, can anyone tell me what should be done in service as its not been done for six years
also have noticed that boiler ceases burning and wont burn again till i turn up temp knob on front of boiler, then wil burn again til thermo temp is reached, then wont burn again til i turn up temp knob on boiler again, and so on??

Don't keep fiddling with the control stat Set it at about 70 to 75* and leave it alone, it sounds like it's doing it's job. It heats up to the control stat temp then stops until the temp goes down then starts again.

I can't really say what the charge for a service should be , but I'd expect to pay around £65 for a standard boiler and combi/condenser around £75 plus parts. (Site admin - don't know what your rules are for naming prices).

You should have your tank checked, dipped for water, tank filter checked/cleaned. Paper fuel line filters changed, fire valve (if fitted) checked. Burner removed, baffles removed/cleaned, combustion chamber cleaned, burner stripped/cleaned. New nozzle, if it has not been serviced for 6 years then the fuel flexi might need replacing. Burner rebuilt/set-up, smoke check and FGA combustion check. This is not all that is done, just a rough idea.

 

[booner]

new problem now had water and heating on and had to hit reset twice today, so decided to turn temp control up to 30c and boiler temp to 'max' to keep her burnin for a god while to heat house up, did this cos once house temp stat reaches required setting(say 22c) burner stops as you would expect, but doesnt refire up when house cools again say 30mins later(the click on temp stat is lower than dial is set at??). thing is, boiler temp control didnt click at all so turned boiler off and now boiler wont switch back on at all, no amber light or anything, has it over heated, someone help pleeeeeeeeze