Oil Burner Safety Control - light stays red

[Rollerball]

My boiler has on it a Honeywell TF830.3 Oil Burner Safety Control.

Should the button be illuminated red under normal working conditions?

I ask as a while ago the boiler switched itself off (even though the timer indicates it should be on).

If I press the red lit button on the Oil Burner Safety control it goes out, buzzes for a few seconds then comes back on again.

Is that normal, or is the continuous red light indicating a poblem?

 

[Burnerman]

This means the burner has gone to lockout....when you press the red reset button it tries again to light, but yours has obviously a problem that prevents this. If you can give us a few more accurate symptoms, maybe we can help you more, but don't press the reset too often.
John

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks, had a feeling that wasn't right.

I've checked the oil tank and there is plenty in there. Valve on the tank is on, as is the oil switch on the boiler itself.

The boiler was only serviced about a month ago by my usual qualified engineer.

The boiler is a Danesmoor 15/19

If I switch off the boiler at the control panel the lockout light of course goes out, when I switch back on again all I hear is a few slight clicks from the boiler then nothing.

Is there anything else that I can try, or will I need to call out the engineer?

Thanks

 

[Rollerball]

BTW, I have only pressed the lockout button a couple of times. I know that it shouldn't be pressed too often.

 

[Burnerman]

I'll take you through the start up sequence of your oil boiler, if you have a minute.....(Its a B9B burner, one of the best)
When the burner is asked to start, the motor spins, turning the fan for about 8 sec - this is to purge the chimney with fresh air. The ignition spark is present, but its only after those 8 sec that the oil supply is electrically turned on. If all is well, the burner lights up and a photocell monitors this and keeps the thing going. You can hear the thing ignite.
So....can you hear the motor spinning, or is there just a hum? You should be able to tell the difference, I think as the spinning motor is reasonably loud
and a hum is well, a hum!
As you may imagine there's quite a few things that can cause the burner to sulk but lets start at the beginning!
John

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks very much.

The motor definitely isn't spinning and there's no hum. No sound of ignition either.

 

[Rollerball]

BTW, when I press the lockout button there is a buzzing noise just for a few seconds.

 

[Burnerman]

Well, I can just offer a guess of course......! The motor doesn't spin. Well, alongside the motor there is a capacitor that starts the motor, and tells it which way to spin. Failure is common enough, but of course it could be the motor itself, or maybe the pump has become stiff to spin...as you can gather, it could be one or the other!
None of these issues is a problem for a boiler engineer, and its not a good economic move just to replace parts haphazardly (I've found!)
John

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks very much, looks like I'll be calling him tomorrow (but if he charges extra for a Sunday callout (which he probably does) I'll put up with no heating or hot water until Monday).

What a pain.

 

[Burnerman]

At least, you have one of the best and easy to service boilers around....best have the whole lot done at once, but do post back with the outcome!
John

 

[Rollerball]

Will do, and thanks for your help and advice so far.

 

[Rollerball]

Boiler repairman has visited and it looks like the main capacitor is at fault as the capacitance is way too low. He's going to get a replacement but has (somehow) managed to get the boiler working for now (although he says that once it switches itself off it probably won't come back on again).

So now waiting for a re-visit (today hopefully) with a new capacitor.

 

[oilhead]

Can't believe an oil engineer does not carry spare capacitors to suit the most common burners.