Rayburn 480K Mk1 oil fired problem

[hermetic]

OK, I need a Rayburn expert because I have tried everything I can think of, and I am making no progress, sit back and I'll fill you in!

Rayburn 480K Mk1 with the early Nuway burners and separate oil pump between. This has been a problem boiler but after several in depth rebuilds had started to perform well and had run unattended for about six months. I was called out to it to find the oil pump had quit. on stripping the Danfoss pump, the drive pin was broken and the pump was full of metal. Made new drive pin, cleaned pump out and rebuilt it, and off she went while I went off to order a new Danfoss BFP20 R3.
When it arrived I purged and cleaned the system,fitted the new pump, set pressure to 9Bar, and away it went. Two weeks later it quit again, and back I went. Pump jammed! As it was two days before Christmas, and another pump was not available I stripped the new one to find that it appeared to be failing in exactly the same way as the old one. Pump was jammed with tiny bright metal swarf which is coming from the edges of the drive slot in the pump shaft and the drive pin. This is now an ongoing problem and all my attempts to find a solution have failed. I have run the boiler with pressure gauge attached and fired both burners to see if there is a sudden pressure rise when one cuts out, and there isn't. I have purged the oil line and checked all the filters, and all is clean. Pump motor bearings are fine and when cleaned and firing there is no pump noise. Pump spins freely when motor shaft is spun. Any ideas welcome!
Phil

 

[mysteryman]

I believe that the problem may be caused by the latest low sulphur oils. I've heard it said that these have far less lubricating properties, and this can cause rapid pump wear, especially on kerosene. Check otherwise that the fuel filtration is good.

 

[Burnerman]

Something tells me that the pump /motor alignment isn't so good.
If its the set up I'm thinking about, its truly dreadful.....one pump, 2 controllers, 5 solenoids and a soft start?
John

 

[Tipper]

I have to say that having worked on a number of these before I retired that they are a complete heap of ****.

Poor design, complex setup, pathetic backup from Rayburn....you name it, it's useless! They seemed to design a bit, find a problem, design another bit and so on until it's the most complex design you could ever imagine. I call it ribbon design.

What they should have done was started again having learnt their lessons.

Amazingly this model was supposed to be better than the twin vapourising burner contraption (the least said about that the better!)...it wasn't!

Sorry.

I suggest you advise that you've had enough trying to sort out Rayburn's carp design and ask them to find another mug to take it on!

 

[hermetic]

Thanks for all your replies, It is actually the earlier model with three solenoids, a separate motor driven pump and a plumbing nightmare of small tubes feeding the burners. It is soft start on the boiler side. It's my own fault really, as I knew this was a nightmare model, but was nagged by the customer (an old mate) to "have a look when I had a minute" many hours later we thought we had it cracked (shouldn't use that word concerning 480K's really) it, and it ran well for quite a long spell, anyone know if the burners can be changed to the later Eco flam ones, or are they just as bad?
Phil.

 

[Burnerman]

If I was really forced to live with one of these things, I think I'd try for a heating only burner and lose the cooker side (and the soft start).....
Anyway, I can't see why your pump is wearing out other than false alignment really.
The one I look after is an MX with twin Nu Way burners and believe me, if it comes back to haunt I'm emigrating.
I did find though that these were very sensitive to an air pressure switch which has 2 pipes leading to the flame tube area - one looking at pressure on the flame side, and one looking at the pressure on the nozzle side. Also the slow start pressure was low (60 psi ) and the pressure adjustment for this is not available from NuWay. I cajoled it into giving me 100 psi and its been quiet since. I hate this thing with a vengance....
Even the MI's say it will need a flue sweep every 6 months
I can't comment on the Ecoflam replacement at all - I'd prefer just to bale out and let someone else have a go. To make any profit is impossible.
Bon chance, mon ami!
John

 

[Boilerman2]

Hi Tipper !
You remeber the Nouvelle Vapouriser as well Hey! I spent a whole day whn I worked for Wm Cory comminnioning one of those B***ds in Buckinghamshire - that was 25Years ago I still remember it well!

The Ecoflam burners are definately a lot better on the PJ Cookers, but I am not sure they are interchangable though

 

[oilhead]

Must be mis-alignment. How does the motor run without the pump fitted?

 

[mysteryman]

And how about the OF22 as a real dog?

And then there were the Esse P70, P80, and New Century, each supposedly better than the last!

Back to the OP - I still think you should look at the oil and/or filtration.

 

[hermetic]

I have checked pump alignment very carefully, the pump is secured into the motor with three allen grub screws, and when they are all tight there is no perceptible load on the motor shaft, it spins as though the pump was not there. I did think it might be axial thrust on the pump shaft, but I checked the thrust washers and they are also perfect, and there is no end play. Thanks for your suggestions chaps, but I think I have given up on this one, unless anyone has had a similar experience, and has come up with a cast iron cure!
phil

 

[Tipper]

...a cast iron cure?

Scrap it!

BTW I always thought AGA's ad campaign about the 'Iron Age' was a hoot considering the olde worlde carp design of AGAs.

And whatever happened to the 'Alpha Cookers' after AGA bought the company? They went through a number of designs before they got it reasonably right imho, other than the weight of the hotplate which did my back in!

 

[KarenKB1]

We are in a similar boat and looking to do up our house and sell, having gone to lengths of installing a whole pipe run, oil tank and getting rid of an old solid fuel rayburn and thinking the 480K was the answer to our prayers! Is anyone able to come and look at one in Devon and have a go at sorting it out?? We will pay the going rate for a professional job so let us know if you are up for it. Thanks and sympathies to everyone else who struggles with one of these!
Karen

 

[oilman]

Karen, I'll come, but you'll have to pay 230 miles each way + overnight accommodation at the most luxurious accommodation available + half a day to fix it, so I've sent a PM instead.

 

[oilhead]

Check the pump coupling allows the pump to sit in the motor without being pulled too tight into it when tightening the screws. Had a similar problem with a PJ with the old burner (not Ecoflam) . I now have 6 different couplings for Simel motors!!!!

 

[KarenKB1]

Any pointers on what we should do/someone closer to contact would be great - we have had a lot of trouble just finding someone who will come out to look at this model as they seem to be well known for their problems.
Thanks
Karen