Redfyre pot boiler ignition.

Have an old Redfyre boiler which has a problem lighting when cold. It is a very simple boiler , about 30/40 years old , which has a gravity pump , which delivers a small amount of oil on startup , a heater coil then worms up , which has a metal wick that hangs in the pool of oil , once lite a steady flow of oil is delivered through a pipe , no jets just a 4mm pipe.
Problem started when I ran low on fuel , got 2000ltrs delivered , and seemed ok for a few weeks , then would not light , if lite manually (ie by match) all ok , and then would probably relight again once pot warm.
Replaced heater/wick , seemed to help , but not completely fixed . Now say every 10th time it fails to light.
If I remove the heater/wick and wet the wick , operate the boiler , it smokes a lot , but seems not to get hot enough to light the oil. I have replace the heater a few times and the same thing. The only thing I can come up with is the OIL. This only started when I got a new delivery .
As new boilers probably work completely different to my stone age one , have I got the wrong oil ? is there different grades available ? is there any additives I can put in to help it light ?
Can I fit a better heater/wick/lighter?
I have had a local engineer out , who basically said its too old to fix , scrape it and he could fit a nice new shinney on for 2-3k . I took it as I don't know anything about this boiler !!

there are different grades/ viscosity of oil. A proper Oilman , may be along to give advice on that point . I did work on something similar , years ago. Called a Cozyvap...why do I remember such useless things for a friend in their first house. Some pictures of the oil control might help with a diagnosis . There were similar things done to Rayburns when converted from solid fuel. Await the OFTEC Cavalry

There are only two grades of oil 28sec Kero and 35 sec gas oil.
Gas oil has red dye in it to identify it.

Centramatics some times get carbon in the oil inlet to the pot.
Does the ignitor glow brightly when out of the pot?
Also check the fuel to make sure no water is present.
Which model is it BTW, The old one with a circular pot or the newer one with square pot and flue dilution fan?

If you create a pool of oil or wet the heater element, it will not light. The sequence is that the heater should be hot and glowing before oil comes in.
Decoke, clean, check oil depth. Also make sure the coil on the igniter has not closed anywhere. This lowers resistance and does not warm up quickly enough.

Terrywookfit said:

There are only two grades of oil 28sec Kero and 35 sec gas oil.
Gas oil has red dye in it to identify it.

Centramatics some times get carbon in the oil inlet to the pot.
Does the ignitor glow brightly when out of the pot?
Also check the fuel to make sure no water is present.
Which model is it BTW, The old one with a circular pot or the newer one with square pot and flue dilution fan?

Click to expand...

The pot is round , with a series of holes and an external fan that starts after about 40 seconds on the ignition sequence . The coil glows bright orange when out of the pot , and if wet after alot of smoke it will light , but generally the fan has kicked for about 15 seconds , so if the coil was still in the pot the fan turbulance will not allow the oil/vapor to light.
I have tried looking for something to alter the fan timing , but can't see anything obvious. As I say , this is a very old boiler , and I don't want to poke around to much as having to light it manually when I get in is better than having no heaating at all.

As Oilhead has pointed out,If the burner is flooded it will not ignite.

The ignition sequence is Glow coil on until heated.
The solenoid opens to allow oil to ignite.
The fan cuts in to burn the already ignited oil.
Fluestat stops the motor in control box until stat satisfied.
Solenoid closes
Fan carries on running until fluestat cools.
Control box then runs to the start up point ,When a demand from boiler stat will cause sequence to repeat.