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How To Troubleshoot A Beckett Oil Burner

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If you are having trouble with your Beckett oil burner then you will need to find out what is wrong with it by troubleshooting different parts of the burner. There are many different things that can go wrong and will make your burner fail, so it is very important to read carefully as well as repair the burner the same way.How To Troubleshoot A Beckett Oil Burner

The first thing you will need to do is make sure that you know where all the parts are we are going to describe and if you don’t and even reading this makes you nervous it maybe best that you just hire someone that is licensed in repairing oil burners. Of course you could be a season repair professional and might be looking for some Beckett oil burner troubleshooting tips as well just to make your service calls go easier. Whatever the case maybe you will need to know what and where the parts are to repair a Beckett burner.

Problem: “My Beckett Burner has a clogged nozzle and won’t ignite”

Solution: You will need to either replace the oil burner nozzle or learn how to clean a oil burner nozzle so that you can get the fuel through the nozzle with the intended flow. Buying a brand new replacement Beckett oil burner nozzle is recommend choice of many oil heating service professionals, but if you are low on money and like to tinker with things then go on ahead and try to clean it.

Problem: “My Beckett Oil Burner has no spark and won’t light”

Solution: This could be caused by a bad transformer or even electrodes that are not positioned or even adjusted correctly. You will want to make sure that your transformer is good and your electrodes have been properly adjusted.
Beckett Oil Burner Bleed Screw
Problem: “How do I bleed the air out of my Beckett burner oil lines”

Solution: Hit the reset button on the motor while opening the bleed screw on the pump. It is a good idea to make sure you loosen the bleed screw before hand to make sure its not tight, then just hand tighten it, so when you hit the reset button you can just open the Beckett burner bleed screw a half turn and let the air out of the line. The bleed screw is located in the front or the side of the oil pump on the burner.

Problem: “The flame on my Beckett burner is yellow not blue”

Solution: This means that you need to adjust the air intake on the fan. You can do that by adjusting the squirrel cage baffles located on the side of the burner.

Problem: “How do I change my oil filter on my beckett Oil Burner”

Solution: If you need to replace the oil filter on you Beckett burner you can do so by removing the bolt that holds the cover over the filter. Once have removed the bolt you can remove the filter cylinder and then pull the filter out and replace it with a new one.

Problem: “My Beckett Oil Burner is blowing black smoke”

Solution: If you are a homeowner then its seriously time to call in a heating professional to have your burner cleaned and adjusted. If you are a heating professional and are clueless because you have never really worked on Beckett oil burners then you will need to adjust the flame, air, intake and possible clean the boiler. It might be a good idea to get some kind of factory training.

Regular Maintenance Tips:

According to the manufacturer, it is recommended for the owner to hire a service professional to perform a regular maintenance on a yearly basis. It is also strongly suggested not to tamper with or make any incorrect adjustments on the unit, controls and any other critical area and parts by owner’s hands because it could lead into further problems such as asphyxiation, explosion or fire. Always make sure that a qualified service technician starts the work on the jobsite.

This is because operation and adjustment of the oil burner requires many hours of in-depth technical training and skillful use of combustion test instruments and other test equipment, and these could not be easily acquired by regular customer over the books or any other online resources.

However, as an owner of this burner you can do a few basic things before you make a service call:

– Check the outside oil supply line. It is visible and usually transparent pipe, and you can inspect any signs of leakage around the area.
– Also check the oil supply system. All fittings should be leak-tight. The supply lines should be free of water, sludge and other restrictions.
– If you can, verify the nozzle is the one originally specified by the appliance manufacturer.  Sometimes it can result in malfunction or poor performance having the nozzle of different specifications from the same manufacturer.
– Inspect the igniter spring contacts. Clean or replace if corroded.
– Inspect all gaskets. Replace any that are damaged or would fail to seal adequately.

Here are manual steps on how to replace Beckett Oil Burner Blower Wheel (Note: This is only for your reference. Do not attempt to do it yourself. Always contact your qualified service technician or serviceman first):

 

233 Comments

  1. I had a new unit installed in my home at the end of Sept. so far I had the service person come to fix it 12 time but it still is leaking oil from under the motor. They change the nozzles at least 6 time if not more. Can you tell me why it is still leaking?

    • Hi Mary,

      Its really hard to say why its leaking BUT I would certainly call another burner tech to fix the issue, Then I would ask the first company to pay for the second guy since they can’t fix the issue, Then again you could call then and give them a third chance to fix your issue. This is something you want to leave to the professionals for sure.

      Let me know if you need more help.

      Joseph

    • Mary,

      If you are getting a small leak under the pump/motor thats an indication of a partialy clogged nozzle or an incorrect nozzle that causes to much back pressure based on the PSI of the pump. I would have the tech check to make sure that your pump is not putting out any more then 100PSI

      • Mary, I’m a licensed oil burner technician and the problem is most likely that the oil burner is pitched in the wrong direction. The blast tube should always be pitched towards the boiler and whats happening is that a small amount of oil trickles out of the nozzle when the burner shuts down and runs backwards down the blast tube. It’s actually very common for this problem to be overlooked on a new install since the tube should already be pitched properly. Also another few possible solutions are a bad nozzle, a cracked/blown out pump seal, or a fitting on the pump not being tight. You need a new company.

  2. Newer furnace and new Beckett Burner – less than 3 yrs. old. When heat is called it starts fine, burns for about 30 seconds than shuts off and goes into lockout mode. I hit the reset button, bleed the line (sometimes there’s a lot of air and sometimes very little} and im in business. It may go a few days before this happens again or it will happen 4 or 5 times in a row when heat is called for. the flare connections are tight and were checked for leaks upon installation. If i install a new filter might this help? what might it be?

    • Do you have a 1 or 2 line system? I would say yes change the oil filter first and see if that helps. You will know if it’s your oil filter the minute you take it apart because the oil trapped around the filter will be very gummy like (thick and gooey) that will cause a problem similar to running your tank out of oil because the good oil can’t get past that dirty gooey mess fast enough and you starve the burner. Hope this helps

      • Also another possibility is if the cast iron top on the oil filter housing has a hairline crack in it due to someone over tightening it during the installation or replace the filter cartridge it could be sucking air in. Also if the pump cover has a bad gasket or isn’t seated/torqued properly this condition will be present.

  3. I have a Beckett burner that has run fine with no problems for 10 years and I only cleaned it 2 or 3 times. The problem is now I had the stove pipe to the chimney replaced because it rotted and broke and at the same time had them clean and tune it up. Now the system will run for a day or so and trip the reset. The tech has replaced the transformer, checked the presure (110 psi), replaced the blower timer (not sure why as the blower always worked), checked the electrodes (looks good?), checked the nozzle (looks good too) they even looked at the plastic coupler between the burner and the motor and they say that looks good too. They have so far olny charged me for the first visit to clean and replace the pipe so I don’t thimk they are trying to gaff me as they are on their way out for the 5th time. But this no heat every other day is getting old. It usually starts up after sitting a while and always goes out at night. I would think that the burner would be running through the night and not really need to go through the initial start process so the could the issue be an interuption of fuel? I think they are as frustrated as I am at this point. Any help would be fantastic.

    thanks
    Dave

    • I have the exact ame problem. I have replaced the nossel, fuel pump, filter, flu, and even cleaned the electrodes. I also have a diesel smell and sometimes a smokey haze…..I beleive from the furnice shutting down abruptly. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks

      Steve

  4. We have a Beckett Oil Burner that keeps tripping. My husband replaced the oil filter, the thermostat, and the nozzle. It will run for a while and then trip again. Any ideas? Thanks for your help!

    • I had the same problem. Try this. There is a screen filter in the oil pump that may be clogged. Remove the 4 screws at the end of the pump and tap the pump cap off. Be careful not to damage the gasket. The circular screen filter will be exposed. Clean in a solvent and blow out with an air gun.

  5. I have had a becket oil burner for seven years with no problem. The transformer went bad two days ago and I replaced it. I decided to change the filter and nozzle at the same time. I have done this before with no problem. Now however I keep geting air in the line there are no leaks and the tank is full. I bleed it and it starts but will not start after sitting for any length of time. Any suggestions?
    Thanks ED

    • Some possibilities you may want to consider are, did you replace the pump strainer or check it to ensure it is clean? Also if you over tightened the filter when you replaced it you could have cracked the cast iron housing. Another possibility is that your electrodes aren’t adjusted properly because you are going from a 10,000v or less transformer to an ignitor. Just a few things to consider. Also did you check for carbon on the retention head?

  6. hi i have a beckett oil heator n 4 some reason it will not start up when i press the reset button, ive already replaced the filter n nozzle, n cleaned the line 2 months ago, so im not sure why it wont start ?? please inform me on the problem that may have occured thank u

    • More than likely it is an electrical problem. You should consider having a licensed professional taking a look at it. It could be your aquastat is not sending the power to the burner. You could have a bad switch/breaker, or the primary control is dead.

  7. HELLO,
    MY BECKETT FURNACE WILL NOT TURN ON WHEN I CALL IT FROM THE THERMOSTAT OR PRESS THE RED RESET BUTTON. i REPLACED THE TRANSFORMER BUT IT STILL DOES NOTHING.

    REPLY

  8. Mary,

    If you are getting a small leak under the pump/motor thats an indication of a partialy clogged nozzle or an incorrect nozzle that causes to much back pressure based on the PSI of the pump. I would have the tech check to make sure that your pump is not putting out any more then 100PSI

  9. Two days ago I ran out of fuel oil, after I had bought some the unit wouldnt start, I worked with it a bit and finally got it running. Today it stopped again, when I pulled out the unit the nozzel and the electrodes were covered in grit and soot (I had forgotten to replace the front cover piece). I cleaned them off but still no-go. There is fuel coming out and the electrodes are working. I may have messed up the nozzle by blowing air out throught the hole in front checking to see if there was debris in the line, it came out clean.

  10. I have a Becket Oil Burner Model AFG. Intermittently the unit does not fire. The motor and pump will run for a short period and then shut down. If I press the reset button it will try again and fail again with no flame. What I do to get it to start working is to open the side bleed value on the oil pump and let sum oil out during the first phase (about 10 seconds) after pressing the reset button. It will then start to run and be fine for a few days. The pump has two oil lines connected and should be able to bleed itself automatically. I’ve already blown out the return oil line to the oil tank with my air compressor with no improvement. I’ve checked for leaks on the supply side but have not found any. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!

    • More than likely it sounds like you have carbon build up on the retention head of the burner. By bleeding the oil out of the pump you are in fact adding more air to the combustion chamber before ignition while not spraying oil in which is what is making the burner run. Also you should try a new nozzle.

  11. i have becket burner model afg. Last nite it worked great but now it will not igtite. How do i check the transforner and nozzle? Any have words of wisdom

    • Call a professional. If you do not have experience checking an ignitor it can injure you. I have two scars on my wrists from when I was a professional and it isn’t a pleasant experience.

  12. Hello –

    I have a Beckett burner with a newer GE burner motor. The burner motor suddenly will not run. I hit the reset button and it does nothing for 30 seconds and then re-trips the button. The motor re-set button does not trip, though. Any ideas? The controller was replaced last winter. Any help is appreciated.

    • To give you a better answer, please answer the following questions. Do you have a power venter installed instead of a chimney? Does it make a humming sound when you press the reset button? Is the motor hot in any one spot on the housing?

      • Hi, Jay –

        I measured the voltage from the circuit at 120v going into the controller, but measured nothing coming out after tripping the re-set button. I bought another controller today and installed it; problem solved. I had installed a brand new one just last winter. Honeywell, I’m not too impressed at the life range of your controllers. Hope it was a fluke.

        Thanks anyway, Jay.

        Mark

  13. Furnace would not ignite. I have put additional fuel in tank, It had above 1/8th before that. I have bled the line for air however there was none. Burner still will not ignite. ANY SUGGESTIONS

    • George, more than likely you have sucked sludge through the filter,strainer, or nozzle and as your pump may be pulling oil through it is still restricted in some way. On the other hand you could have a bad/stripped pump coupling or ignition problem.

  14. GOT A BECKETT HEATER DOES NOT REGISTER ON ANY THERMOSTAT I PUT ON IT JUST CONTINUES TO COME ON AND OFF WITHOUT THE THERMOSTAT CONTROL HAD 3 PEOPLE LOOK AT IT BUT THEY SAY NOTHING WRONG WITH THE HONEYWELL THERMO. BUT THE SYSTEMS CONT. 2 RUN LIKE IT’S ON A TIMER NO WAY 2 REGULATE HEAT.

    • Sounds to me like you don’t have a burner problem. It sounds more along the lines of your circulator isn’t pumping or isn’t being told to pump when you want it to. It could be a bad zone valve, circulator relay, aquastat or a combination of those. Call a heating contractor or licensed professional for a correct diagnosis.

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