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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. Howdy,
    I have a 22yearold AFG burner. Recently while firing the it’ll runn for a while then stop for a second then continue running for it’s cycle. It makes a noise while running which sounds like a grinding noise from the squirrel cage? I’ve changed out the filter at the tank, the filter at the pump, the nozzle (1.0/80) the transformer and the honeywell controller. This morning I was getting the smell of oil in the house. Any advice? New burner? Thanks, Gerry

    • Check your pump coupling for worn ends or the center section being stripped out. Very inexpensive part and is not hard to replace, just make sure it’s the right length or it’ll burn up your motor. Also could be your fuel pump becoming frozen.

      • Thanks, I’ll inspect/change the coupler this week. I’ve also noticed when the burner comes on it normally runs for 3 minutes. During the burn time at 2 minutes 40 seconds it stops burning for a second (there’s a little puff back) then continues to burn for the rest of the 3 minutes. It does this pretty much every time the burner starts. The oil line from the tank to the burner is approxamately 20 feet. Does it take 2 min. 40 sec. for the oil to go from the tank to the boiler? Water from the tank? But the burner only hic cups for a sec? Remember I’ve changes out the filter, oil pump screen filter, nozzle, tranformer, honeywell control box, and cleaned the boiler. Thanks for your help. Gerry

  2. This ia what we had and finally figured it was a crack (hardly visable) in the filter cover that was letting air in and putting out the flame. Maybe that may help.

  3. I have a Beckett AF oil burner, after replacing the nozzle and electrodes I have noticed that the transformer and the motor become very hot to the touch and are actually leaving burn marks on the inside of the heater cover. Is this normal?

    • If it is a regular iron core transformer it shouldn’t be hot. Also the motor shouldn’t really be hot to the touch as well just warm. This is typically a sign that your boiler has a tremendous amount of back pressure due to being dirty. Also it could be that the motor is burning up and heating up the whole chassis of the burner. Also another issue could be if you have an ignitor, certain brands are known to over heat and will intermittently fail.

      • If you replaced the nozzle and didnt get it back in the burner tube the right distance it will not swirl the flame like it should close to the flame retenttion ring, this could cause the oil to burn off in the burner tube closer to the transformer therefore making it over heat.

        • Also a incorrect gap in the electrodes can cause the transformer to over heat , if the gap is too wide.

        • Ken H., thanks for your response. After replacing the nozzle and electrodes I also just replaced the transformer, but still same problem it gets hot and trips the reset buttons on the primary and motor. After replacing nozzle I tried to put assembly back how it came out,the measuring plate has 5 notches on it and is currently set on the middle notch. Do you know the specs on the distance of the nozzle in the burner tube.Also I hear different ideas about what color the furnace flame should be. Blue or bright yellow? Thanks again.

      • Jay, thanks for the timely response to my question about the overheating burner. A licensed repairman told me that it could be the transformer going bad. However, I replaced the transformer, nozzle and electrodes and it is still running very hot and will trip the reset buttons on the motor and primary. Thanks for past and future response.

  4. I have a furnace I have cleaned the flue pipe replaced the nozzle and oil filter, checked the pump pressure checked for water in the oil,have got to burn clean for days then in about a week it will start smoking heavily from the chimney. I have set to specs . any suggestions ?

  5. My burner has been running all winter. i just filled with oil last month and i checked the other day and half tank already. after further inspection i noticed a orange flame. I was told it should be blue. how do i adjust this and is this affecting the oil consumption? need help……

  6. Greg I dont know what kind of furnace you have but most oil furnaces burn a bright orange . The only kind ive seen burn blue is a gas furnace. It has been a cold winter so depending on were you set your thermostat it could have burned that much

  7. I have a Beckett AF oil burner in a Tarm excel wood/oil boiler. I recently woke up to a cold house and no hot water. The burner will not come on at all. I have checked and it is getting 110VAC power to the burner (I checked at the burner). When I jumper across the TT terminals, nothing happens (mine is configured for 24V control). I am under the impression that this should “force” the burner to come on. The temperature switch on the boiler is otherwise operating normally (I did a continuity check, and it is closing properly when I fire the boiler with wood). The burner is equipped with a Honeywell R7184B control unit. Has this gone bad? If not, how do you suggest I continue to troubleshoot? Thank you in advance for your help. Dave

    • To clarify, I actually have 24 volt boiler control…there is a control box on the side of the boiler which closes a relay. When this relay closes, the TT terminals circuit is closed. This relay is in turn controlled by the temperature switch on the boiler (which senses the boiler water temp).

      Also, I jumpered past the R7184 unit, and was able to get the burner motor to come on, so that works fine. I also checked the CAD unit for resistance, and it was reading nearly infinite when it was in the dark, and practically zero when exposed to light. So it seems that a bad 7184 is the only explanation. Otherwise the unit should at least start its pre-purge cycle.

      Any comments on my reasoning are welcome. Dave

  8. I have a beckett AFG burner, I have the T501 gap tool to adjust the elcetrodes but I am having difficulties. I start with the first setting according to the instructions which is the hight from center line. Using the tool I get that pretty easy, then I set the gap between the electrodes but when i set this gap the hight to centerline of the nozzle changes. How do I move the electrodes to get the height and spacing accurate. If I turn the electodes for the height it changes the gap and if I turn the electrodes for the gap it changes the height.

  9. Hi, I have a oil furnace with a Beckett burner, and the problem I am having is after the flame stops smoke sometimes comes out of the combustion area. While the flame is burning everything seems to be fine. Any suggestions?

  10. I have my beckett burner all set up according to spec (both from beckett and weil mcclean). All looks good, have a bright yellow flame that just misses the back wall of the furnce and when a lit match is placed at the open observation port it is drawn into the furnce and goes out. The smoke from the match also gets pulled in to the furnace. Cleaned the furnance and flu all is spot less and clear. All is good right – 1 problem!

    When the burner starts I get a smell of fuel oil and smoke in the house 90 percent of the time.

    I do not see any smoke but that smell is there. From the time the motor starts to flame ignition most times is less then 1 second, but some times it can be as long as 2 seconds. How can I correct the oil smell on start up. Is there some kind of puff back on ignition that is occuring??

  11. I have a Beckett R7184B1032. My husband would like to know what you do when you have hit the reset button to many times and it is locked out.

  12. i have a oil fired furnace-utica,beckett motor. it won’t come on in the morning unless i hit the reset button. i had the furnace cleaned a week ago. the maintence man came and couldn’t find anything wrong. i’ve turned up the thermostats and ran various hot water outlets in the house and still nothing. once i reset, it works and the furnace will actually come on by itself periodically. it seems that if it sits overnight it just won’t come on in the morning.
    can you give me an idea of what it might be before i call the oil company again? thank you.

  13. I have an AFG Becket Burner that will run for approx 30 seconds and then shut off. I have good oil pressure coming out of the bleed nozzle, i have replaced the nozzle and electrical box. When i try and reset the burner it doesn’t fire up at all the second time. The electrodes look good but i haven’t replaced them. Does anyone know what the HELL is going on here.

    Thanks!!

    • I figurd the problem out for this by replacing the solenoid on the pump. Even though the pump worked at the bleed valve the solenoid wasn’t calling for the fuel to be pumped at the nozzle.

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