Top Five Oil Burner Troubleshooting Tips
By The home heating system can be the most expensive time for homeowner, especially since the price of oil is completely unstable. Sometimes even if you have been taking proper care of your oil burner you still may run into problems and might have to troubleshoot the unit. Some problems that you will experience can be an easy fix, but on the downside there are somethings that will need to be fixed by a licensed or certified professional. Oil burner mechanics have years of experience and can have you back up and running in no time.
Many boiler companies like Weil Mclain, Utica , Crown Boilers, Smith boilers and many others use common burner heads on the boilers. The brand names that you are most likely to find on your oil fired boiler are Carlin Burners and Beckett Oil Burners and off course Riello Burners. This means that most supply houses like Sid Harvey’s or your local plumbing supply house will carry the parts you need. There of course will be times that you will have a different type of brand then we mentioned and if it is less popular it may be harder to find parts, but lets get to the oil burner troubleshooting.
The following is bunch of common things that can fail on your oil burner and we will provide some solutions to the problems.
Problem: “I have raised my thermostat but I have no heat”
Solution: This could be any things such as you are out of oil which is the #1 most common mistake people make when they think that there oil burner has failed. Either it being a bad tank gauge or a lack of money, the empty oil tank is most common.
Problem: “It Sounds like my oil burner is turing off and on , the off then on, and its struggling”
Solution: This sounds like you are running out of oil, have a clogged burner nozzle or even possible a clogged oil burner filter. It also could be a few rare other things. The first thing to do is to check your oil tank gauge, if you have oil, then that’s good, but don’t attempt to fix the oil burner unless you are trained or qualified to to do so.
Problem: “When I turn on my heat I heat rolling in the pipes”
Solution: The heating system needs to be bleed free of air. Common parts that prevent air from being in the system like airtrols may have failed and need to be replaced. Try bleeding the heat lines if you are qualified and that may do the trick. If your air returns you may have to troubleshoot into it more.
Problem: “The flame in my blast tube is orange when it used to be blue”
Solution: The burner needs to be adjusted. This will include adjusting the nozzle, air mixture and possibly adjusting or replacing bad electrodes if they are bad. Always use a professional to complete this kind of task.
Problem: ” The manual said to hit the reset, and I did but it tripped again and won’t reset”
Solution: Usually when an oil burner trips there is a problem. If you have rest the burner again and it has tripped again but will not restart then you have been locked out of the boiler. Most boiler burners have safety controls now that will “lock-out” the boiler and there will be a special sequence that the boiler will have to be restarted in by a service professional.
These are the most common things that will cause your oil fired boiler to fail and of course there are many other things that can go wrong, but this was a simple troubling shooting overview.
HELLO, HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY BECKETT BURNER / FURNACE SHUTTING DOWN. HERE GOES.. WAS TOLD IT WAS THE PRIMARY IGNITION, I REPLACED THAT ALONG WITH THE CAD CELL (PHOTO CELL).STILL IT WAS SHUTTING DOWN – CHECKED OIL FILTER AT TANK WHICH WAS CHANGED AT THE FILL UP THIS FALL. FILTER WAS GUMMED UP BLACK SLUDGE FROM THE TANK. CHANGED OUT & BLED LINE. FURNACE FIRED GOOD FOR 4 TO 5 CYCLES & SHUT DOWN. HAD ANOTHER TECH OUT (HEATING) WAS TOLD TRANSFORMER WAS WEAK WHEN YOU WOULD LIFT IT UP & HIT THE RESET BUTTON LAY IT BACK DOWN ON THE CONTACTS IT WOULD FIRE/ FURNACE WOULD WORK FOR AWHILE THEN SHUT DOWN AGAIN. HE READJUSTED THE PRIMARY AIR & SECOUNDARY AIR GOT ME GOING AGAIN FOR A LITTLE BIT. I BOUGHT A TRANSFORMER CHEAPER ONLINE PUT IT ON …. STILL THE SAME PROBLEM FURNACE SHUTTING DOWN. CALLED SERVICE COMPANY BACK THEY SENT A DIFFERENT TECH OUT HE CHECKED THE FURNACE OUT READJUSTED SETTINGS BUT UPON PUTTING THE BURNER BACK IN AFTER SETTING ELECTRODES HE BLED THE LINE FROM THE FUEL PUMP THAT ATTACHES TO THE BURNER. THE LINE HAD CONDENSATE/ WATER IN IT ABOUT A 2 LITER BOTTLES WORTH.!!! NOW AFTER 8 DAYS OF PULLING MY HAIR AND DEALING WITH SERVICE CALLS , AND TECH’S ITS FIXED. ONLY PAID FOR 1 SERVICE CALL. FROM EACH HVAC BUSINESS… BLEED YOUR LINES CHECK FUEL,, BEFORE REPLACING THE PARTS AS I DID I LEARNED A BIG LESSON. SOME TECHS DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING/ ONLY 1 DID HIS JOB!! HOPE THIS HELPS SOME ONE.
ELOISE, I’m glad to hear your furnace is running again. Although, while I generally have a very good call rating even the best service technicians I’ve met overlook the smallest of things. Also, I’m not sure where you live or what kind of service company told you the problem and then allowed you to fix it yourself. That generally would give me the idea that the individual you have dealt with is either not a professional contractor or isn’t qualified.
I had frequent shut downs and hard starts with lots of noise and smoke. Replaced the electrodes (cracked casing) and it ran fine for awhile before occasional shut downs started again. It was running hard with lots of vibration and uneven firing. Replaced the ignitor and it ran great, with smooth ,effortless quiet starts. Oil co waited to long to fill tank and it was very low. The night of the delivery had to reset again.Changed the filter (sludge filled) and cleaned out the filter container. Bled a little oil from the line at the pump (replaced last year,was leaking)and didn’t see or hear any air. flow was smooth. Only bled about a half cup. Oil filter is at tank with about 15′ of line to the burner. Now back to regular shut downs. Mostly at nite when temp is set low and calls for heat don’t come for at least 4 hours.(this is a beckett AF2-150 three years old). New filter gasket at bleeder on housing is very hard and after several tightenings still getting miniscule amt of oil seepage.Cleaned cad cell and ran cad cell test.ok. I will replace the nozzel today and try to stop the oozing of oil from the beeder gasket. Should I bleed the entire line? I am hoping a clogged nozzel is the problem.Hard to believe it was running so beautifully before I changed the sludge covered filter.One last note. Since this burner was new it cycles on its own on occasion, when heat is not being called for. I looked into the burn chamber when it was on and there is NO flame.runs for about a minute. I have been told by every tech that has been here (many)that it is not supposed to.No one knows why it does this. I don,t know if it is pumping oil when this happens.What part of the elec system controls this function. Help.Suggestions?
We have a Dunkirk Empire II boiler and a Carlin Burner. We have no idea where the oil filter goes and I’m sure it needs to be changed by now. We have water leaking on the floor and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. The first floor of the house is super hot despite the thermostat being set low and the upstairs is much cooler than usual. The furnace keeps coming on too. Please help if you can. Any info would help before we call the HVAC guys. Thanks in advance.
My oil burner will only run until it hits 60 then it shuts down even if i have the thermostat set to 70 or higher. It will turn back on after the temperature goes below 60. We have changed the nozzle, filter and electrodes. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.
soundss like it might be the thermostat on the wall
I would first look at the Stack Relay. If you don’t have a Stack Relay then you have a Electronic Control Unit. The Stack Relay will be located on the flue that carries the burnt fuel gases out of the firebox and up the chimney (exhaust stack). Both of these unit (you will only have one installed) tell the unit that it senses heat, which closes the HOT CONTACTS and sends a message back to the fuel pump to KEEP OPEN AND RUNNING. There is little else, other than a faulty thermostats that can be the problem. Good luck.
I have a trianco heat maker and beckett a-af when the furnace turnes on its makes a bang sound and aflash of light comes out this happens when it is turned down low and then i come home and then turn the furnace up. .Please what is my problem thank you virginia 860 347 4924
could need a new nozzle,,the bang,and flash is from built up fuel in the firebox,it will crack your firebox after a few times of blowing up inside,,if a new nossil dont do it ya got a leak somewhere i would think…call a service tec if needed
hi, i wonder can u help me my oil burner is switching itself on when its not supposed to be on do u know any reason for this as it is costing me a lot of money or meaning that i have actually switch it completely off in the boiler house to prevent it coming on
is this in the summer weather ? It might be coming on to heat the water in the boiler coil if its a hot water system for hot tap water in the bathroom and kitchen. You didnt say if its a hot water system or hot air system.
my oil boiler shuts down after about half an hour.i hit the reset button and it will go again for a while.it just wont keep going for any length of time
I think it may be time to call a boiler man
i have a becket that is about 18 months old… i know i have a 1/2 tank of oil and the burner kept clicking on and off!!! so i shut it down and replased the filter..OMG! black sludge and quite a bit… after everything was back together and cracked the bleeding valve (dips of oil) i then powered the unit and im now getting a solid red light on the reset button. the burner wont even reset!!! what to do ??? …..before this the burner was working FINE!!
you might not have taken enough oil out, if your only getting drips your oil line could be clogged.
when turning on heat the first floor heats up fine 2nd floor no heat (thermostat up looks fine checked wire any ideas
If this is a hot water system, you probably do not have enough pressure in the system. Read your gauge You need between 15-20lbs. Just an hunch. Not a pro.
I have heat on 1st floor no heat on 2nd floor
Hi Kevin!
with your question too short to get an answer.
let tell me what is system you force hot water or steam?
if you have force hot water system:
1) Do you have zone valve?
2) Do you have seprate pump for 2nd floor?.
3) Do you have balancing valve on dischage side of your system.
4) Do you check thermostat 2nd floor working? ( pumped themostat while your working some of them have time delay waiting for 30 seconds to 1 min before check pump or zone valve)
if you get me more info on your Zone valve I will you answer how to get it back on for you. model, serial # or picture where wire are connection.
Thang Le
i have a becket and the burner kept clicking on and off!!! so i shut it down and replased the filter..OMG! black sludge and quite a bit… after everything was back together and cracked the bleeding valve (dips of oil) i then powered the unit it goes on/off it will not fire up
You should check the nozzle and electrodes
I have to keep hitting the reset button in order to start my oil fired furnace.why?
I have heat on the second floor and none on the first. I think it might be a pump. I hear the water flowing to the second floor but no heat on first floor. It appears that there are two zones(upstairs and down) with two seperate pumps and the down zone is not pumping. Could it be air in the system? There is no way to bleed air on second floor. Is there a way to test the pump?
my boiler is set to go off at 180 deg. but it stops at 190.takes about 5 minutes to reach that temperature. then raises about another 10 degrees, 6 minutes later itll click back on at 180 but once it does that. the flame goes out because there is air and everytime i have to bleed the fuel pump. Ive done this over and over, i’ve changed everything, bled the baseboards theres no more air in them. I dont know what else it could be and i have about 100 gallons of oil in my tank.