Posted: 1/16/2011 7:49:28 PM EDT
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So I've got a problem with my boiler, and I'd appreciate any wisdom you guys can spare.
I've got an exterior above-ground oil tank, but I heat a lot with wood and fill irregularly. I let it get pretty low, gauge showed 1/8 tank remaining. Burner kicked out then, the Saturday before New Years. I kept the house warm with wood until Monday, when I got the tank refilled. I figured I bottomed 'er out, and I figured I was a dumbass for not checking. Monday evening, I popped the bleeder valve and hit the reset button. It ran some air out of the line, then fuel. I let maybe 8oz of fuel out, then closed the bleeder off. The burner ignited immediately, filled the house with warmth, and all was happy. It ran for about 18 hours without an issue, but then kicked out again. I bled more air out, let a little more fuel go, and it fired again. Since then, the same thing has happened maybe five times. I usually heat the basement entirely off the oil burner, and keep the main floor to 60' in our absence or when the stove aint burning. Boiler: Peerless WV-DV-03-111-WPC 114k BTU Burner: Beckett AFil 100 Now.. I don't know a shit ton about what's going on here, but I see the fuel line coming in from outside, and there's a cutoff valve, a bigass canister filter, and then the furnace. Am I barking up the wrong tree if I was to shut the fuel off at the valve, change out the bigass canister filter, and then purge it again? Theories? Mockery? Learn me up, Arfcom. I need help 
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Quoted:
If you run the tank dry it can ingest some of the water and crap. Filter might be plugged or full of water. I'm hoping it's that simple. I've heard you're supposed to let a new delivery settle a bit. It sat for seven or eight hours before I got to it, I hope that was enough. "Oil Filter # 264". God bless the Googles. |
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you may still have not gotten all the air out of the system yet, is your pump single line or double [return line] if single i would keep bleeding till you have good solid air free flow of oil
I wonder if the photo cell has built up a little soot on lens and boiler is shutting down cause it not seeing flame DO NOT try to replace filter without new filter gasket the reason is the rubber gasket stretch when you remove old filter from can and oil contact, you never get the old one sit right |
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Quoted:
you may still have not gotten all the air out of the system yet, is your pump single line or double [return line] if single i would keep bleeding till you have good solid air free flow of oil I wonder if the photo cell has built up a little soot on lens and boiler is shutting down cause it not seeing flame DO NOT try to replace filter without new filter gasket the reason is the rubber gasket stretch when you remove old filter from can and oil contact, you never get the old one sit right This is the exact filter on there now, I think it includes a gasket. Looks like the whole thing gets replaced like a car oil filter, some I saw looked like the element only got replaced. I'm going to order up a couple of these this morning I think, thanks! 
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Two Questions:
1. Is your oil fed from the top or bottom of the tank? If it is from the top, you may have an air leak or a worn pump that is causing the oil to flow bank into the tank if the furnace is off for a period of time. Then when it calls for heat again, the pump tries to draw the oil out of the tank but by the time it purges the line of air, the sensor doesn't sense the flame and shuts the furnace down. 2. Does the furnace usually fail to ignite 1st thing in the morning, or during the coldest part of the day? I had this problem that some water was sucked into the fuel line. When the furnace wasn't running, the water would freeze and block the fuel from flowing. By the time I woke up, the sun had heated the fuel line slightly and melted the ice, so when I purged the line, everything seemed to be fine. I finally figured it out when I purged the fuel line and let it pump about 1qt of oil into a bucket, which was enough for the water to collect into a drop large enough to be seen. Just as a precaution, letting your tank run low, or not keeping it full in the warm months will cause large amounts of water to collect in the tank. During the days, the warmth causes the air in the tank to expand and is forced out through the vent. During the nights, the air contracts, and air is drawn back into the tank. As it gets cooler at night, the water in the air condenses on the inside of the tank, runs down the sides and pools in the bottom of the tank. When the tank is empty, large amounts of water can condense, eventually enough to be sucked into the fuel line. You may have reached the point that the water is just at the level of the fuel line and small amounts are being sucked in with the oil. Not enough to seriously affect the burner, but enough that it will settle out and freeze if trapped in the line. If this is the case, when you replace the filter, you may see gray deposits of sludge, or even large drops of water, as some of the water tends to separate out and collect in the filter. I'm not a furnace or HVAC guy. Just stuff I've learned over the years of dealing with my home furnaces. |
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Quoted:
Two Questions: 1. Is your oil fed from the top or bottom of the tank? If it is from the top, you may have an air leak or a worn pump that is causing the oil to flow bank into the tank if the furnace is off for a period of time. Then when it calls for heat again, the pump tries to draw the oil out of the tank but by the time it purges the line of air, the sensor doesn't sense the flame and shuts the furnace down. 2. Does the furnace usually fail to ignite 1st thing in the morning, or during the coldest part of the day? I had this problem that some water was sucked into the fuel line. When the furnace wasn't running, the water would freeze and block the fuel from flowing. By the time I woke up, the sun had heated the fuel line slightly and melted the ice, so when I purged the line, everything seemed to be fine. I finally figured it out when I purged the fuel line and let it pump about 1qt of oil into a bucket, which was enough for the water to collect into a drop large enough to be seen. Just as a precaution, letting your tank run low, or not keeping it full in the warm months will cause large amounts of water to collect in the tank. During the days, the warmth causes the air in the tank to expand and is forced out through the vent. During the nights, the air contracts, and air is drawn back into the tank. As it gets cooler at night, the water in the air condenses on the inside of the tank, runs down the sides and pools in the bottom of the tank. When the tank is empty, large amounts of water can condense, eventually enough to be sucked into the fuel line. You may have reached the point that the water is just at the level of the fuel line and small amounts are being sucked in with the oil. Not enough to seriously affect the burner, but enough that it will settle out and freeze if trapped in the line. If this is the case, when you replace the filter, you may see gray deposits of sludge, or even large drops of water, as some of the water tends to separate out and collect in the filter. I'm not a furnace or HVAC guy. Just stuff I've learned over the years of dealing with my home furnaces. 1) I'm not sure about where the tank feeds from, but I believe it's the bottom. The line out connects at the bottom, but I'm not sure what's going on inside. 2) It seems to happen at various times of the day. I actually watched it happen yesterday around 11am. Doesn't seem to have any correlation to the temperature, but I haven't been thinking in that direction so I'm not really sure. The tank and lines are under a deck on the shady side of the house though, so no sun. The tank sat half full all summer. I'll bet that 1/8 tank it was reading when it kicked out was all crud. 
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