Grunff wrote in message ...
pjti wrote:
I have just bought a house in which the boiler(make unknown at pres)
has apparently seized, that is the circulation pumpworks but boiler
seems dead. The house has been empty for some months and as it is an
outside boiler I figure its got a bit of damp in the motor. Anyone
know if these are dodgy to sort out. To be honest i do not trust
anyone else to sort it for me, "if a jobs worth doing its worth doing
yourself". I would like to locate a site which tells me the basic
principles of how these things work , any one help me on that ?

Don't know of any sites, but pretty sure google does.

Here are the main components and what they do:

Fan: Blows air past high pressure oil jet. Runs all the time the
boiler's running.

Oil pump: Pumps oil through jet orifice to make a fine spray.
Runs all the time the boiler's running.

Spark igniter: Ignites the fine oil spray just in front of the
jet. Sparks for a few seconds when boiler first fires up.

Photocell: If the photocell remains in the dark, that means the
flame didn't ignite, so the oil supply is shut off.

When you power up the boiler, what happens? Any noises?

Can we presume you are not out of fuel? You now that oil tanks are
notorious for condensing water? Check your filters and if you have a
sump drain, check the fuel for water.