On Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:56:04 -0600, Irreverent Maximus
wrote:

On 12/20/2013 5:19 PM, micky wrote:
On Fri, 20 Dec 2013 11:13:32 -0600, philo wrote:


How come the transformer failed at the same time I replaced the
nozzle? And the answer is almost obvious, even if it took me 2 days
to think of it. For the last several years, the furnace has probably
never run more than 20 minutes at a time, because I turn it on in the
fall when it's cold but not that cold out, and from then on the house
is 68 or 70.

It's only because the nozzle failed that the furnace was off for 16
hours or more and the house got down to 62 degrees that it took so
long to warm back up, 80 minutes, plus soon after that 20 more
minutes, almost 2 hours of running, enough to get the transformer hot.

And again after it failed, it was off for -- I forget -- 16 or even 20
hours, and the next day I started it up and it ran for maybe 3 hours
with breaks or maybe 6 hours, and by that time it was hot and it
failed again.

Good logic

Sounded good, but I remember now that one of the two mornings I woke
up cold, I reset the furnace and it ran, about 40 seconds with no
fire, until it tripped again. The transformer must have been
plenty cold at that time. Yet I think it worked later that day.
Tomorrow I'll measure the resistance of the old one. Then maybe
I'll warm it up on top of the oven while I make a pie, and see if that
changes anything.

IF the observation door is open and I'm standing right there, should I
be able to hear the sound of the electric arc? 1/8 inch in one case,
a little more with the other setup?

But it ran 10 minutes ago, running for 24 hours now since I changed
the transformer.


I'd save the old transformer as an emergency spare only but not use it
otherwise

Sounds right.



Quit throwing things at it.

I'm not, really. I changed the nozzle, then changed the
nozzle/electrode/holder combination. And since the second didn't
help, that means it's something other than the nozzle/electrode.
So I changed the transformer.

(I had a spare xformer from the burner a neighbor threw away.
Originally I just wanted a spare latching relay, a 1" cube with a
clear plastic cover, because mine gave me trouble and I was sure it
was going to fail. Then I thought a whole control board would be good
to have, but now I have a spare everything that's on the burner.

Yes, you should hear the "arc".

But I didn't even when there was no fire. Another reason to be
suspicioius of the transformer.

Regardless: Isolate the problem.

That's what I've been doing. That's why I had problems for two days,
but I've had heat for 4 days.

If you do not know how to do this,
find someone who can.

I rarely need anyone to come and do it. Sometimes I need advice.
(But I fix many other things without even posting here.)

If you really want to know how to do this, it *will* put your ass in
harms way.

Just to fuddy duddy the situation:

My neighbor's truck is having an issue. It's a 1973 Found On Road Dead
truck. Shift it to third and the engine dies. He and his son want to
do "things" by "the well if" thought process, rather than the eliminate
the obvious and go forward with what is really going on. Sort of like
combating old wives tales, and still wanting to get some.

I know that sounds wrong, but...Stop!

Start over and observe. Be patient.

To tell it true: I am reticent to tell you how to find things out.
Just because the system fails at one point does not mean that there
is not something else going on. The stupidest things happen.

My regrets for not paying more attention to this thread. My past two
days have been busy, and today has been rather chaotic.

You've not obliged to read every thread, not even the threads you have
advice on.