So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

mm wrote the following:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!



Change the filter lately?

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Jan 20, 7:40*am, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. *Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

Thermocouple, flame sensor, limit switch,...

first thing to do is make sure everything is clean.

Make? Model?

"mm" wrote in message
...
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


I would guess that you have an issue with the flame sensor, or the primary
control that the flame sensor connects to.

"mm" wrote in message ...

So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

-----------------

Do you have air in the oil line by chance?

My grandfather's oil furnace had to have a nozzle replaced last winter.
They spray funny when not working right and the furnace shuts down for
safety reasons.

On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor
is probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

In article ,
mm wrote:

So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

Do not try to adjust your furnace. We are in control. You have been
allotted 9 seconds of heat. You'll be notified when summer has arrived.

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??

RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??

Apparently not. Most folks outside the frozen northeast seem to have
never heard of oil heat.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:29:08 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

Do not try to adjust your furnace. We are in control. You have been
allotted 9 seconds of heat. You'll be notified when summer has arrived.

LOL.

I will check all things that others, those who don't work Mind Control
Central, have suggested. I did wipe off the photocell for the flame
sensor, but maybe the connection is bad or something else related.

I also forgot to add that it shudders, shakes, a little when it first
starts, something it's never done before.

Thanks all.

On Jan 20, 6:40*am, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. *Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:06:10 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:40*am, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. *Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Oil burns yellow. If there is not enough air, it might burn dark
yellow, and if there is too much air, it is iiuc light yellow (or
bright yellow?) or even white or near white, though I've never seen
white.

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

On 1/20/2011 5:13 PM, mm wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:06:10 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:40 am, wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Oil burns yellow. If there is not enough air, it might burn dark
yellow, and if there is too much air, it is iiuc light yellow (or
bright yellow?) or even white or near white, though I've never seen
white.

Yellow? What are you burning, crude oil or heating oil?

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 5:13 PM, mm wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:06:10 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:40 am, wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Oil burns yellow. If there is not enough air, it might burn dark
yellow, and if there is too much air, it is iiuc light yellow (or
bright yellow?) or even white or near white, though I've never seen
white.

Yellow? What are you burning, crude oil or heating oil?

#2 diesel / heating oil I expect. I've never seen an oil flame that
could be remotely described as "blue".

Follow-up.

So I turned the oil furnace on 2 hours ago and it's running fine.

The only explanation I can think of I didn't mention before, because i
thought it so very very unlikely and would just confuse things.

Last night, I replaced the humidifier with one I had refurbished, but
one rubber part I used was old and used and though it looked nice and
it was flexible, maybe it wasn't flexible enough anymore.

When I put it in place and turned the water back on, it filled for a
while and then overflowed, and ran down the outside of the plenum. But
I find it hard to believe any water got anywhere important.

I watched carefully to see where the water went, and a lot landed on
the flue-funnel or flue-catcher (I forget its name, connects the large
furnace output opening to the smaller flue) and then rolled off that
to the floor of the section below, with a little landing on the
thermostat wire and the AC wire, and maybe a drop landingon the
control box, but none of it seemed to make it to the any opening in
the control box cover. I don't think any water landed on the
low-voltage connection screws.

But all I can imagine is that it dried out during the day, because I
didn't do anything but press reset and wait.


Trivia. Thank you folks for advice on the ball valve for 1/4" tubing.
I can't reach the original valve for the humidifier, so I turned off
the water to the whole house and disconnected the humidifer tube. NO
water dripped out. Yet when I reconnected everything and turned the
water on, turning the water off again wouldn't stop the dripping! So
I connected the valve to the end of the tubing and that stopped the
dripping, even when the water was turned back on.

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor
is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo cell".
Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the OP has.

I'm not an oil burner technician, but I wire about 25 oil and gas boilers
each year. I have never seen an oil burner burn any color but yellow. I've
never seen "tips", only flaming atomized oil spray.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:30:55 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 5:13 PM, mm wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:06:10 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:40 am, wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Oil burns yellow. If there is not enough air, it might burn dark
yellow, and if there is too much air, it is iiuc light yellow (or
bright yellow?) or even white or near white, though I've never seen
white.

Yellow? What are you burning, crude oil or heating oil?

#2 diesel / heating oil I expect.

That's right. (I've recently read about #1, that it can be used too,
but I don't know the difference. Is it purer in some way and more
expensive?)

I've never seen an oil flame that
could be remotely described as "blue".

Well I'm no pro, but I've been reading a lot lately and while most
pages just talk about what the gauges should show, one went over the
colors like I said a couple posts ago. And I've looked in my furnace
a lot over the years and it's always yellow!

"mm" wrote in message
news
Well I'm no pro......

That's obvious. Call a reputable HVAC contractor. If you don't know any, ask
everyone you know. Somebody has a name.

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jan 20, 6:40 am, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Since you've obviously never seen an oil burner, do yourself a favor and
google it. Every google search describes an oil burner color as yellow or
yellow orange, but none come up as blue

On 1/20/2011 8:44 PM, RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Jan 20, 6:40 am, wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Since you've obviously never seen an oil burner, do yourself a favor and
google it. Every google search describes an oil burner color as yellow or
yellow orange, but none come up as blue


That odd. My searches came up with about 7 out of 10 going for white or
blue.

If I get the ambition I'll find some more.

http://www.helium.com/items/1674311-...-burners-flame
The flame of some oil burners may be a light yellow in color. More often
it should have a blue - white or chrome colored flame. A dark yellow
flame is an indication of a lack of air in the mixture.

To the OP please wipe the photo cell clean and see what happens. If it
runs ok for a couple days then starts acting up again, you know it's not
burning clean and you can go from there.

On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


For now forget the flame color argument and clean the photo cell and see
what happens. If it runs ok for a couple days then starts acting up
again, you know it's not burning clean and you can go from there.

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 8:44 PM, RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Jan 20, 6:40 am, wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Since you've obviously never seen an oil burner, do yourself a favor and
google it. Every google search describes an oil burner color as yellow or
yellow orange, but none come up as blue


That odd. My searches came up with about 7 out of 10 going for white or
blue.

If I get the ambition I'll find some more.

http://www.helium.com/items/1674311-...-burners-flame
The flame of some oil burners may be a light yellow in color. More often
it should have a blue - white or chrome colored flame. A dark yellow flame
is an indication of a lack of air in the mixture.

To the OP please wipe the photo cell clean and see what happens. If it
runs ok for a couple days then starts acting up again, you know it's not
burning clean and you can go from there.

That's the first I've seen any mention of blue, and it also says light
yellow and not in a derogatory sense. Your post indicated that if it burned
yellow, something was wrong.

On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

Interesting. In the class (some years ago) we worked on Carlin, Beckett
and Riello burners.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:02:23 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


For now forget the flame color argument and clean the photo cell and see
what happens. If it runs ok for a couple days then starts acting up
again, you know it's not burning clean and you can go from there.

I woke up in the middle of the night remembering that I hadn't posted
that I had wipe4d off the photo cell and it had no dirt on it.

Then by Thursday evening, I started it and it's been running fine ever
since. It must have been the water from the humidifier, even though
I watched carefully and I don't think it got into any openings in the
control box. And if it did, how did it dry out in only a day? It's
much easier for a nearly-closed box to get wet inside than it is to
dry out.

Thanks for your help.

On Jan 20, 5:13*pm, mm wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:06:10 -0800 (PST), ransley

wrote:
On Jan 20, 6:40*am, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. *Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

A good Yellow flame, is like pouring money down a lady, that wont
produce. BLUE is a clean burn.

Oil burns yellow. *If there is not enough air, it might burn dark
yellow, and if there is too much air, it is iiuc light yellow (or
bright yellow?) or even white or near white, though I've never seen
white.

Can't you like take off the nozzle and make sure it is not being
clogged? I had natural gas heat and had to clean the holes where rust
accumulated.

On Jan 21, 4:48*am, mm wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:02:23 -0500, Tony Miklos









wrote:
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. *Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!

For now forget the flame color argument and clean the photo cell and see
what happens. *If it runs ok for a couple days then starts acting up
again, you know it's not burning clean and you can go from there.

I woke up in the middle of the night remembering that I hadn't posted
that I had wipe4d off the photo cell and it had no dirt on it. *

Then by Thursday evening, I started it and it's been running fine ever
since. * It must have been the water from the humidifier, even though
I watched carefully and I don't think it got into any openings in the
control box. *And if it did, how did it dry out in only a day? *It's
much easier for a nearly-closed box to get wet inside than it is to
dry out.

Thanks for your help.

What part of the country you in?

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:02:23 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:
.....

For now ....

I also should say that the acrid smell I Posted about a few days ago,
and the smoke I saw curling from either side of oil burner, I solved
too.

I looked inside the burner housing, which opens up by lifting the big
ignition transformer which has hinges on one side, and which has to be
lifted to replace the nozzle. No holes to the outside there.

And back outside the burner, because the burner was partly in the way,
I never could see a hole in the "wall" of the furnace below the
burner. If the burner is a clock, I can see to from about 8 o'clock
over the top to 3 or 4 o'clock.

So I decided to patch it without seeing it. I found furnace cement
at Home Depot but only in a half-gallon bucket. I had seen it
mentioned on the web in caulking tubes. Way at the other end of the
store in the paint department were 2 products by 3M, fire block and
fire barrier. In caulking tubes.

The "wall", I mentioned, the outside of the furnace, not counting the
decorative cover that hides the burner, actually doesnt' get hot, I
finally learned, afraid to touch it all these years, so I used fire
barrier, put a big glob on a paint-mixing stick/paddle, the ones they
give free with paint, and smeared it on almost as widely and as thick
as I could get it. It only took a little bit to do that, 5 or 6
tablespoons. It still smoked right after that, but I had only waited
an hour to start the furnace and that might have been some part of the
still not fully dry fire barrier. Doesn't smoke anymore, and that
smell is gone.


I know if I called a repairman he would do pretty much the same thing,
after charging me for a cleaning, nozzle, alignment of electrodes, all
of which had recently been done, and after trying to get me to buy a
new furnace now from him, instead of waiting for the summer. Plus I
woudldn't have learned anything except how to pay someone to do things
for me.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:36:01 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

Interesting. In the class (some years ago) we worked on Carlin, Beckett
and Riello burners.

Maybe these other oil burners are made by the same folks who make Blue
Ray DVD burners.

How old is this furnace?

On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:12:08 -0500, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

How old is this furnace?

31 years. I thought I was the last one using the original furnace,
but asking around I have found at least 3 others of the 109 of us.

I also found the original instructions on-line and dividing output
btus by input btus, it was 80% efficient. Not sure what it would be
cleaned or uncleaned now. The Bryant they sold my meighbor last
summer has an EPA label that it's 81.5% efficiient.

On Jan 21, 5:20*am, mm wrote:
On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:12:08 -0500, "JoeSpareBedroom"

wrote:
How old is this furnace?

31 years. *I thought I was the last one using the original furnace,
but asking around I have found at least 3 others of the 109 of us.

I also found the original instructions on-line and dividing output
btus by input btus, it was 80% efficient. *Not sure what it would be
cleaned or uncleaned now. *The Bryant they sold my meighbor last
summer has an EPA label that it's 81.5% efficiient.

Exterminate the christian government

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for
about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now
it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor
then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems
the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white
to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow
and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make
yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

Interesting. In the class (some years ago) we worked on Carlin, Beckett
and Riello burners.

Those are probably the biggest selling burners in the NE. Just about every
oil boiler I wire has one of those three, mostly Beckett, but Riello is
coming on strong. Might be that where Tony lives, blue flame burners are
popular. I can't believe I've never seen one. Here is a good link to the
technology:
http://www.hed.com/blueflame/description.html

RBM wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for
about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now
it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor
then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems
the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white
to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow
and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make
yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

Interesting. In the class (some years ago) we worked on Carlin, Beckett
and Riello burners.

Those are probably the biggest selling burners in the NE. Just about every
oil boiler I wire has one of those three, mostly Beckett, but Riello is
coming on strong. Might be that where Tony lives, blue flame burners are
popular. I can't believe I've never seen one. Here is a good link to the
technology:
http://www.hed.com/blueflame/description.html

It's certainly interesting, but it seems to be just in the industrial
market which would explain why we haven't see it in any residential
applications.

On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:47:35 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


RBM wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

RBM wrote:

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for
about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now
it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor
then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems
the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white
to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow
and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make
yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.

Interesting. In the class (some years ago) we worked on Carlin, Beckett
and Riello burners.

Those are probably the biggest selling burners in the NE. Just about every
oil boiler I wire has one of those three, mostly Beckett, but Riello is
coming on strong. Might be that where Tony lives, blue flame burners are
popular. I can't believe I've never seen one. Here is a good link to the
technology:
http://www.hed.com/blueflame/description.html

It's certainly interesting, but it seems to be just in the industrial
market which would explain why we haven't see it in any residential
applications.

Don't they (often) use a different type of oil in industry. I read
about grade 6, which contains more sulfur (and maybe other ingredient
differences) and grade 4 which iiuc is a mix of grade 6 and grade 2.

So maybe different components give a different color. This is where
the rules of color mixing come in. Blue and yellow make white, so
maybe blue with a little yellow is what makes it look almost white.

Does sulfur burn blue? Yes, according to wikip, it does. So I think
the fuel makes the difference.

On 1/20/2011 10:41 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.


http://wetheadmedia.com/how-to-troub...tt-oil-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.


I must admit, I don't see much about blue flames in today's search but
there are still quite a few of them out there if you search enough.
Although today's search seems to have blue flames in the minority.

I also found a neat Popular Science article about a blue flame heater
from in the 50's maybe, but I lost it again. It was a circular burner
where the burning oil heated up the fuel oil until it became a gas, then
it burned blue. I was also working on a homemade waste oil heater that
burns white/blue, I may get around to it again by spring.

Even this thread made it into google already, into a D Y I dot B a n t e
r dot com.

"Tony Miklos" wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 10:41 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:29 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Tony Miklos wrote:

On 1/20/2011 2:24 PM, RBM wrote:
"Tony wrote in message
...
On 1/20/2011 7:40 AM, mm wrote:
So everything was fine, and now my oil furnace starts, runs for
about
9 seconds with a good yellow flame, and stops.

In a while I can press reset and then the same thing happens.

9 seconds is not enough time for the fan to go on, of course. Now
it
might be even a little shorter.

Hellllllllp!


"A good yellow flame"? No such thing. That's bad, it should be
mostly
blue with yellow tips. If it's running that poorly, the optical
sensor is
probably smoked up and shuts itself down. Clean off the sensor then
try
adjusting the air for a blue flame with yellow tips.

You do realize that this is an oil burner??


Yes. And I've watched pro's adjust them and I've done it myself many
times. A yellow flame is going to build up a lot of soot in no time.
Actually blue may not be best, try for a white/blue flame with yellow
tips. And if you're picky, I'll change "optical sensor" to "photo
cell". Yellow is not acceptable, unless you want the same problems
the
OP has.

I took (and passed with a perfect grade) an oil burner service course,
and there were no blue or remotely blue flames anywhere in and of the
burners we worked on, only very bright yellow, which might look white
to
some folks.

Well you could have me on the very bright yellow looking white. What
color are or should the tips be? That's the only place I see yellow and
never orange.

Just for the record Tony, further searching turned up your blue flame oil
burners. It is not a standard oil burner, but a specially designed burner
which produces this blue flame. Typical garden variety burners make
yellow
flames, Blue Ray type burners make blue flames.


http://wetheadmedia.com/how-to-troub...tt-oil-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.


I must admit, I don't see much about blue flames in today's search but
there are still quite a few of them out there if you search enough.
Although today's search seems to have blue flames in the minority.

I also found a neat Popular Science article about a blue flame heater from
in the 50's maybe, but I lost it again. It was a circular burner where
the burning oil heated up the fuel oil until it became a gas, then it
burned blue. I was also working on a homemade waste oil heater that burns
white/blue, I may get around to it again by spring.

Even this thread made it into google already, into a D Y I dot B a n t e r
dot com.

The advice given on the link you post, is from some guy with a blog, not
Beckett, so I question it's accuracy. Again, I'm not a burner tech, but I
have worked on literally hundreds of Becketts, and I've never seen one burn
anything but some variation of yellow. It is also possible that Beckett
makes a blue flame burner