Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and
"tuned up" each year by our svc company.

This year it has started short cycling. By that I mean that it will
start and run for about 15-45 seconds then stop. A few miniutes later
it will do that again. It doesn't sound like its failing and
stopping, just stopping normally.

I am assuming there is some part or component that may be causing this
but because I'm not a furnace guy I thought I would ask here before I
dig further. We do have four zones plug a hot water heater connected,
each with a separate thermostat.

So, any suggestions as to what it might be?

Thanks

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On Dec 17, 4:21*am, BobMCT wrote:
I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and
"tuned up" each year by our svc company.

This year it has started short cycling. *By that I mean that it will
start and run for about 15-45 seconds then stop. *A few miniutes later
it will do that again. *It doesn't sound like its failing and
stopping, just stopping normally.

I am assuming there is some part or component that may be causing this
but because I'm not a furnace guy I thought I would ask here before I
dig further. *We do have four zones plug a hot water heater connected,
each with a separate thermostat.

So, any suggestions as to what it might be?

Thanks

Get whoever serviced it back. This is not normal.

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On 2012-12-17, BobMCT wrote:
I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and
"tuned up" each year by our svc company.

This year it has started short cycling.

Why are you aking us instead of your "svc company"?

nb

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On 17 Dec 2012 11:12:16 GMT, notbob wrote:

Why are you aking us instead of your "svc company"?

Because as many, many posts here demonstrate, it's near impossible to
find a "good" svc company. It seems that when a good one is found
either a big one swallows it up or it/he goes out of business.

That last time I had a problem I had the svc company out three times
with three different guys and finally I asked here and the solution
was posted. I then argued with the svc company who finally sent one
of the original guys back who did what I conveyed to him. Guess what?
No more issues with that problem.

So that's why I ask here. Kind of like knowing what the problem is
before bringing your car to the repair shop/dealer. OK?

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On Dec 16, 11:21*pm, BobMCT wrote:
I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and
"tuned up" each year by our svc company.

This year it has started short cycling. *By that I mean that it will
start and run for about 15-45 seconds then stop. *A few miniutes later
it will do that again. *It doesn't sound like its failing and
stopping, just stopping normally.

I am assuming there is some part or component that may be causing this
but because I'm not a furnace guy I thought I would ask here before I
dig further.

All the boiler systems I've seen rely on a thermostat to
sense the water temp and keep it within the correct
range. So, one place to look would seem to be there.
Should be simple to put a tester on it when it's doing
what it's doing and find out if that is what is causing it.

You could also find a schematic for the boiler, could
be behind access cover on else online. With that
you can see what makes it fire, what can prevent it,
etc. It comes down to whether you have the necessary
skills for DIY. If not, then it probably doesn't matter too
much what anyone here can say if you're going to have
to call a service guy anyway.

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

My SWAG is dirty cad cell.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"BobMCT" wrote in message
...

Because as many, many posts here demonstrate, it's near impossible to
find a "good" svc company. It seems that when a good one is found
either a big one swallows it up or it/he goes out of business.

That last time I had a problem I had the svc company out three times
with three different guys and finally I asked here and the solution
was posted. I then argued with the svc company who finally sent one
of the original guys back who did what I conveyed to him. Guess what?
No more issues with that problem.

So that's why I ask here. Kind of like knowing what the problem is
before bringing your car to the repair shop/dealer. OK?

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

Trouble with a safety sensor, possibly
a dirty or defective cad cell.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"BobMCT" wrote in message
...
I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and
"tuned up" each year by our svc company.

This year it has started short cycling. By that I mean that it will
start and run for about 15-45 seconds then stop. A few miniutes later
it will do that again. It doesn't sound like its failing and
stopping, just stopping normally.

I am assuming there is some part or component that may be causing this
but because I'm not a furnace guy I thought I would ask here before I
dig further. We do have four zones plug a hot water heater connected,
each with a separate thermostat.

So, any suggestions as to what it might be?

Thanks

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

"BobMCT" wrote in message
...
On 17 Dec 2012 11:12:16 GMT, notbob wrote:

Why are you aking us instead of your "svc company"?

Because as many, many posts here demonstrate, it's near impossible to
find a "good" svc company. It seems that when a good one is found
either a big one swallows it up or it/he goes out of business.


It does seem that for a simple system, there are lots of service people that
have little idea as how to repair anything. They just change parts and hope
to hit on the right one. I had a heatpump that the outside unit was iceing
over in the winter. First guy replaced the fan motor . It was iced over
two days later, he came backout and said something about a control board.
I sent him packing and got another company to replace the system as it was
close to 25 years old.

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On Sunday, December 16, 2012 11:21:39 PM UTC-5, BobMCT wrote:
I have a Weil-McLain oil fired hot water furnace which is cleaned and "tuned up" each year by our svc company. This year it has started short cycling. By that I mean that it will start and run for about 15-45 seconds then stop. A few miniutes later it will do that again. It doesn't sound like its failing and stopping, just stopping normally. I am assuming there is some part or component that may be causing this but because I'm not a furnace guy I thought I would ask here before I dig further. We do have four zones plug a hot water heater connected, each with a separate thermostat. So, any suggestions as to what it might be? Thanks

I have a similar system. Over the years, I've had two major problems. One was air in the oil line and the other was with the pressure reducing valve which allows water from the supply pipe to flow into the boiler. Not sure if either of those could be the problem here; your problem sounds more like some electrical sensor giving erroneous feedback and shutting off the burn.

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On Dec 17, 11:19*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
My SWAG is dirty cad cell.

I haven't fooled around with an oil burner in many
years. But back then, if the flame sensor tripped it,
the thing would require a manual reset to get it to
try to restart. Which the OP isn't reporting. Sounds
like it restarts again and again on it's own. Will new
ones do that? Seems unlikely because of safety
issue. You don't want it constantly pumping oil
in....

Oil furnace cycling Q?
 

On Dec 17, 12:39*pm, "
wrote:
On Dec 17, 11:19*am, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
My SWAG is dirty cad cell.

I haven't fooled around with an oil burner in many
years. *But back then, if the flame sensor tripped it,
the thing would require a manual reset to get it to
try to restart. *Which the OP isn't reporting. *Sounds
like it restarts again and again on it's own. *Will new
ones do that? *Seems unlikely because of safety
issue. *You don't want it constantly pumping oil
in....

right...to the op
determine if the fire actually lights when the burner turns on.

if the fire does not light when the burner turns on for whatever
reason, the safety is doing its job and shutting off the burner so
that it does not pump the firebox full of oil.

do not bypass the safety.. or you might go boom

Mark