My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

wrote in
:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps
flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it
below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set
temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.


Check to make sure the flue isn't blocked. This was the cause of my furnace shutting down a
few years ago:
http://milmac.com/BlockedFlue.jpg

On 12/23/2014 05:26 AM, wrote:
My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.





First thing to do is replace the ceramic insulators, they can develop
small cracks.

If that does not clear things up, your transformer is probably bad

philo wrote:
On 12/23/2014 05:26 AM, wrote:
My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps
flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below
that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature
but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.




First thing to do is replace the ceramic insulators, they can develop
small cracks.

If that does not clear things up, your transformer is probably bad

I'd think if the transformer was bad it wouldn't light at all . Sounds
more like a malf in the flame sensor circuitry to me .

--
Snag

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 09:36:44 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

philo wrote:
On 12/23/2014 05:26 AM, wrote:
My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps
flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below
that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature
but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.




First thing to do is replace the ceramic insulators, they can develop
small cracks.

If that does not clear things up, your transformer is probably bad

I'd think if the transformer was bad it wouldn't light at all . Sounds
more like a malf in the flame sensor circuitry to me .

I agree with this. The transformer should be fine since it does light.
The flame sensor has an element which is a photo-cell. If it sees light
(from the flame), it keeps burning. Those photo-cells can get filthy
from soot and crud. They need to be cleaned. Or the photo-cell or
another part of the flame sensor could be bad.

You could also be starving for fuel, if the inline oil filter is partly
clogged. When was that last changed?

I had an oil furnace in the past, and was glad to get rid of it. They
are always a struggle to keep working. If you're handy, pull the burner
out of the furnace and clean the sensor. Otherwise you may need to call
a professional. Oil furnaces are tough for the average home owner to
repair.

The oil filter change should be done yearly, so I'd do that either way,
if it has not been done in awhile.

One other thing, a pro will automatically change the nozzle. The spray
pattern has a lot of effect on how it burns. So, if you pull the burner
out, change the nozzle. You MUST use the correct one. They are rated
by the amount of oil used. (My old furnace was .75), and they are also
rated to the spray angle/pattern. Just match the numbers on the new one
to the old one.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:26:49 -0600, wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 09:36:44 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

philo wrote:
On 12/23/2014 05:26 AM, wrote:
My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps
flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below
that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature
but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.




First thing to do is replace the ceramic insulators, they can develop
small cracks.

If that does not clear things up, your transformer is probably bad

I'd think if the transformer was bad it wouldn't light at all . Sounds
more like a malf in the flame sensor circuitry to me .

I agree with this. The transformer should be fine since it does light.

I don't think we know that it lights. It may just stay on until the
usually 45 seccond start-up time expires. "On" meaning the motor runs
and powers the fan and the pump, but we don't know there is a flame.

The flame sensor has an element which is a photo-cell. If it sees light
(from the flame), it keeps burning. Those photo-cells can get filthy
from soot and crud. They need to be cleaned. Or the photo-cell or
another part of the flame sensor could be bad.

You could also be starving for fuel, if the inline oil filter is partly
clogged. When was that last changed?

I had an oil furnace in the past, and was glad to get rid of it. They
are always a struggle to keep working. If you're handy, pull the burner
out of the furnace and clean the sensor.

FTR, the burner is a lot bigger than that. Maybe you mean the nozzle
assembly.

Otherwise you may need to call
a professional. Oil furnaces are tough for the average home owner to
repair.

But if you're going to have one for 7 years or more it can be woth the
effort to learn..

The oil filter change should be done yearly, so I'd do that either way,
if it has not been done in awhile.

One other thing, a pro will automatically change the nozzle. The spray
pattern has a lot of effect on how it burns. So, if you pull the burner
out, change the nozzle. You MUST use the correct one. They are rated
by the amount of oil used. (My old furnace was .75), and they are also
rated to the spray angle/pattern. Just match the numbers on the new one
to the old one.

That should work, but one of the servicemen replaced a nozzle for me
with a different one, hollow instead of solid. Maybe he had the idea
hollow would be better, or maybe he didn't have a solid one in his
toolbox. It did work for at least a year, but maybe not as well as the
right one. It might be better to wipe the dirt off the metal plate
with the model number, etc. That should include the nozzle spec.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:45:44 -0500, micky
wrote:

I don't think we know that it lights. It may just stay on until the
usually 45 seccond start-up time expires. "On" meaning the motor runs
and powers the fan and the pump, but we don't know there is a flame.


There has to be some sort of "flame door". A little (usually round)
door to open and see the flame. Open that door and watch what happens
as it starts. Do you see a flame?

This is what you need to do first.

Basically you have two things happening in an oil furnace.

The oil comes from the tank, thru a filter, and to a pump in the
furnace. Then it goes to the nozzle and sprays (like a nozzle on a
garden hose) It should be a fine spray.

Next is ignition. The transformer creates the high voltage. The
electrodes and insulators send a high voltage spark across the oil spray
and ignites it.

That's pretty much how they work. If you ever held a cig lighter in the
spray coming out of a can of spray paint, there will be a huge flame.
(I'm not suggesting you do that). But that pretty much sums up how an
oil furnace works.

There is one other system, and that is the circuit board and flame
sensor, which allow it to burn if it sees a flame, or shuts it down if
there is no flame after some seconds. If that was not used, the furnace
would keep pumping unburned oil into the fire pot, and you'd soon have
inches of oil in the fire pot which would eventually run out of the
furnace and make a huge mess, if not cause a house fire.

Since you know th motor runs, you dont have a blown fuse and are you
getting a spark? Is the oil spraying in the firepot? Is the flame
sensor not allowing it to keep running (often due to a dirty sensor.

Again, check for clogged filter, change nozzle, and check for a spark.

So,
1. Check for spark
2. check to see if the oil is getting into the furnace and spraying.
3. Check for a flame sensor problem, which wont allow it to keep running

Just like working on a car. You need ignition and fuel.

Do you know, if you remove the whole burner assembly, short across the
thermostat wires, connect to a fuel oil source, and connect it to an
outlet, you can burn them ouside of the furnace?

DONT DO IT INDOORS.
IN FACT, I DONT SUGGEST DOING IT AT ALL.
(However I have done it outdoors, and know a guy who used to use one of
them to heat metal for forging).

---
Maybe someone else can answer this. The oil furnaces I worked on were
in the 60's thru the 80's. Back then the circuitry was pretty simple.
But I never worked on anything newer. Do the newer oil filters have a
lot of computerized stuff?????

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:45:44 -0500, micky
wrote:


FTR, the burner is a lot bigger than that. Maybe you mean the nozzle
assembly.


You CAN remove the whole burner assembly. There should be 2 to 4 bolts
around the round ring that holds it to the furnace. Remove them, remove
the fuel line (and plug it), remove the AC wiring and the thermostat
wires, The burner assy will pull right out. It's really not that hard
to do.

Before you do all of this, make sure there is oil getting to the fuel
pump. Just loosen the fuel line. Have a jar or can handy and see if
oil flows out of the fuel line...... There should be a bleeder too.
Kind of like the bleeders on car brakes. Use that to see if there is
oil instead of loosening the line.

Of the oil tank was empty. You might just have an air locked line. My
furnace used to do that regularly if i let the tank go empty.
BLEED BLEED BLEED it.....

On 12/23/2014 09:36 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
philo wrote:
On 12/23/2014 05:26 AM, wrote:
My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps
flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below
that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature
but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.




First thing to do is replace the ceramic insulators, they can develop
small cracks.

If that does not clear things up, your transformer is probably bad

I'd think if the transformer was bad it wouldn't light at all . Sounds
more like a malf in the flame sensor circuitry to me .




I'd say the more likely problem is the electrode insulators or possibly
just a dirty flame sensor.

Yes. Not likely the transformer is bad but a small possibility of a
broken/intermittent internal connection

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

How many is a few? Time it, at least twice, and tell us how long it
takes to go out each time.

By oil heater, dp you mean a full-size furnace, that heats the whole
house or apartment?

There are a lot of things that can cause your problem.

When is the last time the furnace was serviced? The last time the
nozzle was changed. They don't last more than 2 years and should be
replaced every year. They are only 6 or 8 dollars on-line, inc.
shipping, but make sure you buy the one speiified on the name plate
inside your furnace. And be careful unscrewing that you don't hit and
brake the insultators. A smallish wrench is needed for the inside hex,
like a 6" crescent wrench.

Do you have a round door you can lift up? Get in the habit of using a
long screwdriver, so you won't burn yourself when it's hot, and lift up
the door before it starts. Do you see a flame or the light from a
flame coming from where the flame would be? (not just a little light
from a continous spark) Does the light last the same length of time as
the furnace stays on before it goes out. Please get back to us with
the answer to these questions, yes or no, and we'll give you more
advice.

Do you hear the roar of the fire before it goes off?

Or just the small sound of a spark? Well, the spark you probably can't
hear because the fan and oil pump make more noise that it does.

Does it just try again to start on its own or do you have to push the
red button?

About how old is the furnace?

You can see several wires connected to the control board (in the box
with the red button)? If your furnace is new enough to have a
cadmium light sensor, and only the very old ones don't, you can test the
sensor by disconnecting one of the wires to the control unit, Get back
to me.

You can also test the ignition transformer before you buy a new one.
Unscrew the bolt or whatever is holding it down on a side that does not
have a hinge. Then press the red button to reset it, wait 30 or 50 more
seconds until it tries to start up again, and whenever it tries to start
up again, test the transformer by laying a long screwdriver witha well
insultated handle (and you should touch only the handle--keep your hand
at least 3/4" from the metal shaft) .... Lay the screwdriver on one of
the big contacts that the transformer has and then get the end of the
screwdriver very close to the other one. You should see a contnouse
spark from the other one to the tip of the screwdriver. Pull t he
screwdriver gradually away from the other one and the spark should get
longer, at least a half inch. If it's 1/2 inch or even 1/4 the furnace
should worlk, but the transformer is marginal. Let us know the r esults
if you do the test.

The electrodes might not be adjusted correctly.

The insulators might be giving the spark an easier path than jumping the
gap that ignites the oil but the service men have only replaced my
insultators twice in 30 years, and that might been routine maintenance.
They never came when the furnace was not working. All those times I
fixed it myself.

If you have an oil filter, it might be clogged. It's the size of a
car's oil filter, somewhere on the line between the tank and the
furnace. I don't have one so there is no filter to clog, but aiui the
filter element should be replaced every year, at least every two. If
you replace the filter, you may have to bleed the oil line so many save
the filter for last.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

The best page I've seen online to fix oil furnaces:

http://inspectapedia.com/heat/Oil_Burner_Wont_Run.htm

Very very very very thorough. No use of fancy tools required. Not a
reference to them


If you ever want to do almost complete maintenance, however, you'll have
to get a wet-dry vac that accepts soot filters. For Shop=Vac under its
name or other names, that's everything but the tiny one and what used to
be the smallest one.

For Ridgid, as of a few years ago, they didn't have soot filters by that
name. They have fine dust filters or something like that, but the box
and label made no reference to soot, which I think might be even finer
than "fine".

If you don't use a fine enough filter, It will suck up the soot and blow
it out the other end, all over the room.

But I think there's no chance that's your problem now. When I had too
much soot in my flu, it made CO and set off the CO detector, but the
furnace rand and it made heat. .

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:57:35 -0500, micky
wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

The best page I've seen online to fix oil furnaces:

http://inspectapedia.com/heat/Oil_Burner_Wont_Run.htm

This is what he says about ignition transformers, a little different
from what I said. Don't forget that this is in the context of having
already deterimined that there is no ignition. Also scroll down to his
list of sub-pages.

"Test the ignition transformer for spark (old timers know a screwdriver
trick; if the flame is blue and reaches mostly across the gap of the
transformer springs with the screwdriver an inch or so away, the
transformer is probably ok.

Watch out: this is very high voltage: you could be shocked or killed -
this old-timer's trick is not officially recommended and our service
tech declined to be photographed performing this step. Other,
recommended oil burner ignition transformer test procedures are provided
by the manufacturer.

If the transformer is weak the spark will be dead, not bridge the gap to
the screwdriver, or not extend to at least 3/4 the width between the
contact springs, or will be orange not blue in color.
If the transformer does not check out, replace it.***
If the transformer looks OK check closely the ignition leads including
for cracked shorting ceramic insulators in the burner assembly or an
improper or improper gap or damaged electrodes. You already looked to be
sure the electrodes were not bridged with soot and crud, right?"


***Back to me. Still if there is a spark not quite this good, the spark
might be good enough and another problem might be the main problem


Very very very very thorough. No use of fancy tools required. Not a
reference to them


If you ever want to do almost complete maintenance, however, you'll have
to get a wet-dry vac that accepts soot filters. For Shop=Vac under its
name or other names, that's everything but the tiny one and what used to
be the smallest one.

For Ridgid, as of a few years ago, they didn't have soot filters by that
name. They have fine dust filters or something like that, but the box
and label made no reference to soot, which I think might be even finer
than "fine".

If you don't use a fine enough filter, It will suck up the soot and blow
it out the other end, all over the room.

But I think there's no chance that's your problem now. When I had too
much soot in my flu, it made CO and set off the CO detector, but the
furnace rand and it made heat. .

On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 12:10:23 AM UTC-5, micky wrote:
Anyone notice that while you're all trying to fix the guy's
furnace based on one basically nonsensical sentence, he's gone MIA?
Maybe it's now too cold to type. More likely another troll.

On Wed, 24 Dec 2014 04:42:21 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 12:10:23 AM UTC-5, micky wrote:
Anyone notice that while you're all trying to fix the guy's
furnace based on one basically nonsensical sentence, he's gone MIA?

His post was vague, but not nonsensical. Lots of people don't fully
explain the situation when they first post.

As to MIA, it's only one day and 7 hours since his first post. Maybe
he worked all day yesterday, shopped after work for hours, and had to go
to work today. Lots of possible reasons why he hasn't posted back.

Or maybe he'll never get back to us because he's rude. Lots of posters
don't bother to post back. Most are not trolls.

Maybe it's now too cold to type. More likely another troll.

Trolls are those who try to rile up the readers. Nothing he said was
like that.

Lots of people go without heat for a while, hoping to fix something
themselves. They use lots of clothes, room heaters, boiling water, and
electric blankets, and if they don't live in northern Minnesota they can
go for a week or longer trying to fix their furnace on their own.

On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 1:29:34 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
On Wed, 24 Dec 2014 04:42:21 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, December 24, 2014 12:10:23 AM UTC-5, micky wrote:
Anyone notice that while you're all trying to fix the guy's
furnace based on one basically nonsensical sentence, he's gone MIA?

His post was vague, but not nonsensical. Lots of people don't fully
explain the situation when they first post.

I think it is nonsensical, when someone who obviously has no
clue whatever, starts asking what to do about an oil furnace that
keeps tripping the safety shutdown. If you don't even have a clue,
can't begin to formulate a question, you should have sense enough to
call for service.




As to MIA, it's only one day and 7 hours since his first post. Maybe
he worked all day yesterday, shopped after work for hours, and had to go
to work today. Lots of possible reasons why he hasn't posted back.

Sure, so feel free to keep speculating without a clue. My car won't
run. Please help me!





Or maybe he'll never get back to us because he's rude. Lots of posters
don't bother to post back. Most are not trolls.


Most don't make ridiculous posts like that either.



Maybe it's now too cold to type. More likely another troll.

Trolls are those who try to rile up the readers. Nothing he said was
like that.


It's certainly got folks here riled up, making wild guesses
with nothing to go on. Real sound ones too:

"How many is a few? Time it, at least twice, and tell us how long it
takes to go out each time. "

The guy appears clueless, do you really think it's a good
idea to be telling him to keep pushing the reset button, trying to
restart an oil burner, filling it with more oil? Or how to start
testing it:

"Lay the screwdriver on one of
the big contacts that the transformer has and then get the end of the
screwdriver very close to the other one. You should see a contnouse
spark from the other one to the tip of the screwdriver."

Come to think of it, maybe the reason he's not reporting back is
you killed him.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

Thanks for sharing.

On 12/24/2014 2:15 PM, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

Thanks for sharing.

Your father and I love you.

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

Oren posted for all of us...



On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 03:26:00 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

My oil heater starts but dont stay on & my green light keeps flashing. It's set to reach a certain temperature & once it below that temperature the heater is suppose to reach that set temperature but it starts up &goes out after a few seconds.

Thanks for sharing.

Really, I think this topic has been posted at least three times lately.

--
Tekkie *Please post a follow-up*