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 ?

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.

Michael McNeil wrote:

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.

But if that was the case it would make some noise - the fan
would come on, and the igniter would buzz for a few seconds. The
OP says it's totally dead.

--
Grunff

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:14:03 +0100, Grunff wrote:

Don't know - I don't use them. A new oil boilers isn't as expensive
as you might think, they start around =A3600.

I doubt you'd need a whole new boiler, just the burner or even just
the motor. There are many boiler makers but only a small handful of
burner makers.

Of course if an oil boiler tries and fails to light more than a couple
of times it will "lock out" and not try again. A locked out burner
appears dead apart from a light with "lock out" written next to it.
This is quite often a push but to reset the lockout. I don't know if
the lock out state is persistent across a complete power down or not.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

pjti wrote:

Grunff wrote in message ...

Thanks so far grunff. Gives me an idea waht to look for, I am guessing
the main fan motor has seized as nothing happens at all. I have yet to
check the power supply but I think its ok. My next step is to strip
out the motor so I can check it / free it off. Is that an easy job ?

After that I may have to call in a professional , I dont want to get
caught for a new boiler as I guess that what will be the verdict even
tho its possibly something simple. My experience is that people these
days tend to replace rather than repair.

peejay


It may be that nothing is calling for heat, or a motorized valve
elsewhere has siezed up.

Does the light come on at all?

Thanks again people. I am being given lots of pointers here. as faras
I am aware there is some fuel in the tank, I will first try to verify
its not water but it does smell like oil.

I have tried the reset button but nothing occurs. Today i hope to get
the spanners out and attempt a post mortemonit.

BTW I am in Southern Ireland and you can bet a new boiler will cost a
lot more than UK equivalent. Even if I bought one I would not knowhow
to instal it .YET. if I stay on this group tho I am sure someone will
tell me how .LOL. Thanks again
PJTI

"pjti" wrote in message
om...
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 ?


Lets take a step back and consider your problem. The following pointers do
suggest a bit of electrical & safety knowledge to test for power present
and you should only do this if you are competent to do so.
..
1. Is there ANY power reaching the boiler itself when you are trying to run
it? There must be some cabling leading into the boiler usually via a
thermostat box. This might include an overheat thermostat which requires
manual resetting by pressing a button somewhere on this box. The usual
cause of this tripping is trying to run the boiler while it is empty of
water or (sometimes) with a failed water circulation pump.

2. Your advice that it is an outside boiler helps but is not really
sufficient to diagnose. Are you saying it is in an outside shed, in its own
weatherproof enclosure, or again its own weatherproof enclosure but mounted
up on a wall? A name and model number with a make and model for the burner
as well would be of immense assistance.

3. If the boiler/burner is being fed with power try to identify the burner
control box, usually bearing a reset button which lights up if the unit has
tried to fire but no flame has been detected within about 5 to 10 seconds.
If this button is illuminated (or an associated lockout lamp is
illuminated) press this lockout reset button and the burner motor should
try to start. If powere is reaching it you should hear a buzz even if it is
stuck and not rotating. IF the burner remains silent try to check if power
does reach it for a few seconds when the reset is pressed.

4. If the burner motor starts and the burner is supplied with oil and the
oil pump is not pumping air instead of fuel it "should" fire if this is not
happening try to memorise exactly whats happens and come back for more
info.

HTH

John

In message , geoff
writes
In message , pjti
writes
Thanks again people. I am being given lots of pointers here. as faras
I am aware there is some fuel in the tank, I will first try to verify
its not water but it does smell like oil.

I have tried the reset button but nothing occurs. Today i hope to get
the spanners out and attempt a post mortemonit.

BTW I am in Southern Ireland and you can bet a new boiler will cost a
lot more than UK equivalent. Even if I bought one I would not knowhow
to instal it .YET. if I stay on this group tho I am sure someone will
tell me how .LOL. Thanks again
PJTI
Well John, our resident expert on oil doesn't seem to be here ATM,
maybe he'll turn up in due course

Oops - he's just turned up
--
geoff

Thanks everybody , I have "cured" the boiler. I found a thing that
looked like fuse and whne I pressed it things started to happen. Well
for a few seconds. Then I opened the cock on the tank - you can guess
the rest.

Many thanks to all

Patrick

In message , pjti
writes
Thanks everybody , I have "cured" the boiler. I found a thing that
looked like fuse and whne I pressed it things started to happen. Well
for a few seconds. Then I opened the cock on the tank - you can guess
the rest.

Easily done
--
geoff

On 13 Jul 2003 15:15:15 -0700, pjti wrote:

Thanks everybody , I have "cured" the boiler. I found a thing that
looked like fuse and whne I pressed it things started to happen.

Probably the over temperature thermostat. Ours has a hibit of tripping
this but then it's 38kW boiler with just a HW tank on it at this time
of year. Heat input heat sunk into HW tank meaning the boiler gets
to damn hot and protects itself, dispite the normal boiler stat being
set at about 70C (the protection is supposed to be just under 100C).
Massive lumps of cast iron hold a lot of heat even after the burner
has switched off.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail