Hi,

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating. It
was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned everything, and
replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

It locked out 29th Oct., twice on 8th Nov. and four times (so far)
today. Any idea what the problem might be, before I call the guy back?
I know nothing about boilers, and am not about to start pulling it
apart. Cold up here, in NE Scotland :-)
--
Graeme

"Graeme" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating. It
was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned everything, and
replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

It locked out 29th Oct., twice on 8th Nov. and four times (so far) today.
Any idea what the problem might be, before I call the guy back? I know
nothing about boilers, and am not about to start pulling it apart. Cold
up here, in NE Scotland :-)

I hope that the guy who serviced the boiler also tuned it by checking the
oil pressure, smoke and CO2 % and adjusting the air.

Your problem maybe dirty photocell, maybe oil supply.

I have filters in my oil supply, if I don't change the elements every few
years they clog up and stop the boiler.

I also have a non return valve in my oil supply and this recently gave me
some trouble.

Apart from making sure that you have some oil I don't think that there is
much more that you can do without a spanner.

--
Michael Chare

In message , Michael
Chare writes
"Graeme" wrote in message
...

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating.
It was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned
everything, and replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

I hope that the guy who serviced the boiler also tuned it by checking
the oil pressure, smoke and CO2 % and adjusting the air.

I'm not sure, to be honest. He did have what looked to be equipment -
something with a long black tube. Sorry to be vague - I haven't a clue
about boilers.

I have filters in my oil supply, if I don't change the elements every
few years they clog up and stop the boiler.

I don't think I have filters, in that there does not appear to be one at
the tank end outside, or the boiler end, inside.

Apart from making sure that you have some oil I don't think that there
is much more that you can do without a spanner.

To be honest, I'm looking for suggestions I can make to the engineer,
without looking as though I'm trying to teach Grandmother etc.

One thing I noticed is the odd sound the boiler makes, when it is
running. There is the usual roar, but behind that is a sound more like
a vintage tractor. Pah, pah, p, p, p, pah, pah, if that makes any
sense, which it probably doesn't.
--
Graeme

On Nov 11, 4:04*pm, Graeme wrote:
Hi,

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating. *It
was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned everything, and
replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

It locked out 29th Oct., twice on 8th Nov. and four times (so far)
today. *Any idea what the problem might be, before I call the guy back?
I know nothing about boilers, and am not about to start pulling it
apart. *Cold up here, in NE Scotland :-)
--
Graeme

If it's locked out whilst firing as opposed to startup, (it's
important to discover which). This means the flame has gone out or
controller thinks it has.
The flame can go out through lack of fuel or air or contaminated fuel
(eg water).
It can lock out because it thinks the flame has failed though this may
not be so, ie the photocell is dirty or defective.
There is also an air pressure switch that indicates to the controller
that the fan is running, this can go faulty. Apart from these, there
could be loose connections which can be a bugger to find. It is a
fail safe device, if in doubt, it locks out.

If it is failing on startup there are a whole lot more possible
faults. You have to note the exact point on the startup sequence that
lockout occurs to know where to start looking.
Intermittant faults are a bugger on complex equipment even if you work
on it every day. It's hard to blame your engineer.

"Graeme" wrote in message
...
In message , Michael
Chare writes
"Graeme" wrote in message
...

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating. It
was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned everything, and
replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

I hope that the guy who serviced the boiler also tuned it by checking the
oil pressure, smoke and CO2 % and adjusting the air.

I'm not sure, to be honest. He did have what looked to be equipment -
something with a long black tube. Sorry to be vague - I haven't a clue
about boilers.

I have filters in my oil supply, if I don't change the elements every few
years they clog up and stop the boiler.

I don't think I have filters, in that there does not appear to be one at
the tank end outside, or the boiler end, inside.

Apart from making sure that you have some oil I don't think that there is
much more that you can do without a spanner.

To be honest, I'm looking for suggestions I can make to the engineer,
without looking as though I'm trying to teach Grandmother etc.

I would just stick to describing the symptoms!

If you don't have the boiler installation and maintenance manual, you can
probably download a copy. It may well contain a troubleshooting guide.

One thing I noticed is the odd sound the boiler makes, when it is running.
There is the usual roar, but behind that is a sound more like a vintage
tractor. Pah, pah, p, p, p, pah, pah, if that makes any sense, which it
probably doesn't.

The boiler should run evenly. If you can see the flame it should be
constant. Air ingress via the flexible oil pipe that is connected to the
burner is yet another possible cause of uneven running.


--
Michael Chare

In message
,
harry writes
On Nov 11, 4:04*pm, Graeme wrote:
It locked out 29th Oct., twice on 8th Nov. and four times (so far)
today. *Any idea what the problem might be, before I call the guy back?
I know nothing about boilers, and am not about to start pulling it
apart. *Cold up here, in NE Scotland :-)

If it's locked out whilst firing as opposed to startup, (it's
important to discover which). This means the flame has gone out or
controller thinks it has.
The flame can go out through lack of fuel or air or contaminated fuel
(eg water).
It can lock out because it thinks the flame has failed though this may
not be so, ie the photocell is dirty or defective.
There is also an air pressure switch that indicates to the controller
that the fan is running, this can go faulty. Apart from these, there
could be loose connections which can be a bugger to find. It is a
fail safe device, if in doubt, it locks out.

Useful information - thank you. It locks out whilst running. It will
start OK, then run normally, then suddenly stop. I'm certainly not
blaming the engineer; merely wondering if there are obvious reasons why
lockouts occur.

It certainly does not sound healthy, so I have turned it off, pending
further investigation. Set the immersion heater for hot water, and a
couple of calor gas fires to keep us warm :-)
--
Graeme

In message , Michael
Chare writes
"Graeme" wrote in message
...

To be honest, I'm looking for suggestions I can make to the engineer,
without looking as though I'm trying to teach Grandmother etc.

I would just stick to describing the symptoms!

Wise words :-) Yes, you're right, of course. He is the guy who knows,
and will doubtless not welcome my thoughts.
--
Graeme

On Nov 11, 7:09*pm, Graeme wrote:
In message , Michael
Chare writes

"Graeme" wrote in message
...

We have the above oil fired boiler, and the lockout keeps operating.
It *was serviced mid October, and the guy who did it cleaned
everything, and *replaced a jet, but could find no obvious fault.

I hope that the guy who serviced the boiler also tuned it by checking
the oil pressure, smoke and CO2 % and adjusting the air.

I'm not sure, to be honest. *He did have what looked to be equipment -
something with a long black tube. *Sorry to be vague - I haven't a clue
about boilers.



I have filters in my oil supply, if I don't change the elements every
few years they clog up and stop the boiler.

I don't think I have filters, in that there does not appear to be one at
the tank end outside, or the boiler end, inside.



Apart from making sure that you have some oil I don't think that there
is much more that you can do without a spanner.

To be honest, I'm looking for suggestions I can make to the engineer,
without looking as though I'm trying to teach Grandmother etc.

One thing I noticed is the odd sound the boiler makes, when it is
running. *There is the usual roar, but behind that is a sound more like
a vintage tractor. * Pah, pah, p, p, p, pah, pah, if that makes any
sense, which it probably doesn't.
--
Graeme

The new noise could be due to fuel starvation. Possible causes are
water contamination of the fuel or filters partially blocked. You do
not specify which model of burner is fitted but if it has a Danfoss
oil pump these have a fine mesh within the body of the pump as well as
the normally fitted tank outlet filter or secondary indoor filter.
Some bodged installs omit the primary filters.
Starting ok then dying would fit with a clogged filter. Other causes
might be the solenoid coil heating up and going open circuit while
hot, a photocell which is ageing and becoming unstable, or a problem
with the sequence control box. Intermittent faults are swines to cure
especially when they only occur at long intervals.

In message
,
cynic writes

snip

Starting ok then dying would fit with a clogged filter.

Strange. Yesterday, I turned off the heating, due to the odd noises the
boiler was making, before cutting out. However, I left the HW to come
on early morning, fully expecting that it would cut out, so I set the
immersion heater timer, too.

This morning, the boiler had not cut out, so I tried the heating.
Perfect. Been running all day, and did not cut out until an hour ago.
Reset, and running fine again. An intermittent fault. Oh joy.
--
Graeme