DIY Oil Burner Repair?
Has anyone had experience fixing their own oil burner? A friends oil burner has been shutting itself off for no apparent reason, lately. She is often not home for a few days. She came home to frozen pipes. Her oil company sent a guy over and he cleaned and checked it. It shut itself off…
Has anyone had experience fixing their own oil burner?
A friends oil burner has been shutting itself off for no apparent reason, lately. She is often not home for a few days. She came home to frozen pipes. Her oil company sent a guy over and he cleaned and checked it. It shut itself off after that.
We’ve noticed that there are several control boxes that are on the burner/boiler. They are labeled with several different manufacturer’s names, GM Delco, Honeywell, Delco, and the burner is RWB Beckett.
It’s an old burner. I figure the various units got put on as the originals wore out. Maybe a more unified system would be better?
I’ve seen control units on eBay for a few dollars, ($15-$40). The contractor she has used for other jobs recommends a new boiler/burner and a lot of new piping and radiators, (she has a hot water system using some of the old cast iron 2″ pipe and the old cast iron radiators).
She can’t afford a new unit right now. The service people, (contractor, oil burner company), are all pushing the new unit– more money for them.
We’ve both done things like work on car engines, and the oil burner seems like a simpler system– no pistons, etc.
The info I’ve been finding so far is scant. Most sites say “hit the reset button then call for service.” And info is what we need. Anybody have a copy of “Oil Burners for Dummies”?
Hi
I know that these are many useful ones in this forum. Pls take a moment sending it to my email.
Tks in adv
I am a retired commercial Maintenance Supervisor who was , at one time responsible for 20+ fairly large (school size) boilers. While I am comfortable around boilers I don’t think I would attempt any serious repair. I suspect the safest way to go would be to contact a school system sized user and ask them for a contractor recommendation. In mid Michigan, for example, there is only one contractor I would trust to do those repairs. In fact I have a GM Delco cast iron sectional steam boiler in my home. It is about 80 years old and running strong because of that specific contractor. It won’t necessarily be inexpensive in the short term, but it will be inexpensive AND SAFEST, in the long term.
If I can be of further assistance, contact me.
Good luck.
I am a retired commercial Maintenance Supervisor who was , at one time responsible for 20+ fairly large (school size) boilers. While I am comfortable around boilers I don’t think I would attempt any serious repair. I suspect the safest way to go would be to contact a school system sized user and ask them for a contractor recommendation. In mid Michigan, for example, there is only one contractor I would trust to do those repairs. In fact I have a GM Delco cast iron sectional steam boiler in my home. It is about 80 years old and running strong because of that specific contractor. It won’t necessarily be inexpensive in the short term, but it will be inexpensive AND SAFEST, in the long term.
If I can be of further assistance, contact me.
Good luck.
I am a DIY-aholic. Cars, appliances, plumbing,wiring,farm machinery,etc. Have worked on oil and gas furnaces. Oil burners are way more complex than gas combustion appliances. Having done it, I would NOT recommend DIY on oil burners beyond the very basic nozzle, filter, transformer, controls,etc replacement, cleaning and the like. Quest nails it. The interaction and correct calibration of the components are critical and in my opinion cannot be done without both the specific equipment and the training/experience that only qualified professionals have. Getting it wrong can be messy and even dangerous. This in not a place for trial and error. These are automatic combustion appliances that should be maintained and repaired by professionals.
From one back yard mechanic to another, Oil Burners are NOT that complicated, but they do require accurate adjustments, alignments and cleaning. You need to know about electronics, combustion chambers, air flow, and how to adjust them for best combustion with minimum soot and most complete combustion.The Electrodes need to be clean and positioned and gapped correctly in the fuel mist for proper ignition and the nozzle position correctly in the air tube for correct flame shape. Also, the Pump has to be working at the correct pressure, So you have at least 4 variables to get the burner working at it best and most efficient. Read manuals and FAQ for burners. Also, you cannot overlook the Exhaust path, pipes, flues, chimmneys, dampers. They also need to be clean, unobstructed and operating correctly. Fuel oil, even at it’s best, does not burn that clean. Hence a yearly check up and cleaning is money and time well spent! And at least in my experiance, it is easier to get the burner wrong then right if you are not aware of how all these adjustments interact with each other. So read and talk to folks, it can be done, just need the knowledge to do it!
Good Luck!
some thing you just dont want to do yourself.. please get a professinal before you cause more damage and expenses to yourself
Why do you assume (cynically) that the contractors’ reason for replacing the defective burner is only for the money? Could it be because in their professional opinion that is the recommended course of action?
I’ve been working with heating equipment for over twenty years and I don’t touch oil burners.
The disassembly and repair of these units is a specialized field.
There are fewer and fewer people out there who can be considered competent oil burner technicians and that is one of several reasons why converting to gas is as common as it is.
Good luck.