# Oil Burner won't stay running!



## sgruver78 (May 25, 2009)

Hey guys!  So i have a OWB that I just turned off yesterday because it kept going out on me since nothing was really calling for heat.  Anyway, my hot water runs through my indoor boiler so I up the temps on my aqua stat so my indoor boiler would create heat for my water and now it won't stay running.  It kicks on then fires and within about 5 secs in kicks off and goes into the recycle mode before it resets and tries again.  Last night I kept hitting reset and held the damper open and it finally hit the temp i wanted but this morning when i tried to do that it still kicked off and went to recycle.  I am no pro at boilers but could it be possible its has an air pocket in in the fuel line or something and that is why its kicking off?


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## fluoropolymer (May 25, 2009)

For what it's worth - Sounds to me like your cad cell may have gone bad.  If burner ignites but photocell does not pick up light from flame the burner controller will time out, shut burner down, and reset.  Not a great idea to keep pushing reset.

Good luck


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## thecontrolguy (May 25, 2009)

sgruver78;

You might also check the fuel filter and isolation valving around the filter.  If the burner pump gets enough fuel to light but not enough to run, it can exhibit what you are seeing.  I would also (as has been mentioned) check the CAD cell (the device that sees if there is flame in the burner) and clean that.  Also, you may have a partially clogged fuel nozzle, but that is easy to replace.  Good luck.


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## ohbie1 (May 26, 2009)

You can check if it's the CAD cell by jumping the two terminals it's connected to(this bypasses the cell.  If it works while jumped, you need a new cell.  *This is only for testing. Do not run the unit unattended with the CAD cell jumped.*
If you are getting any small boom when it restarts or smell of oil, it could likely be your transformer (or solid state unit) going bad.  If not, listen carefully to your motor because if it's not pumping properly the unit will shut down.

My burner is 15 yrs. old and I've had to replace the Transformer 2x and the motor 1x(at 10 yrs.)


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## overshot (May 26, 2009)

What burner do you have?


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## sgruver78 (May 27, 2009)

i cleaned the eye even though it didn't look dirty and put it back in and it works great!  thanks for the great info and help!  maybe you guys could help me with another question.  i have the Honeywell L8124 aquastat and my boiler runs my hot water.  what is a good temp setting for the stat so i am not wasting too much oil.  the setting it was always at was 180 hi/ 165 lo with a 15 differential.  any other sugguestions on this?


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## ohbie1 (May 27, 2009)

I think I would drop the high and low (at the same time) in say 10 degree increments, letting it run for a day or two at each dropped setting.  When the HW hits an unsatisfactory level, bump the settings back up the 10 you just dropped (or if you want to be fanatical back up 1 degree at a time till satisfactory).  Logically this would be the lowest satifactory setting for your needs.  The OB will run less(than at 180), and you should be using the minimum oil necessary.


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## WoodNotOil (May 27, 2009)

Whenever I need to use my oil burner (rarely now though!) I have to clean the eye.  You will find you have to do this whenever it has been off line for a while.  Glad it was an easy fix for you.  Now that I have storage, I don't use the oil boiler at all.  It is just there for emergencies...

If you lower the boiler temp, you will need to adjust the tempering valve so that it mixes less cold water for what comes out of the tap.  My wife always complained if the boiler was under 160* that the water wasn't hot enough.  Ironic seeing that before I put in the Tarm my old propane HW was only set in the 120* range...


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## Gooserider (May 28, 2009)

WoodNotOil said:
			
		

> Whenever I need to use my oil burner (rarely now though!) I have to clean the eye.  You will find you have to do this whenever it has been off line for a while.  Glad it was an easy fix for you.  Now that I have storage, I don't use the oil boiler at all.  It is just there for emergencies...
> 
> If you lower the boiler temp, you will need to adjust the tempering valve so that it mixes less cold water for what comes out of the tap.  My wife always complained if the boiler was under 160* that the water wasn't hot enough.  Ironic seeing that before I put in the Tarm my old propane HW was only set in the 120* range...



Sounds like you might need a more sensitive tempering valve if it isn't maintaining a stable temperature (I assume the wife didn't want 160* at the tap...)

You might also want to look at NoFo's piping layout - IIRC he had a setup with two tempering valves in series that he said gave better control - I forget the details but I think the first one mixed down to an intermediate temp (140*?) and fed that to the second, which had a more constant temperature to deal with, and only needed to mix in a small amount of additional cold to reach the delivery temperature...

Gooserider


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## heaterman (May 28, 2009)

Whoooooaa there boys and girls. Let's start with the basics.

If the unit has been off for a long time your fuel line may have bled back to the tank (if it's not gravity feed)  Check to see if you have oil at the burner pump.

If you do the next thing to check would be the nozzle but first, tell me what boiler you have and what brand and model burner you have. 

Trouble shooting a Riello is different than say a Beckett or a Carlin.............


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