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OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Experts

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Kirk Grau

01-20-2008 17:18:49




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Earlier this evening we noticed that the house furnace was not working. Checked tank and it was empty. Transferred some fuel to tank (~20 gal) to hold us over until tomorrow when I can get a delivery. Vented line as usual and burner fired up for maybe 10 seconds and has not fired since. It is a Trane furnace, the burner is a Beckett AFG if I remember correctly.

Any assistance I can get troubleshooting would be appreciated. It is going to be a cold night here in South Central PA, probably single digits.

Thanks,

Kirk

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Kirk Grau

01-21-2008 05:38:56




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
Thanks for all the help so far,

We have an addition with propane heat so we went to bed last night with everybody in that room (kind of crowded). Now that I have finished morning chores I need to get going on this. Already called for fuel delivery, but have a few questions...


I assume I need to remove the burner from the furnace to replace the nozzle?

I will get a new filter just because I should, do not when or if it has ever been changed.

Tank is in the basement adjacent to the furnace, probably 10' away for those who asked.

Similar to question above, do I need to remove the burner to replace/check igniter?

Thanks again and I better get at this, it is pretty cold inside as well as out right now.

Kirk

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Bob

01-21-2008 07:05:43




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-21-2008 05:38:56  
You DO NOT have to remove the complete burner.

The nozzle/electrodes can be withdrawn after loosening (or sometimes, removing) a couple of little screws, and tipping the transformer out of the way, and disconnecting the oil line to the nozzle.

Be SURE to use two wrenches to remove the nozzle... one to hold the adapter the nozzle screws into (typicaly 11/16" or 3/4", and a 5/8" wrench for the nozzle.

Electrode setting is CRITICAL... commonly 1/8" AHEAD of the nozzle, and 1/2" above the nozzle's spray hole, but the "specs" for YOUR unit may be slightly different... do you have the manual that would have come with the burner?

Another thing... when you loosed the bleed screw with the burner running, did you get a STRONG stream of fuel?

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36 coupe

01-21-2008 03:40:46




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
Running out of oil will get some water into the nozzle.Water wont go thru a burner nozzle.Take the nozzle out, unscrew the nozzle filter and you will see drops of water.The nozzle has got to be open.I keep a spare nozzle on hand.5.00 will buy a new nozzle.A nozzle that has passed 1000 gallons of oil will wear and increase oil use.Burner service man charged 65.00 to reset a friends burner and didnt stay long enough to insure the burner was OK.It can be very hard to restart an out of fuel burner.I watch the tank level and keep 5 gal of off road diesel or kerosene on hand.A Beckett burner will run fine on either fuel.

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Don c

01-21-2008 02:44:08




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
Change fuel filter, bleed it at filter housing to get all air out, where is tank, above ground or below ground, if below you will have to put a good amount in to self prime filter, change nozzle as you probably have picked up a lot of garbage from bottom of tank. It should reset and start.



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rednekelmo

01-20-2008 20:14:03




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
hope it's not to late for thiis. if you're getting fuel to the furnace then are you getting a good spray pattern at the nozzle? and is the igniter working?



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JK-NY

01-20-2008 19:05:25




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
If you have tried bleeding the burner and reset button a few times, the next step is ck if you have fuel thru nozzle or you may need to change the nozzle too. If your tanks outside , Is it cold enough to gel the fuel? You may need to add some kerosene or run off a fuel can by the furnace.



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Andy C

01-20-2008 18:59:43




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
4 little bolts on side of pump (near bleeder) remove them and the cover comes off. There is a round screen there.Probably all sludged up.Also the filter may be sludged up . You may be able to rinse with diesel fuel to get thru till tomorrow. Likley when tank emptied sludge on bottom of tank headed for the burner To verify if canister filter is/or is not plugged remove line from burner. Fuel should flow.
Good Luck,
Andy

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Jeff in OH

01-20-2008 18:56:49




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
Hope I'm not comming on this to late, but try this.Change the oil filter,bleed it, and try again.I was having this same problem last year after running out and I had just changed the filter so didn't think that could be it.I've been told by a couple of HVAC guys that work on fuel oil types that its very important to change the filter at least once a season.Fortunately I had bought a couple of extras (cheap at the plumbing supply , around a 1.50 compared to 5 0r 6 dollars at the hardware store). After trying everything else that you've just done,I thought ,what the heck,just a buck fifty,I changed it,bled it, fired it up, and its run ever since.Which reminds me, its probably time again. Its been a year.Hope this helps, and good luck. Jeff.

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RobMD

01-20-2008 18:14:02




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
Hey Kirk, keep warm. I'm right under you in Balto. co MD! It is currently 2 degrees here. My oil furnace is not doing anything anyway. Got the wood stove on FULL duty, drafts are wide open!



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Bob

01-20-2008 18:13:52




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
The pump on the oil burner has a bleed plug, it often looks like a brake bleeder, having a hose barb on it, if not it's usually a 1/8" pipe thread plug with a 7/16" hex head.

Have you bled it there, while the burner is running, or have you just bled it at the line coming in?



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Kirk Grau

01-20-2008 18:29:47




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Bob, 01-20-2008 18:13:52  
Yep, bled it at the pump.

Thanks,

Kirk



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gold-leaf-deere

01-20-2008 18:11:53




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
I used to have this trouble , I would take a 5 gallon fuel can of fuel oil and set it close to the furnace and temporarely hook a rubber hose from the can to the input to the furnace.



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davpal

01-20-2008 18:06:27




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
I have had problems with mine firing up after running out or just problems in general. I have actually taken my bare hand and whacked the side of the black igniter box on the becket pump and it took right off every time. Sometimes you do get an air lock in there when you run it totally out but it should fire up again. I think my igniter may be getting bad but it has been pretty good lately. I watch it pretty close on days like this!

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Ultradog MN

01-20-2008 17:39:47




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
I aint no expert.
Had an oil fired furnace that on a couple of occasions the tennants ran out of oil.
Bled the lines and got oil to the pump again.
If it didn't fire and stay fired it would shut off. There was a red reset button on the electrical controller box. Had to push that and try it again.
Bleeding and a couple of resets and it never failed to stay lit.
Good luck.



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Kirk Grau

01-20-2008 17:45:45




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Ultradog MN, 01-20-2008 17:39:47  
Yep, that is usually how I get it to start as well. Just not working tonight.

Thanks,

Kirk



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Arlen -MN.

01-20-2008 17:29:53




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:18:49  
You might try venting again to make sure you get all air out of lines. When you have run it dry, you may have to try to get some pressure on line to force fuel through to pump. Also try reset button. Hope this will help you.



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Kirk Grau

01-20-2008 17:40:34




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Arlen -MN., 01-20-2008 17:29:53  
I have vented the line several times and seem to have good fuel flow. Guess I will try after I get a delivery tomorrow.

Thanks,

Kirk



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paul

01-20-2008 20:53:05




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to Kirk Grau, 01-20-2008 17:40:34  
Mine you need to unplug after one reset - locks itself out of multiple resets.

Seems I need to bleed it several times to get the air out when it goes dry & only put a few gallons in.

Mine has a plug you need to loosen, & run to make it pump the air & fuel out. Tighten up as you get good fuel flow.

Happened to have ice in the filter once about the same time I ran out of fuel, took a bit to figure that out... ????

Pouring in a couple cans of fuel, shakes up dirt on the bottom, but you say you have good fuel flow so shouldn't be ice or dirt in the filter.

Too much spray on the ignighters will keep them from sparking, like a plugged sparkplug on a tractor.....

--->Paul

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Dave2

01-21-2008 01:29:56




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 Re: OT - Oil Furnace Burner not working (It's COLD) Any Expe in reply to paul, 01-20-2008 20:53:05  
If you've got fuel everywhere and the pump is actually pumping and not just moving oil. See what your nozzle looks like where the fuel is sprayed in and see what the igniter is doing while you're at it. The old fuel in the bottom of the tank may have been clean enough to get by all the screens, but was nasty enough to foul up the nozzle. Hopefully you have an extra on hand or are able to clean yours. Hope that helps.

Dave

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