LocalHvac.com - Fuel Oil Equipment Trouble Shooting

LocalHvac.com - Fuel Oil Equipment Trouble Shooting

Fuel oil smell is usually one of a few possibilities.




First and most important is to physically have a look at your heating
system and oil tanks and make sure there are no oil leaks! If your system
has a front cover over the burner it should be opened to inspect. If you
notice a large amount of oil any where I would suggest you shut the switch
and call your local Fire Dept, then a qualified service company. If the
system has any kind of leaks I would also call a service co.




Hot air furnaces may have the burner mounted around mid point with the
fan unit on the bottom. These systems will pick up oil smells
and send them through the home rapidly.




Systems should not leak any oil, if there are drips coming from the
bottom of the burner motor it is most likely that the pump shaft seal is
leaking and needs to be replaced. If the oil lines are wet at the fittings
then they need to be sealed.





If the smell is light and you have been noticing this smell for a few
days, then it is most likely that your system is puffing back while running
and is due for a cleaning.




Fuel oil heating systems should be serviced annually. When a system
is serviced it is normally disassembled, cleaned, nozzle and oil filter
replaced. A cleaning is not just a light dusting , the sections inside must
be brushed, and the soot vacuumed out of the combustion chamber. If this is
not done the soot will build on the walls and stop the gasses from going up
the chimney. The smoke and soot will soon escape any openings below the flue pipe
and enter the home.






















My heating system won't start and there is a flashing
red light on the burner motor.


If this is the control that has the flashing light, it has a reset
button.




This control is a safety that determines if the flame is running properly
in your chamber. It will trip to the off position when the fire in the
chamber is smoky or no flame at all.





Before pushing the button, make sure that you do
not smell heavy raw fuel, or that there is not fuel leaking out from all
around your heating system! Never push this button more than 2 times if the
system doesn't fire up or run more than 10 minutes each time.




When you push the button listen to the system, a few things happen when a
system starts up. The burner motor starts spinning which drives the oil pump
and sends oil to the nozzle. The transformer sends 15,000 volts to the
electrodes to make spark and light the oil.




Did it light? How can you tell? the flue pipe will get warm within about
15 seconds, it may get up to 600 degrees in just a few minutes (be careful).




Or the button will trip within 45 seconds and the red light will flash
again.




If absolutely nothing happened, no clicks, no motors running, your
thermostat may be set too low or the wall emergency switch may be off.




If it did try to fire but stopped after 45 seconds it is most likely
that,






1. There is no oil in the tank.


2. The oil filter is clogged.


3. The nozzle is clogged.


4. The burner motor is not spinning.


5. The oil pump is not pumping.



6. The transformer is not sparking.


7. The electrode gap is too wide.


8. The photo eye inside the burner my be soot coated or bad.


9. The oil tank has sludge and is blocking the oil flow.