Archive for November, 2009

Oil Burner Furnace Repair

Saturday, November 21st, 2009
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Another common problem that happens with oil burners in furnaces is a defective protectorelay.

What exactly does it do? The oil that comes out of the burner nozzle turns into a fog.  This fog is is ignited with an electric spark that is generated from the transformer.

This spark bounces across electrodes placed in front of the nozzle and is blown into the oil spray a blast of air.  The current generated by the fire on the window of the cell is conducted to a protecto-relay and keeps the relay engaged and the burner motor running.

If the fire goes out, the burner will shut down to prevent a build up of un-ignited fuel which has the possibility to create a very explosive condition. This device, also known as a burner relay,  also has another function. It has a transformer built into it that transmits a 24 volt current to the thermostat which signals for more heat.

Protectorelay

This is a very important item on your boiler or furnace and it has the ability to give you a lot of problems.  At times for no reason whatsoever it can lock out which in effect shuts down your heat.

If this tends to happen a lot then you need to look into getting a professional to install a brand new protectorelay on your oil burner.  This safety device works great when its working well and can cause major headaches when it is not.

Here are some instructions if you do decide to change it yourself.

Before you rip out the the relay, do yourself a favor first, check or change the cad cell.  This is the device the detects the fire when your oil burner lights and tells the protectorelay to keep the burner running.  When the cad cell becomes defective it does not send a strong enough signal to the relay to do this.

Once you have done this you can begin fixing your problem.  Its not very difficult if you know what you are doing.  It will take a matter of minutes.

Caution- turn the power completely off!  Make sure of this so that you do not get shocked!

Loosen the two screws on the junction box and slide off the relay.  Take a marker and mark the wires and the connection for each one of them.  This will make putting the new one on a breeze because you will know exactly how to get the wiring back correctly.  Some people even like to have the new protectorelay on hand and connect one wire at a time.

Reconnect the wires to the new control and you are about done.  Put it back on the junction box and turn back on the power.  Your oil burner in your furnace will now be running like it should.

Best Heating System You can Get

Thursday, November 12th, 2009
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Do you think I regret my decision in purchasing a waste oil burner at all when my natural gas bills come in?

Its the best heating system I could have every gotten.

As you can see from the picture below my total heating expense for this month was $9.00.  I live in the coldest state of the the country and my gas bill is only nine dollars!  Sometimes I cannot believe this whole idea of mine actually worked.

How do you think I am able to do this?  The answer is I bought a waste oil boiler back in 2007.

I have a company that generates tons of used waste oil and it was becoming a pain to get rid of it.  I was having a company come by and pick it up every other week and it was becoming a huge pain.  At times they wanted to charge me for it as well even though they planned to re-sell it to companies who make asphalt.

October Natural Gas Bill

October Natural Gas Bil

So as you may already know every furnace or boiler has an oil burner in them.  Some of them run off natural gas, some run on electricity, but most of them throughout this country (especially on the east coast) run off heating oil.   I  had found out, from doing a lot of research, that you can purchase oil burners especially designed to run off used motor oil.

I was skeptical as usual (its very hard to convince me of anything) but the idea of being able to completely heat your home, office, or any building you own off a product that’s considered waste by most people was just too tempting to pass up.

I live in Alaska and as you may or may not know winter in this area lasts for six to seven months.  And as you might have guessed it gets extremely cold (duh!). So you can also imagine how much a person stands to save if he could totally erase a heating bill from his monthly expenses.

I have already saved thousands by purchasing my Energy Logic waste oil boiler.  Every ounce of heat I use now is absolutely free.  As of now I can run my home and garage at 80 degrees or 60 degrees and it does not matter.

As I have stated before every winter the gas company have become suspicious of me tampering with the meter.  I have told the meter guys over and over again that I am not running my home off natural gas.

They do not seem to believe me.  Most people have no idea that this type of alternative energy technology even exists.  Those guys have every home in their grid on their computer system and cannot accept the fact that I only owe them $9.00 a month when its -20 Fahrenheit outside.  I think its hilarious.  If I were in their shoes I would think the exact same thing.

So I know for a fact that once the weather dips down to bellow zero (its actually been fairy warm for November) I’ll be seeing some of the meter guys come wanting to talk to me and ask me all sorts of questions because they think I am lying to them.

Investing in my waste oil burner for my boiler has helped me become more self sufficient and has allowed me to reduce my heating bill to absolutely nothing (well, $9.00 for the hook-up fee).

I have not had any problems with my set-up at all.  I have taken the time and funds to maintain my expensive machine and it has never given any problems whatsoever.  You have to filter the oil, make certain no condensation gets into your burner, and do annual tune ups every years.  If you do this I can almost guarantee that you will have the same results.

Oil Burner Pump Problems

Monday, November 9th, 2009
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In case you did not already know letting your oil burner pump run dry on your furnace is to be avoided at all costs.  But if you do, here is some troubleshooting advice.

Sometimes this happens due to inadequate planning  and other times it happens because we think we have enough heating oil to last us for a specified period when in reality we do not.  Most above the ground tanks have gauges attached to the top of them so you can easily check the level.

Just for your information not only is it a pain to re-prime your pump but letting it happen too many times can really burn up your pump.  In addition, you may not realize it but you are sucking in all the sludge and condensation that sits at the bottom of your oil tank into your lines, filters, and nozzle when you let it run dry.

Your furnace will not just start up after you fill your tank back up with heating oil.  In some cases you will be able to just get away with just pressing the red “reset” button.  This will cause your system to bleed itself.  But more than likely you will have to manually do it.

When you run a burner oil pump out of fuel you get air in the pump.  And if the air is not bled out of the pump at the proper place it will not prime.

Here are the steps you need to follow to bleed and prime your oil pump:

  • Turn off your furnace. There should be a toggle switch on the machine for this.
  • Locate the bleeder valve attached to the fuel pump (looks like a small nipple) and open it up
  • Turn your furnace back on
  • Allow air, oil and sludge to escape from the bleeder valve until you get a solid flow of oil
  • Close the bleeder valve
  • Repeat starting at the first step if the furnace still does not start.

I would highly recommend wearing gloves when you are doing all this.   Whenever you are dealing with oil of any sort you should wear gloves.

If you do not have access to heating oil right away you can substitute if for diesel fuel.  Keep in mind that you are most likely have to do those steps again, and again,  and again (are you starting to get the picture) until oil starts to flow.

Also, attach a short section of nylon tubing to the bleeder.  Put the other end of the tube into a bucket or container.  This is to catch all the oil coming out so that it does not go all over the place.  It can be quite messy if you do not do this.  Once you have your oil furnace going make certain you tighten the bleeder valve firmly with a wrench.

Please remember that you are dealing with fuel and fire here, so take caution.

This is the general process for most furnaces but this procedure may not work on all of them. If you are at all unsure please call a qualified Burner Service Technician.

If you do not take care, it is possible to make a huge mess. At a minimum, you WILL get oil on your hands.  That is why you want to open up the bleeder carefully.

Last, but not least, I would like to point out that it is not uncommon to plug your filter or nozzle when you run a burner out of oil.  This may not happen but just be prepared if it does.    Sludge sits at the bottom of your tank and this is what your system was sucking.  You might have to replace them.