While there are several brands of oil burners (ie. Wayne Home Equipment, Carlin, Arco, Lanier, Energy Logic, Columbia) Beckett burners seem to be the most popular in use today. They seem to last a long time and I know of several people who have them and have been very pleased with them.
I have noticed a few things that can go wrong with them and want to take the time to explain how you can fix them. Keep in mind that some of these problems and troubleshooting ideas are unique to Beckett oil burners but since all oil burners have about the same design in principal you can use a lot of this information for other brands as well.
Does Your Oil Burner Have Power?
I would start by checking this with a tool called a volt meter. A lot of the time when you take a first glance at the breakers and/or fuses they will look in good. Looks can be deceiving (as with all things in life). When you check them with a meter you might find that they are defective. I was talking with a guy who repairs these burners and he told me that a lot of his call outs to fix an oil boiler or furnace ends up being a piece of cake because all he has to do is a) replace a bad fuse or b) turn the breaker back on.
Clogged Oil Filter?
The frequency that you come across this problem will be in direct proportion to the quality of oil you get and how well you filter it. If you are using a lot of vegetable oil than this could happen quite a bit especially when its cold. It is extremely easy for the filter to get plugged with dirty of moisture. If you get a very dirty batch of oil you would not believe how fast it can plug up your filter. This is the reason why I recently purchased a waste oil centrifuge to get rid of as many contaminants as humanly possible.
Depending on your filtration method you may need to replace oil filter every six months Its up to you. A lot of professionals say to do this once a year but that might be too long to go for people getting really low quality oil. I stocked up on them when I saw the exact model I needed on sale so replaced mine liberally before I bought a centrifuge.
Are All the Controls Working Properly?
Start with finding the red button on the gray box. Push it. The motor should start when you do this. If not, then check the power to the motor. To do this you need to take the gray box off and check the power of the wires going to the motor. Please remember to use care with the hot wires and to shut off the power before you disconnect any wires. If there is power to the motor, check the reset button on the motor. You want to look for a tiny red button on the side usually about halfway around the back of the motor. If the motor makes a noise but does not run then try to turn the blower under the transformer. The transformer is the black box on the top beside the gray box. If the blower will not turn , then take the two screws out that hold the pump and remove the pump. Check to see if it starts.
Could the oil pump be broken?
Does the motor still run with the pump removed? If so, then the oil pump probably is bad and will not turn. Replace the oil pump and everything will most likely work. If the motor still just makes a noise or buzzes but does not run then replace the motor.
Oil pumps do not go out often on oil burners. Quite frankly they are hard to work on and you really need the right tools to do it. I would highly recommend that you get a professional to reinstall a new oil pump if that’s what your oil burner needs.
Transformers?
This is the part that actually ignites the oil coming out of the nozzle. If the ignition transformer is not working correctly than oil will just be shooting out and will not be ignited like it should or even at all.
Caution the ignition transformer puts out 10,000 volts at substantial current and will really shock you! Close the transformer before energizing the burner.
With the motor running, carefully rock the transformer back on it’s hinges and look for sparks in the compartment. The sparks should look like little lightning bolts flying around in there. If the sparks are very weak or look yellowish then replace the transformer. If there are no sparks and there is definite power going to the transformer it is bad and you need to get a new one.
Oil Nozzle
Keeping my oil nozzle in great shape is also the reason why I am militant about filtering my oil. They can malfunction very easy if you do not. Oil nozzles spray the oil into the combustion chamber at an extremely high pressure. It comes out of the nozzle in the form of a fine mist to make it easy to be ignited and burn effectively. The hole that the oil goes out is very small and because of this they are easy to get clogged by small pieces of dirt even though they come equipped with a bronze screen in them.
The oil nozzle assembly is under the transformer and can be removed by unhooking the oil line from the pump. Take the lock nut off and slide the nozzle assembly back and up out through the hole.
Two wrenches should be used to remove the nozzle. Please use the same exact same nozzle that you took off if you are going to replace it (same angle, size, flow, and spray pattern). I would highly suggest you get a tune up as soon as possible after replacing this piece as all nozzles are not created 100% equal and even very minor differences can affect the performance of the oil burner.
As a quick disclosure this is in no way an “official” complete problem guide for these machines. Its mean to give you some basic troubleshooting techniques to get your oil burner/ boiler/ furnace to work if it stops all of a sudden. Once you fix the problem you might still want to call a professional out to look it over.
I also highly recommend you get a yearly inspection and tune up (unless you know how to do it yourself) even if your oil burner is running 100% problem free. Usually these guys have combustion analyzers that can calculates combustion efficiency, CO air free, and Carbon Dioxide. If they find something off they can make adjustments to make sure your machine is running as efficient as possible and there is minimal soot build up which can cause a lot of problems. Hope this helps.
