Posts Tagged ‘Oil Burner’

Waste Oil Burners Equal Zero Heating Bill

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
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This is not your ordinary oil burner that I am going to be talking about.  What I am about to mention is completely foreign for most people.

I have said this in previous posts but I think it is worth repeating. I love my waste oil boiler system.  It is one of the best things that I have put money into.

Why do I make a statement like that?

Quite simply, since my business partner and I purchased a waste oil burner heating system back in 2007 we have been able to save approximately $400 on a monthly basis.

To me having this machine is the equivalent to having a rental property that is making its owner passive income.  Its the exact same concept.  Its additional money being put into your pocket that you did not have to work for.

If we did not have an Energy Logic waste oil heating system than we would be spending an extra $400+ to heat his home and our shop (the shop where we run three businesses is next door) every single month.

I had known many people with the exact same systems as ours but they failed to maintain and take care of their machines.  They failed to filter the oil going into their burner and they never got annual tune-ups.  You can imagine what happened…

It did not take long for their boiler or furnace to start breaking down and then started the complaints that this technology was worthless.  Those myths abound everywhere.

I heard from many guys who worked for companies who had purchased waste oil boilers who said their boss uninstalled these machines after buying them because they were giving them way too much trouble.

They ragged on them and said they did not work and blah blah this and blah blah that.

You can go on these forums and you will hear people saying the exact same thing.  I got into an argument with this guy because he said that “Omni and Energy logic boilers sucked.” There were nothing good about these two brands.

He claimed that he was a boiler technician who had to fixed tons of the very same ones that I have.

Well, my waste oil boiler has never broken down.  It has never given me any problems.  I still pay $10 a month for the hook up fee to natural gas just in case my waste oil boiler breaks down and I have never had to use it whatsoever.

Its my firm conviction that pretty much any brand will last if you take care of it.  This device is not hands off and if you purchase one you have to be willing to invest the time to properly maintain it.

Since day one we have filtered all the oil going into my system.  The system that we have set up goes beyond the call of duty in doing this.  Many things we do are probably unnecessary but I want to make absolutely sure this expensive $11,000 investment lasts.

These oil burners are very delicate and can clog up easily if you do not take the utmost care of them.  You need to make certain that you get as much of the contaminants out as possible, including water, and make certain that no chlorine gets in there.  In addition you need yearly tune-ups on them.

If you do the same you will have a waste oil burner system that will last a long time without any problems.

I have said it many times and I will keep saying it.

I think this technology is wonderful and I want everyone to know about it but if you would like to take advantage of it you need to know how to protect your $8000+ investment ( more than that with shipping and installation).

If you do not than you will waste your money and then prevent others from wanting to get one.

I am glad to see  that small towns are investing in these things now.  These small villages or towns do not have huge budgets so I know it takes a lot of convince them.  They will not be sorry for their investment into waste oil technology.

Here is the latest example that I have found:

The town of Cambellsport, Wisconsin built a new Department of Public works buildings and installed a waste oil boiler to heat it.

Marvelous!  More places like this should jump on board. They would save a bundle and could finally stop raising our property taxes.

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.