My oil boiler periodically needs to be reset

9 years ago

Hey, guys. I have a beckett oil fired boiler that's at least 15 years old and was here when we bought the house. As of lately, it's been stalling, I'd say at least one time a day. Each time, I go down and hold the the reset button and it restarts. Sometimes it restarts on the first press. This last time, it took three tries. Usually, just like this last time, I get smoke for a few seconds, then all is fine.

At one point I ran out of oil (maybe three weeks ago) and I bought 20 gallons of diesel until I was able to get a delivery. I thought that maybe the sediment from the bottom of the tank got into the line, so I decided to change the filter. It's only a few bucks, so why not? This hasn't alleviated the issue.

If memory serves (from a time I opened up the burner maybe two years ago), I have a 1.0 GPH nozzle. Should I attempt to clean the nozzle? Is it possible the nozzle can't be cleaned and I should just buy another one? And why, when it starts up again, is there that puff of black smoke (usually lasts 10 seconds or so)? My guess would be improperly burnt oil, but clearly I'd like some action items.

I've heard of people adding an extra filter to the line. Is this overkill? Thanks for any help you can give.

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Comments (4)

PRO
CJ Mechanical of North jersey llc.
9 years ago
When you ran out of oil it picked up crap from the bottom of the tank. Need new nozzle,fuel filter (every yr).
jackfre
9 years ago
You need to have the unit professionally cleaned and properly set-up. At this point it is not something you can do without instrumentation, tools and knowledge. Properly tuned you will recover the cost of the service in oil savings. In the oil business one of the most famous homeowner quotes is, "I only pushed the reset button once."

Beckett is the manuf of the burner, not the boiler. The heat exchanger is likely soothed up. 1/8" of build up can cost you 20% in efficiency. Operating the burner in its current state will likely warp the retention head and then you will not have a decent burn until it is replaced. In your boilers current condition you have about zero possibility of making it through the heating season.
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bigyellow
Original Author
9 years ago
Wow, ok, thanks for that info, guys. I'll call for a service appointment tomorrow!
jimct01
9 years ago
Oil fired heating equipment needs to be cleaned once per year. This includes the oil filter at the tank, the fuel strainer in the burner, the nozzle, check the operation of the burner, cleaning of the boiler flue passages, and the smoke stack. Combustion should be adjusted by measuring the smoke in the stack and the temperature of the stack and make sure it's in spec. Adjustments are made by adjusting the. Fuel/Air ratio in the burner.