Oil burner not firing - possible airlock

Weebly

The steps right at the beginning of this thread worked a treat for me, thanks so much!

kieranwaldron

Thanks to lostdesign for posting the question about overcoming air locks in oil fired central heating systems and Micky Dolenz for his excellent screenshots on how to remedy the problem. I did have a problem finding an allen key to fit the screw inside the big nut but from once I found one and unscrewed as described by Micky it worked on the second attempt. Thanks a lot guys.

Wearb

FFS There won't be a bob to be made now

RJF

Did anyone notice the orientation of the circulation pump in the OP's pics? WTF!?

iPink

I have the same problem. .. pretty sure I can fix it but don't have any tools, will have to borrow some. .. Can anyone tell me what size Allen-key to ask for please?
Thanks in advance!

murfitt

4 mm Allen key and an adjustable spanner.

DGOBS

TT.....hate seeing adjustable (and rung nuts) 15mm Spanner (to access some burners (firebird hideaway etc) you may also need a 13mm spanner

Billy Bunting

Maybe nows a good time to buy a set of spanners and a set f Allen keys.

jimf

eventually you will need a everybodys friend the vicegrips

plonl

my burner hasn't ran out of oil. its trying to start but wont ignite
any ideas

Wearb

Dirty photo cel?. Needs a service. What type of burner? When last serviced? What dept of oil in tank?

dublinseven2

I'm sorry kyeev, but I found this post absolutely hilarious. You're an absolute trooper to get it going through all that!

kyeev wrote: »

I'd also like to say thanks for this thread.

I'll also throw in my experience or should I say battle I had last night getting past the airlock...

I have a Firebird c35 kitchen which has the Riello R3 burner shown above.
I opened the allen key on the "long nut" as shown above in the pic.
Must have pressed the reset button about 50 times.
Nothing seemed to be happening (although in fairness, my oil tank is more than 20 foot from the house).
Was getting no oil or bubbles.
Also, I'll mention there is a lockout between each press of the reset button where you have to wait 15 seconds before you can press it again (annoying).

Anyway to cut a long story short, I had to physically suck the oil through, until it came up the pipe and out the "long nut" (and yeah into my mouth).
But even after doing that, leaving the allen key open and 30 presses of the reset button, nothing was happening.

However after sucking the oil through, I could see/hear the oil disappear back down the pipe.
So I figured I'll stop that happening by rescrewing the allen key shut.
Then started pressing the reset button again.
Each time the the burner/pump started up, I opened the allen key.
Each time it shut down, I closed the allen key.
I knew I was getting somewhere because it nearly fired up on one occasion and was also starting to bubble and/or jet oil out the "long nut".
But then I made the mistake of leaving the allen key open again, so the oil all drained away again.
I had to suck the oil through again, restart opening/closing the allen key while pressing reset button.
Eventually, I got the jet of oil.
At this stage, I didn't care less it was all over the tiles.
Finally it fired up after 9 or 10 reset button presses as long as the allen key had been closed after each attempt!

Gareth Keenan

thanks to all you have posted solutions in this thread. I had the same crack - ran the tank dry and noticed too late. We're converting to gas in a while so I wasn't really that pushed (should have been).

We got a fill the other day but there was still no oil coming to the pump when it was cycled. I undid the pipes at the tank - flowing ok, and before the filter - nothing. Tried the manual siphon as advocated by kyeev but to no avail. His lungs are mightier than most, I'll warrant.

Anyway, as I had figured out that it was an airlock between the tank and the boiler I had to remove. I used a siphon from Woodies (€5) to try to suck the oil to me, before having the idea to siphon water back into the pipe, towards the tank. The theory being that the water will push the air out, meet the oil near the tank, and on releasing the siphon, I'll be greeted with oily water, watery oil, and finally the good stuff.

The theory worked and I was greeted with a stream of the good stuff. Turned the valve at the tank off, put everything back together and switched it all on- success!

Messy process involving duck tape and a bucket, but pleased to report that old faithful is now humming away (on the hottest day of the year), for the last few months of her nearly 50 years. Enough about the wife, etc.

gfwd

Sorry to drag this up again but I too have allowed the tank to run dry and now the burner won't work. It happened before but years ago now and I can't remember what we did to get it going again. I know I loosened something to get rid of the airlock but I can't for the life of me remember what! There's a pic of the boiler below so my question is, which fecker do I loosen to get the airlock out? I don't trust myself enough to fiddle about with it any further. Any help much appreciated.

kyeev

I think the nut you want is under that grey plastic housing where the big red reset/fire_her_up button is.

mel.b

Just wondering if this is my problem as well. However I know the oil tank wasn't empty empty, although it was very low. Is it possible that that will still cause an air lock? I got a fill yesterday and the boiler didn't start. I checked the boiler and the red light was on, so I pressed that and it fired up. However it can't have stayed on (I went to bed so couldn't hear it), but I did get up about 45min after turning it on and touched one of the rads and it was cold. It was set to come on this morning and never did. Should I try bleeding it like mentioned at the start of the post or just go straight to the plumber?

9935452

mel.b wrote: »

Just wondering if this is my problem as well. However I know the oil tank wasn't empty empty, although it was very low. Is it possible that that will still cause an air lock? I got a fill yesterday and the boiler didn't start. I checked the boiler and the red light was on, so I pressed that and it fired up. However it can't have stayed on (I went to bed so couldn't hear it), but I did get up about 45min after turning it on and touched one of the rads and it was cold. It was set to come on this morning and never did. Should I try bleeding it like mentioned at the start of the post or just go straight to the plumber?

It cant hurt and its cheaper than calling the plumber.
Its possible that your tank is tipped at an angle away from the exit pipe to keep dirt/water from being fed into the burner. This might make you think the tank still had some oil left

Wearb

mel.b wrote: »

Just wondering if this is my problem as well. However I know the oil tank wasn't empty empty, although it was very low. Is it possible that that will still cause an air lock? I got a fill yesterday and the boiler didn't start. I checked the boiler and the red light was on, so I pressed that and it fired up. However it can't have stayed on (I went to bed so couldn't hear it), but I did get up about 45min after turning it on and touched one of the rads and it was cold. It was set to come on this morning and never did. Should I try bleeding it like mentioned at the start of the post or just go straight to the plumber?

Is your burner the same as the one in the picture?
Trying too often to bleed the pump -if there isn't enough oil- will damage the pump.

mel.b

9935452 wrote: »

It cant hurt and its cheaper than calling the plumber.
Its possible that your tank is tipped at an angle away from the exit pipe to keep dirt/water from being fed into the burner. This might make you think the tank still had some oil left

Wearb wrote: »

Is your burner the same as the one in the picture?
Trying too often to bleed the pump -if there isn't enough oil- will damage the pump.

Thanks I gave it a try this evening. I have a firebird s70 but using this post and a bit more googling I was able to find the bit to unscrew. I only had to unscrew it a tiny bit and the oil started to come out, so I let a little bit out and then tightened it back up.

Then I started the boiler by having to press the red button as it didn't start from just turning it on with the controls inside. It started up straight away but after maybe 30sec the ignition flame went out. The ignition flame then came on and off about 6 or 7 times before catching and staying on. The rads were starting to heat up (top and bottom of the rads) and I'd say it was on for 10-15min. Just went to check and the flame has gone out, boiler not on and red button is glowing. So I figure I have to call out the plumber now?

Wearb

Some plumbers are good on boilers and some are not. Most will get it going. You might be better off getting someone who does boilers on a regular basis.

mel.b

Hi,yeah sorry, I have the name of the guy who serviced it last so I'll give him a call. I guess what I meant is that have I exhausted all I can do and it's time to call in the professional?

mel.b

Just had the boiler guy around and it was the photosensor (I think that's what he called it) that had gone which meant the boiler couldn't sense the spark of the ignitition, so that's been replaced and all is good now

John Dough

Had a similar problem burner not firing after working ok checked oil supply was OK whipped burner out cleaned all round photocell,electrodes,jet etc. a lot of dust there and put back in hey presto! she fired first time.
Nice cheap fix.

Wearb

John Dough wrote: »

Had a similar problem burner not firing after working ok checked oil supply was OK whipped burner out cleaned all round photocell,electrodes,jet etc. a lot of dust there and put back in hey presto! she fired first time.
Nice cheap fix.

Good to have it going again. You should consider getting it serviced now to prevent a recurrence and higher efficiency.

AidanD12

I've had this problem (air lock) lots of times. It seems my oil tank was fitted (out in garden) lower than the burner so when the oi runs out it locks and is very difficult to free. Open the bleed valve nothing comes out despite multiple resets. I actually raised the tank a few blocks 6 months ago and thought it would do but had the problem again yesterday and went through the same pain. Tried something new this time that I read on one of these forums so decided good karma to share back. I duct taped my hoover nozzle around the valve to try and suck the oil up. Turned on the hoover, press the reset button and presto it worked. I got some oil into the hoover bag which I had to discard but apart from that no bother. There probably is a tool or siphon there to do the same thing but necessity is the mother of invention.

MOD WARNING: DONT USE ABOVE METHOD.
This is totally inadvisable and dangerous.
Just because it works doesn't mean it's ok. Sort out the cause or get proper equipment. Eg deaerator.

Omn

Digging up this old thread as I had a prob with my firebird boiler over the weekend. Forgot I had the boiler set to come on on Saturday evening and I had a nice fire going on my stove. Noticed I had little or no hot water on Sunday morning. Then I tried to turn on the heating and the boiler didn't kick in. Looked on here for possible solutions & found this thread. It didn't fully help me but got hold of the plumber who installed my stove. It was the thermostat that had locked out due to overheat as the stove was on. There is a small plastic switch that pops out when it locks out. Turned the heating clock on & popped the switch back in and the boiler kicked in straight away. Just thought I would post in case it would save someone a few euro calling out a plumber needlessly.