Riello burner locking out

Newnews

Hi guys,

have a very frustrating problem with my central heating. In short, the system starts up, heats the water to about 45deg, (if the temp is set to at least 45, below 45 it hits the stat temp) and once it hits 45 it tries to reignite but there is no flame and after 3/4 attempts it locks out. We then have to wait to till the water goes to below 30 deg before we can go and press the reset button. Very frustrating (especially in the cold as the burner is in it's own shed). Strangely the system worked perfectly on Christmas day, and heated as high as we set the stat, and restarted all on it's own all day. But come St Stephens day it was back to its bad old ways. In the past fortnight we've had a plumber in (did nothing but check the rads were bled), a boiler engineer (replaced the pump) and an electrician (replaced the stat) so I'm completely at a loss. Pipes never froze/lost water as we had a fire on every day with a back boiler for the past few weeks.

Any ideas would be appreciated as we're sick of a cold house and getting the professionals in hasn't worked so far. Burner is a (3yr old Riello 40) if that is any help.

Many thanks

johnjoe 123

hi news what reset button are ya pressing is the red light reset on the burner or the stat on the actual boiler with 2 knobs??

Newnews

Hi Johnjoe,

it's the red light reset on the burner if that helps.

johnjoe 123

how longs it running to reach 45 i dont think its anything to do with the temperature of the water as it controlled by the 2 stats in the unit on the boiler. . if its locking out on the red light on the burner thats a fault in the burner

Newnews

About 20-25 minutes depending on the temperature outside

GopErthike

johnjoe 123 wrote: »

how longs it running to reach 45 i dont think its anything to do with the temperature of the water as it controlled by the 2 stats in the unit on the boiler. . if its locking out on the red light on the burner thats a fault in the burner

+1,

Which pump did the boiler engineer replace? the oil pump on the burner or the circulating pump? If he replaced the circulating pump, he didn't know what he was doing.
My guess is your oil pump is giving trouble. If it is, they can seize up when hot.
The times you have reset it and it didn't fire, could you hear a fan running or just a slight hum from the burner?

GopErthike

The best advice I can give you is come here for general tips, but when it comes to plumbers and service engineers, find someone who comes highly recommended by friends or family and who you can trust, and stick with them. The fact is guys who are good at this sort of thing are a bit more expensive, but you will save in the long run.

Sorry to rant, but I have read so many threads here where people are getting bad advice, online and on site.

Newnews

Appreciate the info Gop, but as you can see, i've had the full suite of professionals in at this stage and am no better off. It was the circulating pump that was replaced and the fan comes one when the burner 'tries to' fire up. Makes sense that it's the oil pump as the only day it worked recently was the coldest day I've experienced!

GopErthike

Your welcome.
If your sure the fan is running, don't get someone to change the oil pump without checking the solenoid. The solenoid is very easily changed if your handy. But again getting a good engineer is your best solution.

I understand its frustrating, but there are a lot guys out there who are not necessarily cowboys, but that doesn't mean they are any good. So when you do find someone good, as I said, keep them.

Newnews

Well I've replaced the solenoid and no improvement so will have to get the pump replaced, anything else to look at at the same time?

GopErthike

Don't go spending money on a new pump just yet, find someone who can diagnose it properly and fix it.

johnjoe 123

hi news news how did u ever get on with burner

GopErthike

I guess 'no newnews is good newnews" boom boom.

Newnews

Haven't been able to take time off work to get another engineer/plumber to look at it. The heating works perfectly one day, won't go past 45 degrees the next or randomly will go as high as the stat is set before locking out so it won't restart. It's the inconsistency that's a killer. I could have a plumber in for 3 full days and it might work perfectly and then act up once they leave! The random nature made me think it was the electronics so I swapped in another control box and that didn't make a noticeable difference.