Bought oil, still cold

Leeg17 · 05-11-2011 5:36pm #1

Hey, don't know how to explain this but last year apparently the oil tanker in the house was tilted to get the last bit of oil out of it going by the landlady. The water in the tank went into the pipes and she had to get them fixed.

Fast forward to this year when I move in and we get kerosene in yesterday, but when we turn on the heating nothing happens? Is there anything obvious we're missing, or what could be happening that it's not working?

Thanks, Lee.

Billy Bunting · 05-11-2011 5:57pm

Is it air locked ?? were you out of oil ?? is the reset button on the burner glowing ??

Leeg17 · 05-11-2011 6:12pm

Billy Bunting wrote: »

Is it air locked ?? were you out of oil ?? is the reset button on the burner glowing ??

They ran out around March last year, and around then someone must have tilted it to get the remnants of the oil out. Landlandy told me over the phone that water ran into the pipes going into the house and she paid to get them fixed before we moved in.

Billy Bunting · 05-11-2011 6:27pm

Leeg17 wrote: »

she paid to get them fixed before we moved in.

Presumably they put oil in to test it ?? you put in oil, why? was it not working before you bought it ??

Leeg17 · 05-11-2011 7:36pm

Billy Bunting wrote: »

Presumably they put oil in to test it ?? you put in oil, why? was it not working before you bought it ??

She said 'I got the pipes fixed after water went into them'. We didn't check if it was working before we put oil in (presuming it was still empty)..

Appreciate the replies by the way.

Billy Bunting · 05-11-2011 7:51pm

If the burner has been sat with water in the oil pump since last year it's bucked, but lets see how we go.

Have you looked at the burner ?? do you know make and model ?? is it inside or out ??

danjo-xx · 05-11-2011 11:12pm

I know its late or maybe I'm missing something but should did LL not be sorting this out or are you just trying to help her because he/she is a decent sole or doesn't give a toss.

Leeg17 · 05-11-2011 11:14pm

danjo-xx wrote: »

I know its late or maybe I'm missing something but should did LL not be sorting this out or are you just trying to help her because he/she is a decent sole or doesn't give a toss.

We're trying to see if it's an easy obvious fix before we go saying to her on Monday when she's coming over, she'll get it fixed quickly so it's not that..

Billy Bunting · 05-11-2011 11:57pm

The easy obvious fix in your case is to try the burner reset button, if that fails try bleeding the burner to be sure you have oil at the burner, if no reset light on burner try the hi limit stat button next to the thermostat.

Failing all that you need the Oftec man.

Leeg17 · 06-11-2011 4:31pm

Only awake now (college work

) I checked and it's a 'Firebird Popular 90'. We turned it on, you can hear the oil running, then hear a click from the pump and the oil turns off. We tried the red reset button, repeated this and nothing happened.

Would bleeding be an option now? If so, what do we do? :?

DoneDL · 06-11-2011 5:01pm

Leeg17, I am assuming that it`s a riello burner so the bleed point is on the side of the oil pump 3/4 of the way up. Open this slightly with an allen key and catch the oil with a rag or kitchen roll with the pump running. Has the red light come on on the burner reset button.

Leeg17 · 06-11-2011 5:02pm

DoneDL wrote: »

Leeg17, I am assuming that it`s a riello burner so the bleed point is on the side of the oil pump 3/4 of the way up. Open this slightly with an allen key and catch the oil with a rag or kitchen roll with the pump running. Has the red light come on on the burner reset button.

It was on when we turned the oil on yes. We pressed it and it did nothing. I'll try that now. Thanks.

Leeg17 · 06-11-2011 5:23pm

DoneDL wrote: »

Leeg17, I am assuming that it`s a riello burner so the bleed point is on the side of the oil pump 3/4 of the way up. Open this slightly with an allen key and catch the oil with a rag or kitchen roll with the pump running. Has the red light come on on the burner reset button.

We opened it slightly and a bit came out, did this once or twice. We then opened it a bit more, and twice again, and finally took it completely off and it did it twice more. It's still turning off after the 'click' but it's lasting maybe a second or two longer before it turns off. A good bit of oil came out from the bleed point....

DoneDL · 06-11-2011 5:27pm

It doesn`t sound like an air lock if there are no bubbles. Can you hear the burner sparking.

Leeg17 · 06-11-2011 5:30pm

DoneDL wrote: »

It doesn`t sound like an air lock if there are no bubbles.

There are bubbles. Bubbles and drops.

Private Joker · 06-11-2011 5:30pm

the pump could be siezed , unscrew the srcew at the front of the pump at the bottom of the boiler check to see if its spinning, by putting a screwdriver in, if its not spinning then give it a twist to unsieze it.

TouchingVirus · 06-11-2011 5:32pm

Firebird is a boiler manufacturer, the burner is the thing attached to the boiler - is it a Reillo?

You don't (shouldn't?) bleed the burner with the thing running, a lot of them (including the Reillo) will tell you to turn off the power to the unit before you take off the cover. Most oil systems are gravity fed (the tank is higher than the burner) so you just need to open the bleed screw a good bit, but not fully off because it can be tough to get back on while kerosene is flowing out, and wait for a good clear flow of oil with no bubbles. Close the bleed screw then and hit the red button. You shouldn't have to hit this more than two/three times, if it's still cutting out then there's probably a different issue.

The burner should make some noise from the moment you push the button, you get a click which is the ignition and then you should hear a flame. If it clicks and turns off then it probably isn't the lack of oil

Billy Bunting · 06-11-2011 7:25pm

Leeg17 wrote: »

There are bubbles. Bubbles and drops.

Carry on what your doing, use the reset button to help you, you must clear the bubbles, once you've cleared the bubbles it should be bleed, but as i said previously, if the pump was left with water in it you can bleed all you like but the pump wont have it.
Your also starting to get conflicting information on this topic so if you arn't having any luck quite honestly i would pass it to the Landlady to get sorted, it obviously hasn't been serviced in the passed year and does require it.

Best of luck.

Leeg17 · 06-11-2011 7:32pm

Billy Bunting wrote: »

Carry on what your doing, use the reset button to help you, you must clear the bubbles, once you've cleared the bubbles it should be bleed, but as i said previously, if the pump was left with water in it you can bleed all you like but the pump wont have it.
Your also starting to get conflicting information on this topic so if you arn't having any luck quite honestly i would pass it to the Landlady to get sorted, it obviously hasn't been serviced in the passed year and does require it.

Best of luck.

Thanks Billy, yea the last 2 posts are a bit over my head

She's coming over tomorrow so I'll just leave it up to her to get it fix it..

Appreciate the replies everyone.

Bought oil, still cold

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