OIL BURNER ELETRIC EYE

ZX7R

It that time of year again ,oil heating acting up,
my question if anyone can help is,my burner starts grand runs for the lenght of tyme till the tempature is reached and turns off but when it restarts it trips itslef you can try and try to restart it but it just makes a noise and trips the air cover wont open ,after checking filters changeing jet and doing a generl service no change,so i cleand the conectors on the eletronic box,still nothing so i did the same with the eletric eye and it started to work after reseting the trip switch could the eletric eye be on it way out and should i change it.
thanks

DGOBS

If the air damper is not opening could well be a fuel issue, or pump, or hydraulic jack

LIFFY FISHING

ZX7R wrote: »

It that time of year again ,oil heating acting up,
my question if anyone can help is,my burner starts grand runs for the lenght of tyme till the tempature is reached and turns off but when it restarts it trips itslef you can try and try to restart it but it just makes a noise and trips the air cover wont open ,after checking filters changeing jet and doing a generl service no change,so i cleand the conectors on the eletronic box,still nothing so i did the same with the eletric eye and it started to work after reseting the trip switch could the eletric eye be on it way out and should i change it.
thanks

Not an expensive piece of kit, worth trying, they are called photocells& any Heatmerchants branch will have them

DGOBS

If the air cover isn't opening it is NOT worth buying as it is not the issue!

jimf

it could also be a faulty capacitor have seen one recently which
started when cold but lost some of its kick once boiler had ran and cut out on set
temp but would not fire again when hot
unusual but was the problem may be worth checking

when you say in your post it just makes a noise does it sound like the motor is getting up to full speed or just humming if so try capacitor first then pump or as dgobs has pointed out fuel issue

ZX7R

The fuel is reaching the jet ,it makes a loud humming noise but as soon as it tries to fire ,it trips. There a small weep on the arm of air damper,also noticed that the reset on the thermostat had tripped, i am not sure what the capacitor looks like but will check it out, sounds a bit like what jimf said ,i changed tempature setting yesterday it worked last night on timer and this morning also worked this evening
thanks for all the replies

Billy Bunting

ZX7R wrote: »

i am not sure what the capacitor looks like

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=5uf+capacitor&view=detail&id=948115EE5F046EFBDED2D62E7E22D0BC1EC1765B&FORM=IDFRIR

jimf

if the high limit on your thermostat has tripped you possibly set it too high turn back
down to about 65/70 and try from there turning up the stat should have no bearing on the problem you are having

capacitor only costs about a tenner so worth a try first

you can also buy a seal for ram on damper about 3 euros but can be a little tricky
to fit your will need a circlip pliers but watch how you take off the old one both should be available at any heatmerchants outlet

ZX7R

Started doing the same today,have a capacitor ordered. she starts when cold but trips when hot,just like jimf said,so hopefully that will work ,changed seal wasn't to bad a job it is dry know,I will post how she goes when i get the capacitor.
Thanks everyone for the advice

jimf

hope it works as its about the cheapest fix

shane0007

ZX7R wrote: »

Started doing the same today,have a capacitor ordered. she starts when cold but trips when hot,just like jimf said,so hopefully that will work ,changed seal wasn't to bad a job it is dry know,I will post how she goes when i get the capacitor.
Thanks everyone for the advice

Is the boiler going to lock out, i.e. you have to push the red reset button on the control box to get going again, or do you have to remove the black cover beside the temperature control knob and press to reset to get going again, i.e. it is going out in the high limit stat.

ZX7R

shane0007 wrote: »

Is the boiler going to lock out, i.e. you have to push the red reset button on the control box to get going again, or do you have to remove the black cover beside the temperature control knob and press to reset to get going again, i.e. it is going out in the high limit stat.

I have to use the red reset button but,but it keeps trpping till it cool down then it will start again.

shane0007

It is an odd one! Red reset is flame failure and intermitent failure of capacitor generally would not be temperature related. If you have a multimeter that can test capacitance, you can test the capacitor to see what uF it is giving out. I am not saying it is not the capacitor at fault but I would like to be standing over the boiler with some test equipment attached to see what is going on.

Keep us posted.

ZX7R

shane0007 wrote: »

It is an odd one! Red reset is flame failure and intermitent failure of capacitor generally would not be temperature related. If you have a multimeter that can test capacitance, you can test the capacitor to see what uF it is giving out. I am not saying it is not the capacitor at fault but I would like to be standing over the boiler with some test equipment attached to see what is going on.

Keep us posted.

yes its a funny one, you turnn it on and it works reaches temature an swiches off when it trys to restart it trips ie the orange reset button is on ,you could press it ten times and it will trip straight away but realy strange is let it cool for 15/20 min it will fire up no problem and work grand till i turn it off,I am starting to wonder if the termo is on the blink ,also the burner is 14 years old

shane0007

It will not be a faulty thermostat as that would not give flame failure. It would only give no power to burner. The heat is obviously affecting one of the components that is within the burner.
That's why I would like to have some test equipment attached and standing over it.

jimf

it is on odd one shane had this problem with a g3 about 3 weeks ago tried for tight
spot on pump first sometimes they start ok when cold but act up when hot

tried about 20 stop/starts fired first time everytime left off for about 3mins tried
again and bingo low humming and lock out changed capacitor perfect since

cap test on capacitor showed no problem with uf values even suspected coil breakdown problem when hot but also ok

im not saying it is capacitor for sure either just shareing a bad experience

it was about 5 mins from a belt of a sledge

shane0007

Yes capacitors can be a killer. I had a call this evening to a breakdown and then they rang me not to bother as boiler now working. I said I would call anyhow as I wasn't going back out again after the dins dins and low and behold capacitor reading 1.9uF. Changed and running perfect.
You could well be correct with your analysis.

jimf

do you as a rule check capacitors on a service im seriously thinking i might in future
and change if down 5% for the sake of 7 eu your opinion am i mad

if called back 3 weeks later it would be hard to charge again and maybe drive 20 miles

shane0007

jimf wrote: »

do you as a rule check capacitors on a service im seriously thinking i might in future
and change if down 5% for the sake of 7 eu your opinion am i mad

if called back 3 weeks later it would be hard to charge again and maybe drive 20 miles

I generally would not check it during a service unless client said there was an intermittent issue or I qas suspicous of the starting sequence. No harm to check but I would not change if down 5%. A 4uF would satisfactorily start a motor down at 3.5uF and may never give an issue. It would also depend on the age and condition of the motor. Traces of seizure of the motor may unduly drop capacitance so you could replace a capacitor where the motor was at fault.
If I serviced a boiler and 3 weeks later was called back to change a capacitor, it would be a chargeable occasion and chargeable part. The fault may not be imenent at the time of the service.

jimf

ta shane value your opinion

Billy Bunting

jimf wrote: »

it is on odd one shane had this problem with a g3 about 3 weeks ago tried for tight
spot on pump first sometimes they start ok when cold but act up when hot

tried about 20 stop/starts fired first time everytime left off for about 3mins tried
again and bingo low humming and lock out changed capacitor perfect since

cap test on capacitor showed no problem with uf values even suspected coil breakdown problem when hot but also ok

im not saying it is capacitor for sure either just shareing a bad experience

it was about 5 mins from a belt of a sledge

Been there done that.

DGOBS

Sure Shane, but as a service been held a 'preventative maintenance' would 30seconds of you time testing the capacitor not be warranted, IMHO I should be checked as a normal service routine? If I find them 1uf below value I would always change them on the service visit.

ZX7R

Up date ,changed capacitor today and the burner has work all the times i had it running didn't trip once.
thanks everyone for the help

TPM

ZX7R wrote: »

yes its a funny one, you turnn it on and it works reaches temature an swiches off when it trys to restart it trips ie the orange reset button is on ,you could press it ten times and it will trip straight away but realy strange is let it cool for 15/20 min it will fire up no problem and work grand till i turn it off,I am starting to wonder if the termo is on the blink ,also the burner is 14 years old

Came across a problem once on an oil cooker, dont remember which burner was on it but it was a danfoss oil pump.
The burner was locking out intermittently, carried out service, nozzle was old and pump filter was fairly gunked up. sorted all the bits. burner fired up perfectly, forced it to lock out a few times fired up no problems, same when turned on and off with timer.
Packed away tools, cleaned up. talking to home owner dam burner locks out.
eventually found the solenoid coil on the pump was faulty, when it heated up it was going open circuit, shutting off the oil and locking out, once it cooled a bit it worked again for a while.

May or may not be a similar issue with yours. only time I seen it

jimf

danfoss coils are known for this intermittent cut out problem

jimf

ZX7R wrote: »

Up date ,changed capacitor today and the burner has work all the times i had it running didn't trip once.
thanks everyone for the help

fingers crossed hope its sorted