Reillo burner Ram/Hydraulic jack leaking

Tracyk

The ram/hydraulic jack is leaking on my reillo G3B burner, can I just remove the ram (and mobile damper) disconnect it from the oil pump and order a blanking screw and blank the flipping thing. Seems to me the the ram/hydraulic jack and mobile damper is one pointless component.

shedweller

I replaced the o-ring on mine and it works well. Is it to stop air taking the heat out of the boiler when it turns off? Removing it would lower efficiency but by how much is unclear to me.

Tracyk

shedweller wrote: »

I replaced the o-ring on mine and it works well. Is it to stop air taking the heat out of the boiler when it turns off? Removing it would lower efficiency but by how much is unclear to me.

Yes as I understand it is to prevent a draft through the flue and out the burner when the boiler is on and in between cycles, resulting in heat loss. Also when the boilers is off it is also there to prevent a oily smell entering the premises. Still seems like a pointless piece of engineering to me, I guess that's why they sell blanking screws for the pump.

Wearb

Tracyk wrote: »

Yes as I understand it is to prevent a draft through the flue and out the burner when the boiler is on and in between cycles, resulting in heat loss. Also when the boilers is off it is also there to prevent a oily smell entering the premises. Still seems like a pointless piece of engineering to me, I guess that's why they sell blanking screws for the pump.

It is there to prevent heat being draughted off between cycles. Why go to the bother of blanking it off when for the same effort you could repair it.

jimf

if your handy yourself its a 3eu fix at the most all you need is a circlip pliers and be careful when opening as its spring loaded you wouldn't want the internals popping next door uninvited

scudo2

Tracyk wrote: »

Yes as I understand it is to prevent a draft through the flue and out the burner when the boiler is on and in between cycles, resulting in heat loss. Also when the boilers is off it is also there to prevent a oily smell entering the premises. Still seems like a pointless piece of engineering to me, I guess that's why they sell blanking screws for the pump.

Replace the ram or just the washer.
Removing ram and flap will allow excess air in for combustion producing higher levels of carbon monoxide.
Boiler will have to be retuned to suit flap removal with a flue gas analyzer, if its not already needing a proper service.
+ it's an indoor boiler so don't take chances.
Hopefully you also have a co alarm near boiler.

Wearb

scudo2 wrote: »

Replace the ram or just the washer.
Removing ram and flap will allow excess air in for combustion producing higher levels of carbon monoxide.
Boiler will have to be retuned to suit flap removal with a flue gas analyzer, if its not already needing a proper service.
+ it's an indoor boiler so don't take chances.
Hopefully you also have a co alarm near boiler.

I don't think that flap controls the amount of combustion air. In that burner the amount of combustion air is controlled by an adjustable disc underneath the flap that's controlled by the ram/jack.

jimf

what you will be removing is the primary moveable flap so wont effect the air intake

scudo2

Wearb wrote: »

I don't think that flap controls the amount of combustion air. In that burner the amount of combustion air is controlled by an adjustable disc underneath the flap that's controlled by the ram/jack.

The flap still covers 5-10% of the opening, there is a difference when flap is removed and disc should be adjusted.

Wearb

scudo2 wrote: »

The flap still covers 5-10% of the opening, there is a difference when flap is removed and disc should be adjusted.

That's a new one on me.

Tracyk

scudo2 wrote: »

The flap still covers 5-10% of the opening, there is a difference when flap is removed and disc should be adjusted.

That's news to me too, the adjustable disc is set for combustion air and the mobile damper when removed should not effect the air intake

If I just replace the o ring, what size o ring must be used? Do I have to get there part number and order there exact O ring or can I just buy a pack of o rings with different sizes from heat merchants and use one of them?

donedl1

Heatmerchants should do them or most merchants will stock them. Just ring them and ask for an O ring for a Riello jack. It will spring out as jimf said but its a 5 minute job.

jimf

donedl1 wrote: »

Heatmerchants should do them or most merchants will stock them. Just ring them and ask for an O ring for a Riello jack. It will spring out as jimf said but its a 5 minute job.

3007132 is the part no

scudo2

jimf wrote: »

3007132 is the part no

It's not a common O ring.
It's a unique part for Riello

donedl1

Google 3007132.

Daibheid

Great thread here -thanks! I recently found a leak on this ram and cleaned the cylinder and piston and replaced the seal and now it's airtight. But it's been bugging me whihc is what led me to this thread.

If anyone knows the answer, my question is: This ram showed a tiny leak even when the boiler was off. This must be from the head of fuel in the above ground tank. What I'm not clear on is whether or not the feed to the ram is downstream of the pump and solenoid valve?

If that seal is the only thing keeping 500l of kerosene in the tank it might be a good idea to get an oil safety valve fitted!

Wearb

Get used to the idea. The rubber seal in the line filter is the only thing stopping a leak there. The rubber seal on the pump filter cover is stopping a leak there. The seal on the solenoid valve (and valve stem) is stopping it there. These seals (except for the line filter) work under 7 to 12 bar of pressure and normally manage to keep it sealed. I have never seen one of these go instantly They always start with a slight dampness and progress from there. These early stages can be picked up at service time and is one of the reasons to have regular services.

agusta

Daibheid wrote: »

Great thread here -thanks! I recently found a leak on this ram and cleaned the cylinder and piston and replaced the seal and now it's airtight. But it's been bugging me whihc is what led me to this thread.

If anyone knows the answer, my question is: This ram showed a tiny leak even when the boiler was off. This must be from the head of fuel in the above ground tank. What I'm not clear on is whether or not the feed to the ram is downstream of the pump and solenoid valve?

If that seal is the only thing keeping 500l of kerosene in the tank it might be a good idea to get an oil safety valve fitted!

The ram showing a tiny leak when the boiler is off is not from the head of fuel in the tank.The only way kerosene get to the hydraulic ram is when the pump/burner is on.The max volume of kerosene you can lose when the boiler is off is no more than a small egg cup,[the volume of the hydraulic ram]
One part that can empty your tank is the flexible oil hose connected to your burner!.If over two years old change.There is a date marked on them

Daibheid

agusta wrote: »

The ram showing a tiny leak when the boiler is off is NOT from the head of fuel in the tank.The only way kerosene get to the hydraulic ram is when the pump/burner is on.The max volume of kerosene you can lose when the boiler is off is no more than a small egg cup,[the volume of the hydraulic ram]
One part that can empty your tank is the flexible oil hose connected to your burner!.If over two years old change.There is a date marked on them

Good point on the fuel line and especially relevant on this burner as it's on Kerosene which appears to be more aggressive on hoses. It was changed on a service about a year ago. Too bad the ram seal isn't part of the service as standard.

As far as I can tell last time I got a look at this when I found the leak the burner was not only not running but had been off for several hours so there seems to be some static pressure from somewhere pushing fuel through the ram seal. I'd expected the solenoid valve and the pump itself to isolate the tank head from the ram. I'm also sure I had to turn the tank stop cock off after taking the ram off and back to the city to get the seal as fuel flowed out of the small bore feed pipe to the ram.

I'm not saying that's how it's supposed to work - just what I saw!

@wearb I take your point there are plenty of other seals under pressure but this particular one has a lot more mechanical movement over a much greater surface area than most others as evidenced by it's reputation for leaking so I think it's the weak link in the chain and might justify a OSV - if you could find one- and it would also protect against a perished or failed hose or indeed any of those seals you mention failing.

Billy Bunting

Daibheid wrote: »

Too bad the ram seal isn't part of the service as standard.

.

That would depend on who does the service, I do, and I'm sure most engineers wouldn't mind changing the ram seal if it was requested.

agusta

Daibheid wrote: »

Good point on the fuel line and especially relevant on this burner as it's on Kerosene which appears to be more aggressive on hoses. It was changed on a service about a year ago. Too bad the ram seal isn't part of the service as standard.

As far as I can tell last time I got a look at this when I found the leak the burner was not only not running but had been off for several hours so there seems to be some static pressure from somewhere pushing fuel through the ram seal. I'd expected the solenoid valve and the pump itself to isolate the tank head from the ram. I'm also sure I had to turn the tank stop cock off after taking the ram off and back to the city to get the seal as fuel flowed out of the small bore feed pipe to the ram.

I'm not saying that's how it's supposed to work - just what I saw!

@wearb I take your point there are plenty of other seals under pressure but this particular one has a lot more mechanical movement over a much greater surface area than most others as evidenced by it's reputation for leaking so I think it's the weak link in the chain and might justify a OSV - if you could find one- and it would also protect against a perished or failed hose or indeed any of those seals you mention failing.

I was actually incorrect,there is a link from the hydraulic ram and the tank,the pump needle valve just cuts off the oil to the nozzle only and not the hydraulic ram.So yes its downstream from the tank through the pump to the hydraulic ram.


I don't believe the kerosene has any bearing in the life span of the flexible hoses,in theory a flexible hoses ages the same way whether they are fitted to a burner or not.this is why they have a date on them.they are made of rubber which perished from time