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I need advice on buying a control box for an oil burner.

sligeach

The oil tank ran empty and after the refill the burner won't start. It makes a noise but it's not igniting. I bled the pump for any air in the system and cleaned the magic eye. But it's still not working.

I called a plumber up to take a look. He reckons the control box is the issue, but I'd be better off getting a new burner.

Rang a family member who's a plumber but unfortunately lives halfway across the country. He thinks the initial plumber is just taking the easy way out replacing the whole burner. He says even if you got a new burner, sometimes they're not calibrated correctly out of the box. He thinks I should get a boiler man to take a look at it as he would be more specialised in the matter and could service it properly.

What would be people's advice on here please? If it is just a matter of the control box, I could swap that myself and avoid a plumber labour charge. Is there anywhere, preferably a bricks and mortar shop where I could buy one. I've posted images below of it. And I could see about arranging a service by a boiler man. Probably wouldn't get anyone over the weekend now anyway. Or would I be better off getting the burner replaced? It must be 20 years old at least.

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jimf

id say your at the limit of any more advice

we have to consider the safety aspect of advice giving in these forums

you may be competent but others after you may not be

service engineer is the best way to go

sligeach

Can anyone buy from HeatMerchants?

https://www.heatmerchants.ie/riello-3001156-r40-control-box-456467

Would this be the right control box? I can't see the price and when I go to register it asks for information I clearly wouldn't have.

Screenshot_2024-02-25-18-43-01-387_com.android.chrome-edit.jpg

jonnygee

Plenty of control boxes available. Are you nearer Ballymote or Letterkenny.

https://mybuildingsupplies.ie/shop/plumbing-heating/oil-boiler-spares/riello-control-box-g3b/

https://heatingboilerspares.com/product/controlboxriellomectron530se30011566990eur8595eurincvat/

John.G

I would make sure its the exact model that you have ie a 530SE.

sligeach

I called out a boiler technician a few days ago. As suspected it was the control box that was the issue. He replaced it with a secondhand one and it's back up and running. He didn't service it. He recommended replacing the boiler as it's so old and basically just burning oil. Thank you everyone for your advice.

John.G

Glad you're sorted, those boilers/burners are ultra reliable, I reckon I would save ~ 7% to 10%, around €150/year if I installed a HE boiler but I value reliability above everything else.,

sligeach

He was saying you'd save a tank of oil a year with the new boiler. And that you'd make back the outlay in 2-3 years. I think it would be a bit longer than that. But I do know the new boilers are way more efficient.

John.G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121834957#Comment_121834957

Very optimistic IMO except you have a very small oil storage tank. My nearly 19 year old 20kw SE Firebird had a flue gas temp of 250C, last time checked < 2 years ago, Jimf, "told me" on here some time ago that (I think) ~ 70C would be fairly normal for a HE boiler, in my marine&industrial days we used ~ 4.5% gain/loss for every 100C decrease/increase of flue gas temperature, so based on the above, then a gain of ~ 8.1%. Obviously if the boiler has very high flue gas temperatures then greater savings. Anyhow, all replacement boilers are HE now so a bit academic.

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121834957#Comment_121834957

Not a chance. A 5-7% saving would on the more like it.

declan b

if changing from a cast iron simi or clyde boiler for example the figure can be as high as 20 to 30 percent saving on oil

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121836972#Comment_121836972

I find that cast iron Sime boilers that have really high FGT, that I find some baffles removed. If set to MI's (a lot are not because of over sizing) they are in the low 80% and not that bad on efficiency.

John.G

Why, if the normal practice), don't flue gas analysis provide the FGT?, its one of the easiest parameters to use to calculate the boiler efficiency and also a good indicator of the boiler condition?.

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838200#Comment_121838200

They do. That's how they calculate combustion efficiency. That's often mistaken for boiler efficiency.

sligeach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121835719#Comment_121835719

The tank has 1,200 litre capacity, but the orders are for 500 litres.

John.G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838400#Comment_121838400

They measure it, yes, but its not displayed on the print out, why not?.

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838556#Comment_121838556

It is displayed on the printout of all my Anton Analysers.

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838581#Comment_121838581

Example

John.G

That's a gas boiler analysis?, any examples of a oil fired SE and HE boiler?.

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838624#Comment_121838624

No, that's oil from sometime last winter.

John.G

Thats excellent, thanks, any one from a SE boiler like mine?

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838660#Comment_121838660

From a Bluebird last January.

jimf

Your boiler will be around 84% eff gross john with a fg temp of approx 230

sligeach

The system acted up again. This time there was no power at all. Just a light humming noise. I checked the control box and the magic eye, it was filthy. Gave that a clean, still nothing.

You can see where it's blackened. I unscrewed cap on the thermostat and pressed the reset button. That brought back the power. But I wasn't going to run it given it shut off and the soot marks on the casing.

I opened it up. The plates were absolutely filthy. I started cleaning it and after a few minutes I took a few photos just in case.

There was layers of ash and baked on layers of crud top and bottom. I thought you can take these out, but they weren't coming easy, so I cleaned them out in situ. The circulation inside must have been awful. I couldn't get to the vent at the back but doesn't seem to be the issue.

I disconnected the burner as well, and cleaned out the ash deposit at the bottom. Put it all back together and ran it for a minute. It seems fine. I'll know when I run it proper when it's cold.

A few questions though. The technician was out before the first time it broke. He recommends getting a whole new boiler. I think the quote was around €3,000. Would that be about right? What about just getting a new burner? That I think is around €320, that's what the plumber said at the very start.

The technician said he can replace the boiler in a week or so. I'm waiting on an exact quote. Should I sell any of the old system or ask him for a discount against the new system? Is anything there worth any money? As the saying goes, one man's rubbish is another man's treasure.

jimf

you refuse to take the advice you have been given here re getting a boiler tech who knows what he is doing

that boiler is in a dangerous condition

sligeach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893241#Comment_121893241

No, I'm going ahead with the new boiler. As I said I'm waiting on the exact quote. But I'm wondering is there anything I could do that wouldn't require replacing the whole system that would make it not "dangerous". I think I know the answer to that. But €3,000, would anyone know if that's in and around the ballpark?

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893316#Comment_121893316

It would need to looked at. The boiler is past its best, but if it got a new burner seals, and a few other bits could you get another 5-7 years out of it? Probably.

€3k would be in the right ballpark all right for a new boiler.