Riello burner (g3b)

John mac · 09-07-2012 1:12pm #1

Hi all have just cleaned out a boiler for neighbour, went to fire her up and nothing,
no sound , then after the 12 seconds the ignition transformer fires , then lockout light comes on ,
Would it be the motor thats knackered, or something else. ?
if it is the motor how easy hard would it be to replace ?

(just to add it wasnt working before I went near it

) I presumed it was dirty electrodes and gunk on the flame detector which was the case.

Thanks
JOhn

DGOBS · 09-07-2012 5:47pm

Capacitor, motor or pump.....pick a number!
Each will require checking.

They are easy if you have any experience, but you need the correct equipment to properly and safely set up an oil burner.

You need, an oil pressure gauge, a smoke pump and a flue gas analyser.
Incorrectly set burners are inefficient on fuel, can damage the boiler/baffles
and most importantly can produce huge amounts of carbon monoxide!

So the fact you just done your neighbors, I hope your properly insured, as any damage to people or property will be yours, even down to leaking oil in a premises (visited a site in NI last year where a 'friend' repaired a boiler, the result was £126,000 worth of damage to the house)

If it was our own house, well it's your own, have seen way too many 'friends' or 'neighbors' sued when the fit hits the shan

Billy Bunting · 09-07-2012 5:58pm

Second that man!

John mac · 09-07-2012 9:35pm

just the same responsibility as doing it in my own home..

I dont have experience on burners thats why I am asking here,

so would the capacitor be first choice.?

shane0007 · 09-07-2012 9:41pm

John mac wrote: »

just the same responsibility as doing it in my own home..

I dont have experience on burners thats why I am asking here,

so would the capacitor be first choice.?

If you do not have experience on burners, why would you work on one? It will not be long before it will be illegal to work on oil burners as it is with gas. This legislation is coming in for a reason. Any untrained adjustment that you make, could lead to an accelerated problem ahead of you such as excessive carbon monoxide being produced and/or leakages/electrical issues, etc.

Billy Bunting · 09-07-2012 9:44pm

so would the capacitor be first choice.?

Cheapest and easiest to replace.

JohnnieK · 09-07-2012 9:44pm

The capacitor gives the motor a kick in the whole so you would still hear the motor turning but it just wouldn't be going fast enough.

If you have no experience why touch it?

DGOBS · 09-07-2012 9:46pm

Not the same as working on your own one at all from a legal perspective that's why I have a €6.5m insurance policy!!!! Or by some magic does public liability not count for you?

So if you have experience, why are you asking about capacitors?
G series are pretty straightforward once you know what each component does, capacitor starts the motor.

John mac · 09-07-2012 10:28pm

Will try the capacitor so . Thanks

DGOBS · 10-07-2012 5:41am

Yup, then the pump then the motor, then you will know what to replace. Do you know how to test each?

If not it will cost you the price of a new burner to replace them all!

What pump pressure and Co2% you gonna set this boiler to? Have you sized the nozzle?

John mac · 10-07-2012 8:05am

well it was running fine before it stopped so there should be no need to adjust any settings.

Have you sized the nozzle

the nozzle size it written in the manual and is also installed in the burner!! why would I want to change the paramaters of it?

DGOBS · 10-07-2012 10:14am

You assuming it is running correctly (assume makes an ass out of u and me)
Lets face it, what you are doing is chancing your arm, if you cannot size the nozzle you have no idea if the installed one is correct, and nozzles have a 5-10% manufacturing tolerance that has to be taken into account during set up (that's one reason why we test boilers)

You are asking advice here from professional people, we are advising you not to tamper with an appliance unless you have to correct test equipment, which you clearly do not. What your doing is not a DIY job, it has a real potential to damage property and people, or is that falling on deaf ears?

You are working in the public domain, with out the knowledge, experience or insurance and are liable for your actions.

DGOBS · 10-07-2012 10:24am

Just let me give a real scenario that occurred

A friend cleaned out an oil burner for his mate, unfortuneatly not realising the flexible oil line bladder cracked when he moved the burner (wasn't apparent when he did it) but next morning there was 400ltrs of oil in the untility room, this penetrated the foundations of the house (as it does)

The insurance auditor condemed the rear section of the house, which had to be torn down, contaminated material (oil soaked) shipped to mainland Europe for treatment, and the house essentially rebuilt, total cost €150,000. The insurance company are not accepting liability as the uninsured chancer is the one at fault. Who do you think is going to pay??

.243 · 10-07-2012 3:45pm

eh did you by any chance turn off the oil ????

DGOBS · 10-07-2012 7:42pm

.243 wrote: »

eh did you by any chance turn off the oil ????

And that's really going to stop the motor running! OMG

mikehn · 15-09-2012 9:52pm

Need a bit of help folks.
Wife attempted to restart oil heating after about 6 months non use and nothing happened. Yours truly was despatched to "fix" the problem but i'm stumped.
The burner is a Riello g3, thinking mabey airlock I loosened the bleed screw til a little oil came out , tried again but nothing. I get a low whirring noise not the usual "blow" before ignition. It doesnt seem to go through the cycle when failing ignition the reset button light comes on.
Any contributions gratefully recd.

mikehn · 15-09-2012 10:03pm

The whirr I heard was the water pump, the power supply for the pump is wired through a switch in the boiler house, this is receiving current.

DGOBS · 15-09-2012 10:31pm

What boiler is it?
Locate the thermostat dial, if there is a large black knob beside it, unscrew it and try pressing the overheat stat button hidden underneath

Other than that would need more info......

mikehn · 15-09-2012 11:36pm

Thanks, tried that reset button, no good, tried tapping the burner control unit with the handle of my screwdriver as I remember hearing that doing this could assist stuck contacts. I reckon that it must be this unit thats the source of the problem.

DGOBS · 16-09-2012 7:39am

Check that you have power to the control box (tapping doesn't help!)
If the burner has power and is humming but the motor isn't starting either the capacitor is dead, the pump or motor have seized.

mikehn · 16-09-2012 1:00pm

update, problem was the dual stat. cheaper fix that i feared.

Riello burner (g3b)

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